Music sounded throughout the neighborhood, causing kids to scream and jump for joy. All of the children ran up to the small, pastel painted truck with bright eyes and beautiful smiles. After giving out some fudgesicles, the truck moved on to the next street, eyeing down two little kids who were playing tag in their front yard.
"Tag, you're it, Ty!" The little girl squeaked, running up to hide behind a tree. Both children heard the truck approach and screamed.
"Icecream!" They both darted inside Tyler's home, grabbing a five dollar bill from his father and rushing back to the truck with his best friend, Melanie. The truck driver got up from his seat and rushed to the open window, smiling gently at the children, who were practically jumping from their spots on the sidewalk.
"What would you two like today?" Tyler immediately answered for a rainbow pop, whilst Melanie chose a freezer bunny. The man quickly grabbed the icecreams for the two, before the side door opened and a man with a mask jumped out of the truck. The two little kids stared at each other with confusion, totally oblivious to the man walking behind them.
"That'll be four dollars." The man smiled once again, eyes darting up a bit to see his friend standing behind the kids, smirking deviously.
Tyler no more than handed the bill to the man, before he heard Melanie scream. He turned to see her picked up by the man's friend, his hand placed over her mouth.
"Let her go!" He demanded, pouting slightly and crossing his arms. It was quite an adorable sight, the man thought, as the other man opened the door and threw a flailing Melanie into the truck. Tyler didn't know what was happening as his hand was picked up by another, making him yank his arm back and go running down the street.
"No!" He screamed as he was lifted up into the air. The man covered the boy's mouth and brought him back to the truck, throwing him in next to Melanie. He quickly slammed the door shut before-
Tyler awoke himself with a scream, lurching forwards and gasping for air. He looked towards the door and attempted to catch his breath as Melanie rushed to his side, brushing his brown hair out of his face. He was drenched with sweat from his recurring memory. It just never went away.
"Shh, it's okay," She soothed, pulling him closer to her body and rubbing his back. He let out a wracked sob into her chest, not caring if he got her shirt wet.
After calming down, he curled into Melanie's side on his twin bed, breathing softly. He looked towards the window- which was fake glass, it was clouded and a light grey so nobody could see through. He wished to see the outside again, all he wanted was to go to the park. But, he was stuck here with Melanie- and she was the most important person to him.
A sniffle erupted from Tyler, making Melanie jump from her spot slightly. She kissed Tyler's forehead as a friendly gesture, before laying him back down on the bed. He quickly drifted back to sleep, and Melanie rushed back to her room before someone found out she wasn't in her bedroom.
Once it was morning, Tyler scrambled out of bed to get downstairs for breakfast. If he wasn't down there by nine, he would be in deep trouble. So, he ran down the stairs almost tripping, throwing on a pair of old jeans. He finally buttoned his jeans before he stared at his family, who already had the food on the table, and were staring at him with daggers- besides Melanie, who was looking at him sympathetically.
"Good morning, son. You're late for breakfast- again. Stay up late studying?" Tyler slowly nodded, not wanting to get in trouble for staying up with his repetitive nightmares. He quickly sat down next to Melanie, staring at the table in front of them. Served today was pancake, eggs and bacon, with orange juice for the children and coffee for the adults. Tyler slowly grabbed two pancakes, two eggs and three pieces of bacon and watched as his family did the same. He slowly ate his food, watching his parents as they shared glances.
"So, we're having a family outing tomorrow. You will invite Halsey and her brother." His mother spoke with a serious tone. Tyler sighed and nodded, receiving a glare from his parents and a giggle from Melanie.
"I don't really want to marry her," He muttered. His mother snapped his head up at this,
"Don't you dare say that ever again!" She snapped angrily, banging her fists on the table. Tyler and Melanie both jumped at her action, but remained silent. Their mother quickly calmed down, taking a deep breath in before taking another bite of her eggs.
"Can I be excused?" Tyler blurted out, setting his fork and napkin down onto his plate. His father nodded and Tyler practically jumped from his seat, excitedly running up the stairs. He heard Melanie ask the same thing before she was right behind him and they rushed into her bedroom.
The walls were a dull, light pink with white polka dots all over them. Her twin bed was in the corner, pressed up against the wall and there was a small dollhouse in the other corner.
She skipped into the room joyfully, grabbing a notebook and pencil from the floor. She sat down criss-cross applesauce with Tyler before they started brainstorming lyrics.
"How about..." There was a long pause before Melanie scribbled something down. Tyler looked down at the paper, and surprisingly saw the words,
'Tag you're it'
