White Crayon

Page twelve

I shoved Baley away from me as he shut the door.
"Baley! We can't just leave her like that! What if she hurts herself?" I shouted, ripping my hand away from his grip. He didn't look at me, he held the doorknob, and stared at the ground.
"Rune, it's words that ruined our lives, and I'm not letting them ruin anything else. Ever again." He replied, he shut his eyes tightly, and I almost reached out to him. But I held my hand back, and turned around, slowly climbing the stairs.
"Maybe it's words that we need to fix this. Whatever 'this' is." I said softly, and he went to lie down on the couch as I took my leave upstairs, to the attic.
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I haven't been in the attic in years. I waved my hand in the air and coughed as I climbed the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor to get inside. The attic was full of boxes, old paintings, and wrapping paper for birthday presents. I looked around, and thought about what Jarleen had said. Make a wish? What's that supposed to mean? Nonetheless, I walked over to the window, that let moonlight creep in from the outside, and sat down. I looked down, and saw a box and an old TV that were covered in a thin layer of dust. I brushed the dust off, and the words on the top of the box read: "Winston Family". I opened the box to reveal tapes that were numbered. I took the first one out and shook it, then looked down at the TV. I knew how to work a cassette tape, so I pushed the small tape into the slot on the TV, and pushed play. It booted up, and a shaky video came onscreen. My mother, father, and brother were in the kitchen. My mom was the one holding the camera, filming my dad and brother make muffins. She was laughing as he tried to detach my brothers grip on the bag of chocolate chips as he swiftly shoved them into his mouth. "Danielle, grab him by the legs! He's eating the whole bag!" He shouted, a smile creeping up on his face as my mom laughed harder as he chased Mason around the kitchen, chocolate chips falling onto the ground. My moms laughter died down after a minute, and then she put the camera down, and the video stopped.
I watched the rest of the tapes, and watched as my parents pushed me and my brother on the swing, and as I tried to eat the wrapping paper on my brothers fifth birthday, when my father was struggling to capture a bird that had flown into the house. I watched with a smile as we went through our lives, and I felt lonelier then I had in awhile. I missed them. And I knew they missed me as well. I took the final tape out of the box, and put it into the TV. I could tell from the beginning, that this one was different. It was my parents, sitting on the couch, the camera facing them as they talked.
"Hello, Rune. Hi Mason. How are you?" My dad said, his iconic smile beaming at the camera.
"We wanted to make this video, so that you can watch it when we leave for our big work trip this summer. " He sighed, and my mom held his hand tightly in hers. "We wanted to tell you that we love you, and that you are our world. Everything we ever could have wanted, and more. You mean the world to us." He put his arm around mom, who smiled and nodded as he spoke. "Rune, I know you have what it takes to be a excellent artist. All those paintings and comics you've created always amaze your mother and I. We're so proud of you." His smile faltered. "Mason, your so strong. We're so proud of you for making it into college, especially the one you wanted to attend. Your a hard worker, keep it up bud." My mom spoke next, her voice calming and familiar to me. "We love you both so much! And make sure to eat healthy every day, Rune. And you to, Mason! Oh and Rune? Thank your aunt Claire for everything! She's really doing us a favor by watching over you." She laughed, and my dad nodded. Then he checked his watch, and hurried up the video. "Alright! We better get off, love you two! Keep on dreaming, wisher's!" He finished, and the tape turned off with a click.