He slammed the door behind him & then sunk to the floor. He couldn't hear his mother yelling at him to come back out. He couldn't feel his father pounding on the door at his back. He couldn't hear his little sister crying in the room next to him. All he could hear were the last words he had said to his parents, ringing in his head. "I hate you!" The words echoed. "I hate you!" Suddenly, his voice morphed into his father's. "I hate you!" his father shouted in his gruff manner. "I hate you!" This time it was his mother's clear trill. "I hate you!" his little sister's squeaky voice yelled into his ear.
"No, no, no, no! You don't understand," he whispered, trying to fight back tears. "I didn't mean it!"
"Joshua Maxwell Stavish! Get your ass out here right now!" This time he heard his father. He looked to the door panicked. He had two options: stay in his room & disobey a direct order from his father (not that it mattered at this point), or go out of his room w/ tears streaming down his face begging for forgiveness. He glanced at the window. Maybe there was a third choice.
"Joshua, please come out." No, he couldn't leave his mother. He couldn't care less about his oh-so-perfect, police officer father. He would love to just forget about the man who was constantly telling him he wasn't good enough, that he always failed to meet his expectations, that he was just a waste of space.
"Mary, I told you. You have to be firm with him. He won't listen to you otherwise." But what about Olivia? He couldn't just leave her here, still in the clutches of his father. If he left, there would be no one to stop the rain of rude & degrading comments from bombarding her.
"JOSHUA! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW OR YOU'LL BE IN MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU COULD EVEN IMAGINE!!" Joshua's father started to pound on the door. Joshua leaped up & darted over to the window.
How could he stay in a house where he no longer felt human? As days went by, he felt less & less like a person who actually mattered and more & more like a waste of space. How could he stay in a place that once felt like home, but was now burdened & stained with memories that didn't seem as if they could come from the same person?
He couldn't take it any longer. This was his only chance. If he didn't leave now, who knew when the next opportunity would come.
Joshua opened the window and slipped out. As he fell to the ground, he looked to his sister's window. No, it wasn't fair. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't take her with him. She was so young; she didn't deserve to be running on the streets with her no-good older brother.
"Goodbye. I love you," were the last words he whispered before turning & running down the street.
~Kat <3 3/24/20
YOU ARE READING
Flash Fiction
General FictionThis is just for whenever I have an idea I want to write about, but don't want to make it a full-blown story. I may expand some of these at a later point. This is also where I will put writing assignments from school.
