Chapter 1 - Scratch and a start

so there's me, sitting peacefully on the couch reading as usual. I'd been sick all week and so, to my inmense joy i got to stay home from school. i had finally built up the enegry to crawl out of my bed and onto the sofa in the lounge where i could read a book and, if i wished, i could stare out of the window and down the quiet street. about two minutes walk from my house was the beach so i could also watch the sea from the lounge aswell. i was greatly enjoying sitting there, book in hand, house as silent as it should be during the week. silence is golden they say and now i know egsactly what they mean. i had the whole house to myself, and i was enjoying it so much i was greaving at the fact i was no longer sick. i would have to go to school tomorrow. and when the weekend came, the house would no longer be empty and quiet. Then a sudden explosion from down stairs shock me from my seat. "I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFULL!!!"
"I was!"
"IF YOU WERE YOU WOULDN'T HAVE..."
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!!"
"ACCIDENT!?"
"YES! sorry,I-I didn't mean to..."
"YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO ME!!!"
"I never meant t-to, s-sorry"
my younger sister, Amanda, had a habbit of stuttering when she got angry or nervious. I'm guessing she was feeling a bit of both at the moment.Blake, my older brother, had the frustrating habbit of yelling at the top of his voice if something wasn't going how he liked it. it was his voice that was booming up the stairs now. "ITS BLOODY MASSIVE!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T SEE IT!!! OPEN YOUR EYES YOU IDIOT!" I could hear someone running up the stairs. Mandys head soon apeared, her eyes wide. she quickly ran to my side, perhaps to seek pretection from our rawing brother. i continued to read thinking Blake had calmed down. He hadn't. "GET DOWN HERE YOU LITTLE TWIT!!!" i should have known better. my silence was murdered. Blake's footsteps thundered up the stairs. i could hear him a mile away, unlike little Amanda. She was so small and pateet i sometimes imaged i could break her in half. Blake was probably sharing this thought as he finally reached the top of the stair case, his eyes blazing. "THAT," pokeing his finger in Mandy's direction. "THAT LITTLE COW SCRATCHED MY CAR!!!"
"you were the one who crashed into my bike!" squeaked Mandy
"YOU LEFT YOUR BLOODY BIKE IN THE WAY!!!"
"no, you just can't drive. it was well out of the way"
"ARE YOU BLIND!!! YOU OPENED THE CAR DOOR ON IT AND SCRATCHED MY CAR!!!"
"ok, sorry. Just calm down." i growned. If ever there was a line that made anyone that was angry into a furrious rageing monster, "clam down" was it. Amanda had dug her own grave, it was time for me to step in. I've told you what my brother and my little sister's annoying habbits are, i supose its time i told you what my annoying habbits are. amoung other things, one of my annoying habbits is peace keeping. "YOU ARE SO PAYING FOR A NEW COAT OF PAINT!!!" Blake Yelled
"She doesn't need to pay for anything, it was an accident." I put my peace making skills into action. "BUT OUT OF THIS RICKY!!!" Blake seemed to be the only person who resented my peace makeing. Mostly because it was usually him i was trying to make peace with. "No i wont. Not when your trying to con Manda into paying for something she didn't even hardly do."
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!"
"NO!" sometimes when your trying to stop a fight you have to make it worse before you make it better.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY!!!" it wasn't a question, it was a challenge.
"i said no you deaf fool. i wont shut up and she wont pay"
even though my voice was little more than a whisper, Blake stepped backwards as if i had yelled at the top of my voice. He went red and i could see him getting ready to yell a reply but the grandfather clock sitting in the corner of the room sang the next hour. i knew what this meant, it meant he was late for work and we wouldn't have to deal with him again until he came home drunk sometime later that night. Mandy and i decided to cross that bridge when we came to it. meanwhile, i wished for nothing more than to return to my book. "Thanks Ricky." Mandy whispered as Blake thundered back down the stairs. "No probs. anytime." was my reply. As Amanda went into the next room to start on her homework i settled back down with my book. Silence. the way the house should be. When i get my own house it would be silent all the time. Perhaps I'd have a Husband and some Children. Perhaps i'd have a flat mate. Perhaps i'd be alone. in any case, i'd make sure that every day i'd put aside some time for silence. My life would be a happy one.

i was jolted out of my daydream by the arrival of my father and my other older brother, Taylor. Perhaps this is a good time to tell you how large my family is. there are Nine of us. Seven Kids, two parents.Now you might apreciate how much i love silence. I'm number four. First is Blake, the oldest,he's twenty five, loudest and most dangerous of them all. Katey comes second at age twenty two, she went over to Australia about a year ago and never came back. we get postcards from her every now and then saying how great it is over there. Dad refuses to read them beacause he said she left him for our rival nation. You might have guessed we live in New Zealand. I think Dad was being silly but later that day i saw him sneak a look at them after Mum put them on the fridge. Next is Taylor, nineteen and at univercity, Dad's favourite Son. Taylor was good at everything and he never hesitated to put me to shame. He was Smarter, faster and stronger than i am, although he does say that i am stronge for a girl. Don't let my name fool you, i am a girl. My real name is Rhona but everyone calls me Ricky. I'm the sportyest girl in my year. my room is full of trofies and metals, but never the less, i still love a good book. And, when i say MY room, i really mean OUR room. My parents aren't rich, i share my room with my little sister Amanda. She is the next in line. Amanda is Thirteen. Three years younger than me. I'm sixteen. Last, but by all means, not least are the twins. Dale and Daniel. I'm not even going to waste my breath telling you how annoying they are. All my family has annoying trates and habbits but Dale and Dan ARE SOULY annoying trates and habbits. its as though all the annoying qualities in the world were put together and Mum gave birth to them. TWO of them. They are both eight and haven't seemed to growen out of the terrible twos. Sometimes i wish mum and Dad had just stopped at Manda. Shes not so bad, even fun at times. I'll tell you about my Mum and Dad. Dad likes to hide his emotions, just like Blake, the only emotion he really truely lets everyone see is his anger. Although its less seen than Blake's. But both Dad and Blake can be pretty fun at times. Now, Mum. She is a legand i tell you. most teenagers wouldn't admit this about their Mum but i'm not the sort to tell unnessisary lyes. She, along with Dad, raised seven kids. Not a challenge many would take up i tell you. Why am i giving more credit to my Mum than my Dad? Well, for one, Mum gave birth to all of us. Ouch! She also cooks, cleans, works and who knows what else. Legindary. Thats the only word left in the english dictionary that describes her.

Dale and Daniel share a room. Amanda and i share a room, Katey shared it with us before she left. I think she left because Manda snores but don't tell her i said so. Taylor and Blake share a room and, of course, Mum and Dad also share a room. This is my life and i'd like to share some of it with you, if you'd like. My family is very large so we're used to sharing. Another reason my life as a teenager is hard. Hand-me-downs. I'll tell you more about that later but for now, another thing teenagers have trouble with, sleep.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment