Keegan Barnnet's POV
12-25-11
Middleton, CO (Two hours from Denver)Another Christmas without Mom. It's been three years and I still haven't gotten my wish. Every day I hoped she would walk back through that front door. But she won't. Sometimes if I try really hard, I can still smell her scent, Marlboro cigarettes and Vanilla. But I should just get on with my life. It's not worth ruining Christmas morning.
As far as presents go, Grandma got me three pairs of socks, a pack of cards, some new underwear, and some jolly ranchers. But I was very surprised when my Grandfather walked in with a box and handed it to me. "Sorry, I didn't wrap it. I hope you will be able to use it for this upcoming squirrel season." I opened it and it was a small but sleek, buckmaster pocket-knife. " Wow!!! Thank you so much pops!!! " " Of course son. "
I told them both thank you and we started to eat our runt turkey, the only thing that we could afford. We actually had a turkey this year which is a step up than usual which was a bowl of mashed potatoes, pot greens, yeast rolls, and occasionally stewed carrots.
I know what your thinking, this doesn't sound much like a celebration or a feast, but it was enough to satisfy us. Ever since the incident, money has been pretty tight. I was still grateful for everything I had and I thanked the Lord everyday for the small blessings I received.
After dinner I volunteered to go into town and grab the mail when my Pops reminded me the outpost is closed for Christmas. I was grateful of that, because I didn't particularly like trudging through -2° weather for twenty minutes through the snow. We live in the Rocky Mountains in a little town called Middleton. There weren't many people around but everybody relied and worked together to strive in this little town. We had to.
I was out of school for two weeks. Which I was grateful for. I hated my school, and all the people in it. Seventh grade kids were mean, and I was often bullied for being to short or my scrawny body. I had one friend, William, but his dad was in the military and five months after he got settled in, his father was stationed in Sacramento, CA. Since then everyday I wake up every morning, get dressed, go to school, learn what little I can understand, get bullied, eat my "lunch" (an apple), go home, do homestead chores, shower, go to sleep, and then get up and do it all over again the next d-... "KEEGAN!!!,"
Oh no. What happened this time.I walked passed my Grandpa who was mouthing something to my grandma that I didn't quite comprehend. They were fighting.
"Nevermind honey go back to your room, we'll discuss this later."
I waited till they slammed their door and I started to eavesdrop.
M: " But Danny, it's Christmas "
D: "Every kid deserves to know their father"
M: " He's not ready for that. "
D: "How do you know? "
M: "You know how Kim felt about him meeting his father. "
D:" Well, Kim's not here is she? "
Silence
D: " I'm not going to discuss this with you right now Maggie"
M: "Fine, but there's just so much he doesn't know "
D: " Yet.... "
M: " No. He'll be so angry with us. He won't understand. "
D: " The longer we wait Maggie, the more angry he'll be, just remember that..... "
M: " Ok, but we're finishing this later.... "
I got up from sitting by their door, and bolted to my room. My heart was racing. They mentioned my father.
It was a subject nobody ever mentioned and when I brought it up, everyone changed the subject. I knew his name was Nathan and he was from somewhere around Louisiana, but I had never met him. Nor did I ever imagine meeting him. I don't understand what he did to not be in my life, but I like to think my family is pretty understanding, therefore whatever he did, he must of really screwed up.
Foot steps down the hall interrupted my thoughts.**knock-knock** "Hey I'm going to town to run a couple of errands, you'll probably be asleep by the time I'm back." " Ok, be safe the roads are slick. ". "Ok I will." I hugged my Grandma , and she drove out of the driveway.
If I had known that would be the last time I spoke to my grandma, I would have said something more meaningful.
Cast:
Asher Angel as Keegan
Dennis Quaid as Danny
Renne Dwyer as MaggieHey guys so first chapter, I didn't really want to get you to far into it but I knew I wanted the first chapter to go out with a bang. Anyhow, so let me know what you think and I'll update soon. Thx!!!
- GracieG04
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Accepting Change
RomanceThe last three years of Keegan Barnnet's life has been hard without his mom, and even harder with his family's financial crisis and other problems. Oh but that's not the all, tragedy strikes again and his life changes completely. He leaves everythin...