Saving Gabriel

Chapter ~ 1

Social hierarchy || Gabriel Lewis

Freezing. Teeth chattering, shivering, chilled to the bone, freezing. Call me Elsa cause I'm damn well near being frozen.

It's no miracle really, the square framed hole, lined with shards of glass in my wall, let's in the icy winter winds in my room, the cut up blanket that was stuck over the former window with duct tape, the thin material only did so much in keeping the cold air outside. Not to mention the multiple holes and cracks in the ceiling, it's no mystery on why my small room is turning into what I imagine the back of Narnia's wardrobe to be, minus the clothing.

My door creaked loudly as it was opened, feet shuffling on the old timber flooring, my eyes cracked open, seeing the small blurred out line of my two younger siblings, hands no doubt intertwined tightly while their other hands held on to their comfort items.

A dirty dark grey stuffed cat, named scatcat, clutched tightly to Jack's chest, his super man pyjama pants pooling around his feet, being slightly too long for him, an old faded buzz light year singlet covering his chest.

His twin, Lillian, held on to a dirty red cotton  blanket, that has been dragged behind her ever since she could crawl, her fingers gripping the edge, her thumb between her teeth, leaving permanent intents in her skin, a bad habit she has yet to break out of.

"Gabe?" A soft voice mumbled, slicing through the night air, my arm was already lifting blankets up, I shuffled my body backwards until my back hit the wall, allowing the two small children to climb into my bed. Lillian pressed her small body against my chest, Jack climbing in afterwards, his small arms wrapping around his sisters waist, she placed the small blanket over them before i covered them with my blanket. My arm wrapping around them both.

This was more or less a nightly routine in the cooler months, their body's ending up curled into my chest, the combined body heat of the three of us, keeping up from being completely frozen, them more so then me.

My rundown home wasn't anything to be proud of, the walls were paper thin, the electrics were shadier then the dark side of the moon and it was quiet frankly falling apart, which seemed to be the ongoing theme for the houses in my broke neighbourhood. No mater the state it's in or location, it's a roof over my head which my father works hard to keep. Working multiple jobs, to keep us from going into debt and keeping my mother alive.

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A 30 minute walk in the middle of winter wasn't something that I particularly enjoyed, due to the fact I'm as active as a sloth on steroids. Both of my hands were taken up by my siblings, their small gloved hands gripping mine as they walked beside me, naming the colours of the cars that sped past, as we made our way to school.

Jack and Lilian's primary (elementary) school was a ten minute walk past my own, dropping them off at their class, My hand running through Jacks soft blond locks a few time to fix his hair, while Lillian's arms were wrapped tightly around my neck, "have a good day" I mumbled to the both of them, pulling jack in to my side to include him in the hug. Pressing a kiss to the side of his head, before prying his twin sister's arms from my neck.

"I love you both. I'll see you after school alright?" I told them softly, pulling gently at Lillian's wrist to stop her from sucking on her thumb. Bidding good bye I made my way out of the school grounds, heading towards hell's dungeon or my school.