Five

I woke up in the hospital. I don't even know what happened. Mom said I was in a bad car accident. Then she left really quickly to go to work. Dad and Edith are here. Both sleeping. I have no clue what time it is, but it's dark outside.

Last thing I remember was talking to some people outside occupy. We were starting an anti-occupy movement?

Everything is so fuzzy.

Goddammit. Where is my left arm?
Oh my god. No. No. NO.
Dad starts to grumble and shift in his chair. He opens his eyes for just a second and sees me freaking out.
"Sorry kiddo" is all he says.
"Dad, what happened?"
"Well there was a bad accident with your friend...uh...Heather? Was that her name?"
"Okay, well what about this?" I ask pointing to my arm. Or lack thereof.
"Yeaaah. Well...okay. So your arm somehow got pinned between the car and the ground. They couldn't get you out without mangling your arm. But the good news is, you are going to be ok." He half smiles at me.
Alright. Gotta let that one sink in for a bit. Why was I with Heather? I barely knew her. Ugh this is insane. Wait...
"Is Heather alright?"
"Yeah she's fine. Haven't heard anything. No news is good news, I guess"
Okay well at least she's not dead. Like my freaking left arm. This is so gross.  What am I supposed to do with a giant useless nub? Ugh its nasty lookin too. At least I can get out of school for a little bit I guess. 

Four

Occupy has taken over. It's pretty stupid considering how small this town is, I don't know how much of an impact they're going to have. It's not like there are news stations down here covering their every move. They don't even have enough people to fill all the tents. Or at least that's what I heard. Are they just waiting for people to join them? Anyway I feel bad for them because it's been raining a lot lately. Not even just raining. Storming. Thunder and lighting and all that jazz. If i was them I would leave that tent fast.

I wonder if they can hear those weird noises from the building next door. Edith pointed them out to me a couple days ago. The noise is not that loud. Not that frequent either. But it's definitely there. Creepy? Maybe a little bit. I kinda want to find out what it is.

"Edith, want to go find out what's making that noise?"

"No no no."

"Why not?"
"It scares me."

"Scares you? I thought you were fearless"

"Well anything else. That noise is just weird."

"Ok fine. I'll find someone else to go with."

Well that adventure is shot. Usually Edith is up for anything. Maybe I can convince her later when it's not so dark and stormy out. Hopefully it'll get sunny soon. But it's doubtful. This storming has been going on so long it seems like it'll never stop. I guess I should leave the house and run some errands before it gets bad. Dad is asleep. Mom should be home soon. I'll be back before she is. I start to head into Edith's room to ask if she wants to come with, but then decide it'd be better to go alone.

Three

It's gross outside. One of those days you don't want to leave the house. Scratch that, your bed. At least it's a Sunday.

I turn on the radio. WTF is playing some good, if not odd, morning music. Who names a station WTF anyway? This town is weird.

Edith comes in from the kitchen and says "We don't have any breakfast food left."

"Should we go to the grocery store?"

"Or we could go out to breakfast."

"Where?"

"There's a coffee shop that probably has breakfast food." Coffee. Yes.

"OK, let me just get dressed." It looks a little chilly. I grab a sweatshirt. And we're out the door. Edith is so excited to be leaving the apartment. I wish I was too. I'm more apprehensive. I still don't know very many people at school. Not that I'm anti-social, I just don't find the need to talk to people all the time. I figure I'll only be here a couple more years if that so I might as well focus on school and try to get into college.

As we approach the coffee shop, there is obviously something wrong. Edith starts laughing. "I think that bus is stuck". I look closer. Yeah definitely stuck on the corner. How does that even happen? "Can we still go to the coffee shop?"

"I dunno Edith, it looks closed." People are just standing outside. A lot of them. I really don't want any of them to talk to me. "Let's just go to the grocery story. I'll make some toast and eggs." And I can pick up some coffee.

"Are you sure you don't want to try the coffee shop Ethel?"

"Yeah maybe another time Edith. It just looks really busy right now. We'd probably have to wait

in a long line to get any food. The grocery store will be better."

Edith makes her pouty puppy face. I've seen it before. "It won't work Edith." She just laughs. We

start to make our way to the grocery store.

Two

Edith and I leave apartment 408 on our way to the park. We take the stairs as usual. We have a game we play to see how many steps we can jump down. I usually let her win. She's saying something about the park. Waterbury something? I guess I'll find out when I get there.

As we get out on Poplar St, Edith points out somebody sitting on the side of the clinic. A man, blind I think. Probably just begging for change. Edith asks me if we can give him some change. I would but I have nothing on me. "Maybe later," I tell her.

"What if he needs it now?"

"He would be begging a lot harder dont'cha think?"

"Can I just run inside and get some money?"

"How about after we get back from the park?"

"Promise?"
"Sure."

We continue on our way. I'm still thinking about the blind man though. How did he become blind? Why won't anyone help him? Is he always there? Whatever, I guess I can ask him when Edith helps him out. If I'm still thinking about it. Hopefully I'm not.

Edith and I arrive at the park. It's nice enough. Trees and grass and such. I see the pond she was talking about, Waterbury. It's got some trash in it. We just walk about a bit. "Can we go back now?" Edith whines.

"Sure thing."

We head back to Poplar. The blind man is still there. "I'll run up real fast and get some change," Edith says. I wait for her by the door. Someone drops a coin in the bowl in front of the blind man and he says something i can't hear. Will he say something to us? God, is this guy crazy? Is this just a terrible idea? But I promised Edith. She comes running out the door. We go over to the man. He hears us walk up and cocks his head in anticipation. Edith drops the coin in and says "Have a good day."

"I have already. The truth with all its power lies inside me," the blind man replies.

Yeah definitely a crazy.

But it sounds familiar. I kinda like it. It makes me feel a bit empowered as we start heading back to apt. 408. I fell like there's something new in me. I dunno what exactly. But it's probably nothing. But maybe the crazy wasn't so crazy after all.

Either way, there was something else I had to do today. Probably a couple things actually. But first something to eat. A fried egg sandwich in fact. Yum. Then I head on down to the grocery store. Ugh. Maybe I'll just go later. With this new truth and its power stuff in me, I want to go explore this town a little bit more.

One

The day started out with the buzz of the alarm. 6:30 on the dot. I hit the snooze bar. My intentions for the day were to be productive but, I dozed off again. No better way to start of the day than with a little procrastination. I could smell the burnt toast my mother made. "It's the most important meal of the day, Ethel" momma always said. If only it could be a bit more appetizing. The alarm went off again. I roll over and put my feet on the ground. It was hot. Well more humid really. Definitely putting my hair up today. Sitting up I see the unpacked boxes all over my room. Moving in was rough. I hate having to put my whole life in a box and then take it all back out somewhere new. At least the Castle Apartments are nice. Well nicer than our last place. We have a view now. Sort of. Living on the fourth floor I can see to Sherwood Park. I haven't been yet. It looks a bit dingy. Maybe I'll take Edith later today

But first I need to go apply for that job at the grocery store. Our new neighbor said they were always hiring teenagers over there. I start to walk out the door when dad yells "Where are you going?"

"To get a job"

"Not before you finish unpacking"

"I'm done"

"You sure about that, Ethel?"

"Yep"

"Then I can clear out those boxes?"

"Well about those..."

"Get it done Ethel"

Back to the bedroom to tackle the boxes. Monster, our fat cat, fell asleep on the box with all my books in it. I guess I'll start with my clothes then. Edith comes in to help me. Or at least help the only way 10 year olds know- she's mostly doing some personal shopping in my closet. She startes babbling and asking questions.

"Why haven't you taken all your stuff out yet?"

"I dunno"

"Do you like living out of a box?"

"You've been around mom way too long Edith."

"Well what else is there to do?"

"Do you want to go to the park later?"

"I already went with mom."

"Good then you can show me around. But first let's finish getting all this junk out"

We finished unpacking. Well three boxes anyway. That's some progress made. Only two more to go. "I think that's good enough" Edith sighs. We start to walk out the door again.

"Where are you going?" Dad again. He was reading the newspaper and drinking a coffee. Lots of cream, but no sugar. I'm the exact opposite.

"To the park. We're almost done. We just need a little break from the boxes. We'll be at the park if you need us."

"What happened to that job?"

"I'll go later"

And with that dad gave a shrug of his big shoulders and turned back to the paper while we shut the sticky door of our new apartment and started out toward Sherwood Park