619 words
5 minute read
CAMPING OUT
(Jesse)
Lexie is super lucky. She gets her own room. I wouldn’t care if I had to sleep in the smaller room if I just got some peace and quiet. Seth sleeps like a tornado. Tossing and turning. Waking up and crying. When he finally is asleep, he grinds his teeth.
It’s the weirdest sound I’ve ever heard. Like aliens talking. It’s creepy. It’s awful going from sharing a room with both Lexie and Seth to just Seth now. I want Lexie back. Sleeping in the same room as a kid with a race car bed is just annoying. I want bunk beds again. It’s weird being so close to the ground.
Scrape-scrape-scraaaape.
I sigh. Then I think about throwing a pillow at Seth but that would wake him up and make him cry and then I would be in trouble. Instead, I grab my pillow and sneak to the door, hoping it won’t creak.
There is no third bedroom right now, so Mom and Dad are sleeping on the bed that folds out of the couch. I wish I could sleep there. Let Mom and Dad deal with Seth. I peek out the door and see Mom and Dad still busy unpacking boxes.
I take a deep breath and two quick steps and I’m in Lexie’s room.
Closing the door behind me softly, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Miss me?”
I jump and it feels like I’m never going to calm down again.
I can just make out Lexie’s smile in the dark.
“Don’t do that,” I whisper angrily. I fling my stuffed rabbit, Carrot Breath, at my sister, to retaliate. Then I toss my pillow. “Move over,” I say and climb in next to her.
“In the old house when we all three shared a room, you said you couldn’t wait to get out,” Lexie points out.
“Yeah, away from Seth. He sleeps like a garbage truck.”
Lexie giggles. “Snoring? That’s funny…”
“Not snoring, and it’s not funny. So, I decided, I’m going to camp out with you instead.”
“Yay! I missed you even if you didn’t miss me.”
“I did,” I admit. “It’s weird sleeping alone Now be quiet or Mom and Dad are going to make me go back to Baby Town.”
It’s quiet except for the TV on playing a cooking show in the living room. I love cooking shows. I want to be a chef. Our dad’s a chef, kind of. He makes all our food.
“Jess?”
“What?”
“I don’t want to have surgery.”
“I know. But let’s not talk about it, okay?”
“Yeah. Hey, you brought Carrot Breath,” she smiles and pulls Mr. Hopps away from the spot by the wall.
 |
| [Image is: One tan rabbit and one brown rabbit sharing a carrot] |
Carrot Breath and Mr. Hopps catch up about where the best spots in the yard are to find carrots. Carrot Breath is so hungry he decides to go to the refrigerator if he is hungry. Mr. Hopps wants to go, too, and check for radishes and that’s disgusting.
We stop playing.
“We’ll always be together, right?” Lexie asks.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Good,” Lexie yawns. “Don’t kick me tonight.”
“Don’t steal the blankets and I won’t have to…” I retort. Then I turn over and try to get comfortable. With Lexie close, I fall asleep in no time.
Questions for Discussion:
Jesse thinks Lexie is lucky she gets her own room. Do you prefer to have your own room, or share with someone else?
When my twin and I we're first separated to different rooms he would sneak back to me too. This continued for years. Loved seeing it here with L+J.
ReplyDeleteAwww! OMG that's the sweetest thing ever! (Ironically, I wrote this chapter YEARS ago, just figuring this is what Tara and I would have done, had we been separated.)
ReplyDelete