one of them

one

Donna's POV

I stared at the fresh dirt over the graves.

The sun was setting and it felt as if the world had stopped spinning.

My parents were dead.

And it was nothing I would have ever expected.

We were a normal family. One of the only ones in town, it felt like. A lot of people I know have dead beat parents or non existent parents, for that matter. Johnny's parents hate him. Hurt the kid every chance they got. Steve's mom left a long time ago and his dad's never around.

I could go on for hours about the people with terrible home lives, but my family wasn't one of those.

My mom was a nurse and my dad was a construction worker. They loved what they did. Never did drugs or drank and loved their family.

It was simply a freak accident that this happened.

-

I waited patiently for mom and dad to get home. They decided to head down to the lake for a picnic. I thought it was corny. But they love to go on little dates every chance they get.

I wasn't sure why they took the picnic route. It's December. But the weather wasn't quite as cold as it normally is around this time of year.

Guess they gotta get one last outdoor date in before the winter really hits.

I was getting a little worried they weren't home yet. They left at noon and it was almost 7:00.

I was home alone for the time being. My whole family had something to do.

I've got three siblings. My older brother, Darrel, and my two younger brothers, Sodapop and Ponyboy.

I know what you're probably thinking. What kind of name is Ponyboy and Sodapop and why do my older brother and I have semi-normal names.

My brother and I were actually named after our parents. Darrel Curtis Jr. and I'm Donna Jo Curtis. My middle name is based off of my Aunt Mary's middle name. She went by MJ before she passed and my parents thought it would be cute to name me after my mom and get that nickname in honor of my aunt.

I go by Donna most of the time, though. Felt more mature to me.

My brothers just happened to get my dad's creative side. I remember my dad drawing these mutated animals on the counter when I was younger. It wasn't creepy or anything, but just a little weird.

I remember he once drew the body of a pig and the head of a lizard. It was always to make Darrel and I laugh when we were kids.

I remember when my mom was pregnant with Ponyboy. My dad was showing Darry and I one of his drawings while mom was playing with Sodapop in the living room. Mom came over to show her "creative side," and I say this sarcastically, because she was not very creative, and drew a stick figure. My dad called it boring and added a horse head, hence how "Ponyboy" came to be.

I couldn't tell you how Soda got his name. Dad probably cracked open an ice cold coca-cola and it tasted so good he had to name his kid after it.

I'll stop rambling about our names now. Point being, everyone was out, but mom and dad should have been home by now. Mom always makes dinner by now. It's ready at 6:00 sharp every night.

It wasn't unusual for my brothers to be home a bit later.

Darry was out playing football with his friends, Sodapop was hangin' out with Steve at a car show downtown, and Ponyboy was at the library with Johnny.

But when mom and dad weren't home by four, my head started spinning and I assumed the worst.

What if they abandoned me?

It just so happened they all left at the same time and none of them returned home when they were supposed to?

As I was assuming the worst when the clock hit 7, the door opened.

I let out a sigh of relief as Ponyboy came in with a stack of books. "Hey, Donna. Whatcha been up to all day?"

"Waiting for everyone to get home." I said curling up into a ball on the chair.

"No one's home yet? Not even mom or dad?"

"Nope. Y'all left about seven hours ago and I didn't have any plans today. So I just waited for everyone to get back."

"Sorry, Donna. Johnny and I went over to the movie house for a bit. Would've invited you if I knew you were all alone."

"That's alright. Just glad you're okay. I know you don't wanna hang out with your older, sister anyway." I said with a laugh. I continued. "You seem to have some reading to do." I said with a laugh.

"Sure do. Been carrying them around all day. Can't wait to get started."

I laughed. "Have fun gettin' lost in your books. I'm gonna wait here for everyone. Watch some TV."

"You have fun with that. Let me know when dinners ready."

He closed the door to his room and I switched the channels a bit. Ponyboy was such a character to me. We were all a bit similar, but we had wildly different hobbies. Even the guys.

Darrel's 19 and ready for college. He's probably gonna play football somewhere. He took a bit of a break from school, but he's starting next semester.

Sodapop turned sixteen a couple months ago. He loves all things cars and mechanics.

Ponyboy's 13 and always got his head wrapped in a book. Real smart kid. He's got somethin' going for him.

I'm almost seventeen. My birthday is a couple weeks before Darry's. Even though he's three years older than me, I always say he stole my birthday month.

I saw Sodapop and Darry walk down the road together and let out another sigh as I saw my family getting in for the night.

I could go on for hours about my brothers and our lives.

But then I heard the phone ring.