Sounded Silence

Family Matters (III)

Parappa's POV

It's good to be back.

I was back in the more suburban part of Parappa Town. No noise, no bright lights, no busy people, no nothing. I seriously needed a break from life, and going back to where I began was perfect. I went to ring the doorbell, but someone was there waiting for me.

"BIG BROTHER!" my young sister, Pinto, greeted me with a bear hug. She was suddenly taller than me, not by much, and it felt weird: I was always the tall one.

"Hey, sis!" I chuckle while ruffling her hair, "how's school treatin' ya?"

"Bro, I'm in college!" she laughs, "I signed up online last year."

It's been so long since I've seen her, I knew I had to do some catching-up with my folks. Pinto is looking at my duffel bag and pondering.

"Oh, can you get mom and dad?" I snap back into reality. She nods, then darts off, prompting me to let myself in. As I look around, I notice Pinto's been playing on "my" GameCube again (I say it like that because when I introduced her to Animal Crossing she hasn't let me touch it)

I finally settle down in the kitchen after grabbing a coke from the fridge. It tasted flat, like someone wanted it then changed their mind.

"Hey, hey, big guy!" my dad pats me on the back, "what's got you back so soon?"

I assumed that he noticed the duffel bag still on my shoulder. He said that last part like I haven't been gone for more than a week, when in reality it's actualy been two years.

"It's just...stuff has been going on between my friends and I wanted to get away: my first instinct just so happened to be coming back here." I let out a deep sigh. My mom is holding my left arm, inspecting the cotton tape.

"What did you do...?" her gentle voice eases me, "you weren't in a fight, were you?!"

"Not exactly," I answer in a low voice, "hear in the news about the two jailbirds trying to mug someone but he beat em up and ran off?"

Everybody nods.

"Their victim was me. Took a little bit of a beating." 

Everyone suddenly hugs me. My mom is crying, my dad has a death grip on me, and my sister is sitting on my lap like she did when we when younger.