Untitled

The clouds looked strange that day. I kept staring at them as we walked down to river. The sun peered out of a little break in the center and they were puffy and yellow. The air, a mixture of warm and cold whispered in my ear that we should turn around but yet again I was influenced by Roxy. We could see the river now and Roxy ran through the trees to get to it. Everything was making me nervous. Focused on Roxy standing on top a rock that peered off into the water, my chuck got stuck on a branch. I screamed Roxy’s name like I had been murdered. She turned to face me with a dumb-founded look on her face. “Roseanne, stop being so freaked out. It’s not going to rain,” she said. I unstuck my foot from the branch and took a deep, deep breath and kept moving. Billy, my younger brother was right by Roxy’s side egging her bad behavior on. “See if you can swing off that branch into the water Rox!” Billy yelled. “No, Bill. Rose will have a heart attack,” replied Roxy. I stood there watching them with my arms folded staring at those clouds with my feet in the water. I couldn’t get over how they looked. I had never saw clouds like that before. They were moving really quick too. The water was calm so I didn’t suspect a tornado or hurricane. Besides, we didn’t get them around where I was form. I sat there skipping rocks to ease my nerves for awhile but I couldn’t let go of the way those clouds looked. I took my journal out of my back pocket and began to draw them. “Hey! Whatcha doing?! Come play with us Rosie!” Yelled Billy. “Just a minute Bill, I want to draw these clouds out.” I replied. Then I saw it. It was a face. At least it looked like a face. But then as soon as I had on paper it went away. Maybe I was being too obsessed, maybe I did need a break and needed to spend time with my siblings. I sat down my journal on a rock nearby and went to go skip rocks on the riverside.

            “Not like that Bill, throw it like daddy showed you how to throw a curveball.” I said. “Like this?” Eagerly said Billy. “You got it, but you need a bigger rock than that.” I said. Meanwhile Roxy was nowhere to be found. “Where’s Rox?” I asked impatiently.  “Over there by the rock you were sitting on earlier.” Said Billy calmly. I rushed over to her in fright that she was reading my journal when I got to the rock I was sitting on my journal was no longer there. “Where’s my journal?!” “How should I know? I walked over here two seconds ago. I was over at the other side of the river and you did not even notice.” Said Roxy. “What were you doing over there? And how do I know you didn’t hide it.” I asked.  “Roseanne, I didn’t even know you had a journal, but there is some type of village of there and I think they saw me so forget your journal why would you.” “It was the face.” I said out loud. “What. No wonder mom and daddy think you have issues c’mon Billy let’s get outta here.” Said Roxy. And on that walk home the sky cleared up as soon as we left the secluded river the creepy clouds went away, how does someone explain that.

            I helped mom prepare dinner like I always do and I always bring a sunflower from the walk to river. Sunflowers are the only things she has to smile at since my older brother Phil left for war. As I helped mom prepare dinner Rox and Bill snuggle next to our broken radio to hear any new news about the war. I turned to grab tomatoes from the pantry and see the face I saw at the river. It was clear now. It was a face I once saw before, but it was no longer there. It was my brother’s face. I ran to the radio to hear what was going on. I heard a man’s voice that I was not very familiar with. But he said with a strange accent. “Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” My mother rushed in after hearing the strange man’s voice. “What did he say Rose?” said Mother with a worried look in her eyes.

            That night lying in bed I put all the pieces together. Phil was dead.