Fairyland Problems

She got the glasses and forced them onto my face so hard that they broke in half. “Great job, A+ parenting. Now I’m grounded, but thank the gods I can’t see you”

I’d never say that, of course. But It’s the thought that counts, right? I stormed up to my room and slammed the door only to find my very surprised little sister in my room. “Suzie, I’ve told you a million times to stay out of my room.” she was playing with my legos, which usually I don't have that much of a problem with unless I’m already peeved, and today, I was definitely peeved. Why are my glasses so important anyway? I picked her up as carefully as I could and put her down outside my room, then closed my door. I hopped on my bed and fell asleep.

I was awakened by a screaming voice. One I recognized. It was Diana. What was she doing in my house? “Get up Tyler”, she said. “Your sister isn’t breathing” I stood up and the fog cleared from my head. We were home alone. It was just me, my sister and apparently, Diana. I rushed to my sister who was lifeless and blue. I had been taught CPR, because my sister had asthma. No doubt she had an attack and I didn’t notice because I was asleep. “She’s been like this for about 2 minutes” Diana stated. That means I have time. I Quickly dialed 911, and explained the situation, as I began to administer CPR. She woke up somewhere In the middle and I gave her two puffs of albuterol. We were used to this struggle. The paramedics showed up and did a workup, as they called it, and came to the conclusion that her oxygen was back to normal and she’d be fine. My parents knew before they even came back. Paramedics apparently call the emergency contact on the paperwork If there are no adults present, and sadly, 19 doesn’t count.

“Why did it even get this bad?” my mother screamed into my face. She was livid. All I did was go to sleep.

“I’m sorry, I fell asleep. But I took care of it”

that wouldn’t be enough. I knew before I even opened my mouth. She’s right. It shouldn’t have ever even gotten that bad. But until I woke up I didn’t even know we were home alone. Why wasn’t I told that the apparent real adults were leaving our general vicinity? Diana was watching the entire thing, wide eyed and curious. Somehow her presence made It all worse. I just wanted to disappear.

“Took care of it? I’ll say. The paramedics said she was blue In the face!” It was almost as if she was blaming me for my sister's health problems that none of us could control.

“Yes, she was. But she’s alive, and you have me to thank for that.” I stated, in a matter-of-a-fact tone. It only made her angrier.

“You shouldn’t have been asleep in the first place!” I could hear the venom in her words as she spat them into my face. I gave up and went to my room. As usual I’d be grounded for even longer. No phone, no TV, no video games, no friends, no leaving the house. Just me, in my room thinking about how much of a failure I am. Seriously, I have no idea how this teaches me anything

“Why is life so hard?” I asked myself as I tossed a crumpled paper in the general direction of the trash can . It went too far to the left so I took the walk of shame to the can and finished the job. I heard a rustling noise outside but didn’t think anything of it.

Cats Climb the tree outside my window all the time. We even had to call the fire department one day because one of them was running from a dog and the poor thing apparently didn't think far enough into the future to realize it was afraid of heights, so it stayed in the branch next to my window, meowing until I wanted to strangle it. I noticed the noise getting louder, and then one of the branches snapped, and then something hit the ground below with a thud. I looked out my window and saw the silhouette of a man on the ground. I ran down the stairs and out the front door to check on him. I wondered why he had been in the tree in the first place, and whether or not he was okay. He wasn’t familiar, so took my phone with me, In case of any danger. Finally, I found myself near the tree, and there he was, trying to catch his breath. My guess, that fall knocked the wind out of him. “Hey, are you Okay?” I heard Myself ask. He rolled over onto his right side to face me. He really didn't seem like a threat, he looked my age or a little older.

“Yeah, I’ll live. I was just trying to climb this tree and forgot I was 300 pounds. Rookie mistake, really.” If nothing else he at least brightened my day.

“Why were you climbing the tree outside my window?” I asked.

“Well to get to you of course. I have this sixth sense. I can tell when people are lonely.” For whatever reason, his answer triggered me and suddenly I found myself screaming at the stranger.

“What’s your name anyway?!” he remained calm but he was visibly sad that I had asked that.

“Tyler, I’ve known you for a long time, my name is Will. Don’t you remember me?” He began to cry.

“You know me? How?” I was Impatient. I wanted to go back to bed.

‘We were kids together. Your mom used to make this really good macaroni that I liked, so I came over often.”

“I’m sorry I don’t remember.”

I wanted to remember, but it just didn’t ring a bell.

“You’ve been gone a really long time and when I heard you were back I just wanted to come and see you” he stated, a hint of sadness still in his voice.

“Gone? What do you mean? I’ve been right here my whole life.”

He was visibly confused, but so was I.

“One day you went to the doctors, and you just never came back. We thought you died honestly, until yesterday.”

Yesterday? Went to the doctors and never came back?

“Do you mean the day I got my glasses?” I looked at him, puzzled.

“Well, if you got your glasses on November 14th of 1998..” he never finished his sentence.

To remember a date like that, he must’ve actually thought I died. I was young when I got my glasses. It probably was close to 1998, and I remember my mom putting on a heavy jacket that she called a down jacket, and I called it a bird jacket. And if that's the case, it would have been winter of 1998. But he said I disappeared. How would I have just disappeared. Am I in an unknown dimension when I wear my glasses or something?

“Okay so my ‘disappearance’ is correlated to my glasses, probably, but how do you mean I disappeared?” he looked confused for a second and then his face relaxed.

“It was as if you never existed. We had to talk about you all the time to even remember you.”

I can’t imagine why anyone would want to remember me. I can’t do anything right. Just ask my mother. Every day she threatens to kick me out for any reason she can find. She says she’ll boot me out and give my room to my brother. I’m only 20, I’m scared of the world. My brother is horrible to her. I’m peaceful. I mostly stay in my room when I’m not working as a tech nerd for techlantis. I just don’t understand it. I will try my very best. It’s never enough.

She almost kicked me out when I was 18. She accused me of being on drugs and then packed my stuff and threw it on the front porch. Where on earth I would've even found a way to get drugs, I don’t know but she was convinced. My dad left when I was baby, so there was no one on my side. She called the local police, who gave me a breathalyzer test and let me go because I was completely clean. I hadn’t done anything wrong, either. I was just waking up and she asked me a question that involved my brain functioning. And because my brain wasn’t fully functional yet, she then assumed I was on “dope”. Does that seem reasonable to you?

Next part coming July 1st. :)