Last Day: The Day Innocence Was Lost

"D ... its time to wake up."

"... D ..."

"...D. We need you to drive the truck."

My eyes finally open to who is waking me. It was my aunt. I had fallen asleep on the living room couch as I would normally do when my parents had gone out the night before. Normally I would hear them walk in the front door and at their best attempt while durnk, quietly stagger up the stairs to their bedroom. But last night, I heard nothing.

I smell something. So strong it reaches my stomache before I can fully awaken myself. Its not from my aunt who is still hovering over me. No. Instead this smell is familiar, and vast. It consumes the entire living room. Its source has been present for a while now. Its familiar, reminiscent. Its beer breath. Kind of sad when you realise that I'm only 12 years old and I can clearly recognize this smell. And I know its exact indication too. Beer breath in the living room means my father has made it to the bedroom and has fallen asleep on the couch next to me.

I finally sit up and gather my sense just as my aunt is about to wake away. And sure enough, the loud snores of my father releasing the vomit induing aroma of beer breath into the air proves me right. All familiar, except my aunt is here. Thats new. She's never here.

"Get up" she says, "we need you to drive the truck."

I look around again, soaking up the scenario I've awoken into in an attempt to understand what's going on. The sun has just risen over the mountian. "It's about 7 in the morning I think to myself." I yawn and get a biff whiff of stale beer breath; its not as vomit inducing as it first was. I see that the TV's off, unusual since I was the last of the kids to fall asleep and it was on then. there's and odd aura lingering in the air, something doesn't feel right. I see my aunt in what looks like tip toeing out the living and cautiously walk across the kitchen and down the stairs.

"Where's my mom?" I'm finally awake to speak. I follow her.

"She's in the bathroom downstairs. Wheres your brother and sister?"

"Asleep upstairs."

Thinking aloud I ask "Drive the truck to where?"

"To my house." Thats odd, she's never really enjoyed me and my bother at her house; not because she didn't like us but because when we would visit we'd leave the biggest mess possible and simply leave. Hence she would avoid when ever possible.

I follow her down the stairs as she disappears behind a door corner. I see the front door is wide open. The sun faintly but surely reflects its rays off the truck that I'm supposed to drive. Driving at 7 in the morning; been able to drive for 4 years now, but I've never had to drive in the morning.

I make my way down the short flight of stairs and peer around the corner which my aunt had just disappeared from. I hear her speak softly as I see my mom for the first time that morning. "D's awake."

"Okay," my mom sobs as she wipes the blood from her face.

A moment of eternal time consumes me whole. I don't know what to do or what to say. So I do nothing. I say nothing. Instead I watch and listen.

My mom wipes the tears from her eyes which also wipes away more blood. "Your coming to my place," My aunt instructs her.

"What about my truck," my mom asks.

"D's going to drive it."

"Ok."

Somehow, in this eternal time I'm consumed in, my younger brother and sister make their way from the beds, through the beer breathed consumed room, out the front door without me noticing. But they didn't see the blood on my mom. And no would, noe but me and my aunt; for that I'm glad. My mom and younger siblsings packed in with my aunt and they were off driving down the drive-way when I pulled myself out of the shock. And I had followed alone; fully realising that we had just left my father alone on the couch in a vast, now empty home ... house.