Three Days Earlier

I awoke, trying to remember a dream I had. I knew that it was exciting, and something wonderful had happened. But like most dreams, it was slipping away and leaving me with only the sadness it wasn't real.

Opening my eyes, I looked around and saw that it was still dark out. A glance at the clock warned me I only had a short time to get ready for school. At least it was a Friday; it would allow me to enjoy the weekend and spend time with friends.

I nearly tripped over my NES controller wire but managed to catch myself as I got dressed and searched for my school stuff. As I put my controllers away I found my textbooks. I had left them open while attempting to do my homework and play Contra. I had only managed to finish half of my math. Better hope I didn’t get in trouble. I finished putting my textbooks and stuff into my backpack and slung it over my shoulder before running downstairs.

Not seeing my younger sister, I frowned. “Is Sarah actually going to be late for school?” I asked my mom.

She shook her head in exasperation. “No, unlike you, she gets up in time to go to school; she has the day off for teacher stuff,” she said.

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “Hey, it’s not my fault I read all night….okay maybe it is, but you and dad are the ones that got me interested in reading so much.”

I grabbed a bowl of cereal as for once I would have enough time to eat before I had to catch the bus. “So is this the year we go to grandma and grandpa’s house for Christmas, or are we staying here?” I ask while eating.

She smiled, “We're going to their house this year, but please don’t talk while your eating. We're leaving after you get out of school for the holidays.”

With a nod of my head, I finished up. “That's great, just two weeks away, and I can’t wait,” I said, hoping to see my cousins, which I haven't gotten to see too often as they lived in another city.

I stood, “I might do something with my friend after school, but should be home for dinner. "I said before kissing her and running out the door towards the bus. It looked like it might be another green Christmas this year. There was no snow on the ground, though it was cold enough to make me hope for snow.

I climbed onto the bus and found a seat near the middle and watched the scenery go by. Seeing the beautiful morning sky made me think of how I wished I didn't have to go to school. Or could be like a bird and just fly around and see the world, rather than stuck worrying about math. Though I guessed I would miss my family and friends.

Upon reaching school, I headed to my locker and spotted my friend. I snuck up on Frank and hit the back of his cap with my hand, trying to knock it off, but only managed to get it halfway.

He joked, “Hey, keep that up and I will use your dad to sue you for brain damage.”

“I think it looks better crooked that way. Either way, I should get to class. Meet in the computer lab during lunch for the usual round of Netrek with the others?” I asked as Frank nodded.

My first class was math, which I got yelled at by the teacher for not doing my homework. But he was nice enough to give me another chance to do it over the weekend. If it wasn’t ready by Tuesday, then I would be in trouble.

After that was my favorite class, biology, as I loved learning about animals and what they were like. This time it was just learning about human biology, which I didn’t mind, but wasn’t as exciting as learning about different kinds of birds or such.

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As a kid, I had wanted to be an eagle when I grew up, even going as far as to make a nest out of my blankets. It was silly, but something that always seemed to come to me at times, like something was missing. I now know it’s silly to think about such things, but as a kid, it was almost an obsession.

Finally, after a whole segment about the hands and feet, the bell rang for lunch and I quickly ate before meeting my friends In the computer room.

“Hey guys,” I called as they had already started a game. I moved to a computer and joined in. Finding john and started to attack him I was playing as the Federation for the moment and he was Romulan, and always seemed to be faster than me, and almost immediately died. “Why do I always lose no matter what I do?” I asked.

John laughed, “That’s just because you suck.”

“Well, you don’t have to rub it in" I groaned. "Want to hang out this weekend?"

Charlie smiled, “We should hang out. I know john works tomorrow, but what about you Frank?”

"My mom wants me to help her clean out the garage, so I may be busy." Frank said with a sigh.

I noded and smile, “How about a movie Sunday? I checked, and it’s the rescuers down under. It’s something I’ve wanted to see for a while.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a kid's movie?” said john frowning.

“Hey, I like kids movies; if they are good, why not see it?” I said indignantly.

“I bet you just want to see it because of the eagle?” he laughed “You’ve been obsessed about them ever since we were kids,” groaned charlie.

“Hey, doesn’t hurt, but it’s still Dinsey and their movies are usually good.” I shrugged at that.

After a yell of excitement, Frank finally chimed in, “Got you, John. Pay more attention, and I’m up for the movie. It would be fun to see it, I think. Sides John, might be girls there that you could hit on.”

“Fine, but only because of the girls.” said John as he relented.

Laughing, I shook my head. “Sounds good. How about today we go play Smash TV at the arcade.”

Frank quickly said, “I totally Veto that. I don’t think the manager would like us smashing all his arcade cabinets.”

“You know what he meant. It’s a new video game that came out.” laughed Charlie.

We all laughed at that, “Not sure how long four dollars will last but I have enough to play for a bit.” I said.

“Sure, maybe we can find some girl; if not, it will be a fun way to pass time till we have to go home.” Piped in Charlie.

I nodded, “Well let's meet at the bus after school.”

I quickly ran off to my English class, where we talked about the book we were reading, and I handed the one piece of homework I had done. It was a worksheet related to the book, Treasure island we were reading. I got a homework assignment of writing a poem about the book. I groaned, I loved reading, but poems were definitely not my thing.

From there, it was cooking. I loved cooking even if most guys thought it was for girls. It was fun and why wouldn’t I enjoy it. When we were making muffins, somehow I screwed up the recipe, and they ended up more liquid in the bottom.

Once at the mall, we quickly found the arcade and played smash tv for an hour. It definitely was a quarter eating game, but it also was incredibly fun even if we didn’t get very far.

Afterward, I walked my friends to the bus before I turned to head back home as my house wasn’t too far away. I was excited about the movie, as I’ve wanted to see it since I saw the trailer. Something about the eagle filled me with excitement and joy as seeing one of them so often did. As I neared my home, I heard what sounded like an eagle cry above me and looked up to see a bird flying overhead, but instead of a bald eagle like I expected, I saw a crow, or more likely a raven giving a small smile. Even if I was disappointed it wasn’t an eagle, it was still nice to see a bird. I gave a little wave with my hand. Blinking a few times, I looked at it curiously as for a second there it seemed to give a small wing wiggle at me, but couldn’t be sure.

Shortly after watching it fly into the distance with a small wistful look, I wished that I could speak to animals and spend more time with them. But it was something that I knew was impossible and probably silly to even think about.

Realizing it was almost dinner time, I ran the rest of the way home, barely taking time to remove my socks and shoes as I came inside and removed my jacket. The food was already on the table, with my six-year-old sister already sitting and my mom was bringing in the food.

I smiled. “Sorry, I’m late, ended up going to the mall.”

My mom chuckled. “You're actually just on time. Could you get your dad? He’s watching tv. We can all sit down to eat.”

I nodded my head and smiled at my sister. “You have fun today?” I asked her. “Wish I got to stay home today.”

She nodded her head. “Helped mom make dinner and watched some tv."

“Dad, mom says that it’s time for dinner,” I said to him.

He smiled from the couch he was sitting on while watching the news. “Already?”

“Yeah, let's go eat before mom complains again,” I said as I rushed back into the dining room to eat.

Looking over the table, I saw that we were having pasta with crab, one of my favorite dishes. Nothing too complicated; a four-cheese sauce with crab, and some kind of noodle. I smiled as my sister said grace, and I started to eat before speaking up, “So I was going to go see the rescuers down under Sunday with my friend, any chance we could get a ride?” I asked. It wasn’t TOO far to walk, but far enough that it could take a while to get there and back.

My mom nodded, “Well if you go to the matinee, I can do it. But you need to do any homework that you have first, so head up after you eat and get some of it done.”

I groaned but nodded and took my bag from near the door where I left it with my jacket. I headed up into my room and started to work on it. I got through half the math homework that I hadn’t completed before and would hopefully finish the rest the next day. I started on the poem but only got partway through and got most of my math done before I heard my mom calling up the stairs, “Okay Mike, time to get to sleep."

I looked out my bedroom door, “Sure, mom.” and finished my stuff up. I was a little tired, so I climbed into bed without even trying to read a book. As I drifted off, part of me hoped that maybe I would pick up whatever dream I had the night before, as it felt nice even if I couldn’t remember it.