Narrative

Tough Times Can Bring Happiness

 "Annie, what are you writing?" Kyle asked.

   "A book, I'm gonna get it published one day you know?" I explained to my little brother.

  "Can you go play with me outside? Mom said I can't go unless you come with me."

 "But, Kyle! I'm writing."

 "You're no fun!" He yelled as he furiously stomped away. As I watched my little brother and partner in crime walk away, my predisposition attitude of annoyance turned into a feeling of sympathy. So as always, I was off, running around and causing havoc with my kid brother. Pretending to be Power Rangers, I of course, the pink one was mimicking her every move.

  "Hey, get down! They're gonna see you!" Ducking, as if our older brothers were bad guys, and we were ready to attack! Nothing ever seemed to faze us as we spent time in our basement, full of excitement, and adventure.

But what happens when everything you've ever known is ripped out from under you, sending you in a whirlwind of emotions?

 “Thank you Jesus! I can't even believe this, what if Hans stayed home? The kids... The...” My mom says as she breaks down in tears. I woke up to her phone conversation to whom I couldn't tell, the only thing I could think of, was, why was my mom being so loud? Curiously, I poked my head behind the wall to take a closer listen. The more I listened; I realized that something serious had happened, and I started to worry. The moment I walked into the room, tears filled her eyes again, but I could tell she was trying her best to hold them back. "Hey sweetie, you’re up" 

   "Yea, I heard you on the phone, what's going on mom?" A ghostly look appeared on her face as soon as I asked. I guess as parents, all you want to do is shield your kids from worry and pain; but I seen it, kids know when something’s wrong. And I started to worry.

"Yea, sweetie that was Sarah's mom on the phone..." She answered in a calm tone, trying to keep me from panicking. She then added "Soon after we left yesterday evening, the house caught on fire..."

 ”A fire!" I exclaimed. “Yea they ran over as soon as they seen the smoke, making sure we weren't inside. When they couldn't get a hold of your dad and I, they called 911. She just called me back, because Sarah hasn't stopped crying since yesterday, she was terrified, and told her mom she had to keep trying to reach us. So you can call her back on your grandma’s phone, I have to go meet your dad at the house to talk to the fire chief.”

“Wait mom, can I come?”

“No, sweetie just stay with your brother. Don’t tell him yet; I don’t want to scare him too much.

 As I dropped to the floor, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that everything I had, known, and loved were gone. Simultaneously, I remembered my book. “NOO, MY BOOK! I spent forever on that!’ I shouted to myself. My grandma sitting nearby in the kitchen heard me shouting and asked me to join her. She knew how much my story meant to me, and in some way she attempted to make me feel better, but nothing was going to push away this dark cloud hanging over me that day. 

 Every time I think back to that bleak time in my family's life, I feel nothing but grateful. A fire that consumed 95% of our belongings, sending us to live in a small, apartment in a dangerous neighborhood until our world could resemble something or normality again. Night came, and our fear rose as the sounds of the loud train passing by the cemetery; and the strange sounds of the trees hit up against our window as the crickets chirped louder and louder. Twisting and turning, it took me seemed like hours to fall asleep. My little brother running to me, as his imagination ran wild. But how could I help calm his fears if I too, was terrified. Memories of my room, was an often thought of mine. Hoping I could hold my favorite stuffed dolphin I've had since birth. But all I had were my dreams, where I could imagine it never happening.

Sometimes things happen in life that make you question, why did this happen? We may not always get a direct answer, but we can definitely learn from it.  Growing up, I’ve learned a lot of lessons from things I been through. But the greatest life lesson I’ve learned from those achingly long 9 months we spent at our tiny apartment, was that, it’s not the end of the world when something traumatic happens to us. We can create our own happiness by changing our mindset; because, although we had some extremely hard and difficult times, we had some very amazing times as well. Tough times, can bring closeness, and bring a new meaning of happiness in our lives.