Take a Chance

01.

Run Away

"Silas! Are you ever going to clean your damn room?" His mother yelled, so loudly he could hear it through his headphones that were blaring music. Silas didn't even look up at his mother, he just ignored her and kept writing. He was in the zone, line after line just kept flowing out of him and his next song was almost complete.

"Why don't you ever listen to me?" She asked angrily, ripping the headset off of his head and throwing it to the side, the cord tangling with bottles on the table, knocking them off and they fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

"What the hell, mom?" Silas stood up quickly to pick up the bottles, making sure none of them had anything in it that would spill on the floor. He picked up a bottle and sighed sadly as the last drop of liquid splashed to the floor, joining the puddle of flat soda below him. "Great," he muttered and set the bottle down on the table and looked over at his mother.

"All I wanted was for you to listen to me," she defended, glancing around the room, "and to clean this place up. Or get a job."

"Fine, I'll clean up, will you go away now?" Silas gestured towards the door and she glared at him before leaving, slamming the door behind her. He sat back down and stared at the papers he had scribbled on, reading the words over and over again as he had lost where he was and could not think of what to add next.

Silas took a year off after he graduated high school. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his life and he was scared to leave the comfort of his home. Though he much regretted that now because his family had been a real hassle since he made his decision. Silas' father had always hoped he would be smart enough to become a doctor, following in the paternal footsteps, but Silas wasn't all that interested in science or math; he excelled in the arts.

He loved music, especially playing the guitar and singing. In high school he was in a band, but after they graduated, his bandmates and best friends moved away for university. Silas wanted to be a musician, he wanted to record albums and play concerts, but any time he told anyone that dream, they laughed in his face. When he had told his parents that, they laughed as well and told him it was unrealistic and they would not pay for him to go to university to study music.

Many times he had thought about just leaving and chasing his dream on the open road, but he had no idea where to go or what to do. Each day living in that house, he thought about it more seriously and made small plans as to where he might go.

"Silas! Dinner is ready," yelled his father from downstairs. Silas groaned and trudged his way through the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. The smell of pasta and tomato sauce made his stomach turn and he stopped in his tracks as his eyes met his father's.

"I hate pasta sauce," he said in a monotone voice.

"Please, son, your mother spent an hour making it herself." His father looked away and placed some bread on the table, then sat down.

"Did you have to mix it in with the pasta though? You know I don't like it, I never have." Silas looked to his mother whose face was turning red from anger.

"Silas, does it look like I care? If you don't want it, there's a frozen dinner you can have." His mother barked from the table after slamming her hand down on it hard. Silas rolled his eyes and started to walk back up to his room.

"Why did we let him take a year off? He has been nothing but a burden to us. I wish he was more like Daniel," said his father with a loud sigh. A deep frown made its way to Silas' lips as he walked up the stairs.

Daniel was his older brother who was married and had a child on the way. He had become a doctor just like their father, so he was a star in their eyes, making Silas the black sheep of the family.