The fable of a pawn

chapter one

My lungs are being filled with lead, blood pouring into my mouth, numbness over taking me. A white light becoming brighter and brighter as all my other senses fade.

I thought this day would never come.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock, which turned a minute past 6 after I hit the snooze. I dressed in my red plaid t shirt over my white, with normal jeans on the bottom. As I walked down the steps, I could smell the aroma of freshly made pancakes. As usual, I could see my mom dishing out the food and my dad reading the newspaper. "Morning, sweetie" she greeted me with her natural, warm, loving smile. My dad greeted me with his trademark grunt, as he adjusted the newspaper in his hands. "Morning" I replied in an upbeat tone, as I pulled out a chair from under the table and seated myself. I grabbed some orange juice and poured syrup on my pancakes ready for me to eat. "Damn it!" Dad shoved his newspaper down in frustration.

"What's wrong, Honey?"Mom asked in concern, and a touch of fear. "I bet 100 dollars on this horse and he passed out on the God Damn track, and let every horse pass him and go through the finish line." He pointed to the article to back up his point. "John, Benjamin, Carter, don't tell me you've been gambling again!?" Mom asked, afraid of what the answer may be, but more afraid of what he'll do. "Well I gotta make money somehow, Jane! Ever since the war ended I've been laid off from every job in town!" He replied, with the rage making the vein pop out of his neck. "So that's an excuse to be sitting around, drinking beer all day!?" Her voice was now at the same level as Dads. Yep, nothing like watching a good screaming match with breakfast, nothing wakes you up more.

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As I walk down the middle row of the bus, I see bags moving to the chairs next to the other kids, leaving me no space, until I reach the back and see her. Kate and I always sit on the back row together, because no one else bothers to give us the room. "Hey, Kate" I greeted her, as I placed my bag next to me on the floor. "Hey, Sam" she replied, facing me with a swift of her long blonde hair, and her smile. She looked a bit pale from doing chores since 5 am; anyone can tell she was tired. "You look exhausted, what did your folks have you doing?" I spoke my words with concern, and curiosity as to what made her look so sleep deprived. "We're preparing for the harvest, so I picked some crops, and cut the grass." Kate and her family live on a farm, like I do. But her family has a little more luck with growing crops than mine, which is why my Dad needs another job to keep a steady income. But I don't think that'll happen anytime soon. No one will take him; being a veteran isn't the best thing to be these days. Although it'll also help if he just had a shred of ambition left in him. "So how many rows did you harvest?" I got back to my conversation, and snapped out of my thoughts. "5, I'm doing the rest tonight" wow she did 5 rows by herself? "If you want, I could just swing by your farm tonight; give you and your folks an extra set of hands?" I offered, it sounded like they needed help, and I was more than happy to, if the occasion ever rises. "Really? We'd really appreciate the help" she added, as her smile became brighter. I sure am happy that I was the cause of that. "Anything for you guys" I answered honestly.