"Ugh...what..."

 He opened his eyes to darkness, lying on his bed. The upper bunk bed, to be exact.

 As far as he knew, the room was pitch black. Either he'd forgotten to draw the curtains back the night before or the sun hadn't risen yet, possibly both. He rolled onto his side to see the clock hung up on the wall. In this absence of light, it was barely possible to make out the positions of its hands.

 ...It was 6:00am. He got up too early again.

 He'd only just realised how warm the room felt. Maybe he had forgotten to switch the fan on last night as well and, now that he thought about it, he couldn't hear the fan whirring. But he was positive he wouldn't forget to do something so routine. It must have been switched off sometime during the night, and he had a pretty good idea by whom.

 If he wasn't so tired, he would have had half a mind to jump down and give them a whack.

 "Tch... dude, when did you switch the fan off?"

 There was no response, so he continued, "I know you're awake, damn it."

 Someone stirred on the bottom bed, making a peculiar sound akin to that of sniffing. It sounded like he was trying to muffle his snickering with a pillow.

 "Yeeep, alright, you got me."

 "Fan. Now."

 "B-but I'm lazy!"

 "God damn it..." The boy above let out an annoyed groan and sat up in his bed.

 He if wasn't so hasty, he probably wouldn't have struck his head against the wooden ceiling so sharply. And so loudly too, for that matter.

 "ARGH!!" He clutched his head where it hurt.

 "Oooo, hit your head? That's the second time this month."

 "Shut up, ow..."

 "Meh, lol."

 "Switch on the damned fan!!"

 "Alright alright, jeez bro. Talk about getting up on the wrong side of the bed."

 "Just get on with it already..."

 Still clutching the back of his head, he could hear his roommate below put on his glasses, slide off the bed and click the fan. Except he couldn't hear the fan starting up.

 "Hm, welp, looks like the thing's busted."

 The boy on the bed above said nothing.

 "Ey, you alright up there?"

 "Tomus, how did you switch the fan off?"

 "Simple! I pulled the plu- Oh."

 Somewhere in the corner of the room, he heard Tomus click the plug back into the outlet.

 ...The fan was silent and still.

 "Yep, it's dead," Tomus said and plonked himself back down onto the bed. The silence that followed was awkward, permeated only by the song of birds chirping outside.

 "...Ugh, make way."

 "You coming down? It's 6 in the mornin’, yo."

 "Yeah well, I'm gonna go get an ice pack for my head."

 "Is the closet even unlocked at this time though? Lol."

 "I'll just go get it myself..." His voice wavered ever so slightly on the word 'myself'.

 "Nah man. Glesto, you wait here and I'll go get it for ya." Just as Tomus made to get up again, something flat and heavy forced itself on his head. "Hey hey hey! Get your foot offa my hair!"

 "Oh, uh, sorry." Glesto lifted his foot and tried feeling for the ladder again, to no avail.

 "Yo, the ladder's over here."

 "Thanks."

 "...Ya sure you wanna go? I know you don't wanna."

 "Well then, you know you're gonna have to come along if I do so get up."

- - - - - - - - - -

 Glesto and Tomus Rheeman.

 The two were brothers, the classic elder and younger sibling pair. Glesto was 15. Tomus was 13.

 The two of them had polar characters, yet they were inseparable. In particular, Glesto was a tad wary of accepting any kind of help from Tomus since he knew all too well that his younger brother often had a prank waiting under his sleeve. Fortunately for him, not in this case.

 Their names were also undeniably peculiar, but their situation was even more interesting.

- - - - - - - - - -

 "How are you able to see in this darkness? You're the one with spectacles."

 "Eh, did you forget? I always do those late night explorations you never follow me on."

 "Point being?"

 "Just follow me, don't flip and land on your head again."

 "I won't say 'land' is the word I'd use in this context. It's not like I 'landed' my head against the ceiling."

 "Yep, you straight rapped your head on it."

 "I wouldn't say I 'rapped' my head on the ceiling either..."

 "Pfft. We're here, let's get the packs and go, lol."

 Glesto groped around gingerly in the dark for the door's handle. His palm came upon something fabric and firm.

 "I know I'm hot, but hands off please."

 "Ah, sorry."

 He turned around and felt along the wall, coming upon a protrusion from the wall. Although, it felt too small to be any kind of door knob, and certainly too high...

 "Tomus, what am I holding?"

 "That's the clothes peg, genius."

 "...Maybe you should get the ice pack instead."

 "Oh come on, why'd you insist on coming down here yourself then?"

 Glesto heard Tomus walk somewhere to his right and open a door ("Oooh, it's unlocked."), who then proceeded to pull him inside the room by the shirt.

 "Hey, easy on the collar..."

 "Here we are, aaand let there be light!"

 He clicked a switch, and the lamp flickered to life. The lightbulb was rather weak, but it was enough to brighten the shelves and the various items littered on them. Among them were medical drugs, cough syrups and bottles of possibly-expired orange juice.

 The ice packs they sought were on the floor. Tomus bent over to pick them up.

 "Hm, don't really remember these things being on the ground."

 "Might be rats pushing things off again, she won't be happy to find more of them around..."

 "What won't I be happy to find more of around?" The firm voice came from behind and seemed to echo in the brief shocked silence that followed.

 "Ah!? Oh, u-um, hi ma'am."

 "Hiya Aunt Kole!"

- - - - - - - - - -

 Secondly, the boys lived with a distant but caring relative, Aunt Kole.

 The two of them had no issues living with her apart from the occasional, trivial arguments.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

 Every once in a long while, someone found an unwanted critter in the house. Sometimes it was a rat, sometimes a lizard, sometimes cockroaches. There had even been a mantis once, although it was promptly stepped on by Tomus (before Glesto could get it in a jar).

 It wasn't always them who found the pests first, for they certainly weren't the only three living there.

- - - - - - - - - -

 "Alright you two, what were you up to?"

 They blankly stared at Aunt Kole, though they couldn't see her face properly in the dark; she was standing outside the closet where the light didn't reach. Even so, they could tell that she was definitely staring back.

 "Well? Were you two trying to steal the orange juice again? Certainly they've expired by now, I should probably get rid of it all."

 Tomus pursed his lips. He was still clutching the ice pack. With both hands. Behind his back.

 "Tomus, I know you're hiding something."

 "...Aw, you got me. But this was Glesto's idea!"

 "Hey, since when was this whole thing on me?"

 Aunt Kole took a deep breath.

 "Please don't start bickering at this hour, you can both continue when the sun comes up." She shifted her view towards Glesto.

 "Although if I had to guess, is this about Glesto bumping his head on the ceiling again?"

 "Yes ma'am."

 "Yep."

 She sighed with a hint of a smile.

 "Oh alright, you two are off the hook. But no more wee hour item snatching, alright? Go and help wake Lucas and Karen for me."

 "Yes ma'am."

 "Alrighty Aunt Kole!"

 Aunt Kole nodded, fiddling with a switch somewhere to the left of her shoulder (Glesto couldn't quite see what she was doing in the dark). Without time for reaction, the lights outside the closet came on.

 They were blinding.

 "Oh dear, perhaps I shouldn't have done that so soon," Aunt Kole said with squinted eyes.

 "You're right about that, ma'am," said Glesto as he raised an arm to shield his eyes. Tomus, on the other hand, had no such reaction apart from a mischievous grin.

 "Welp, I have transition lens so I don't much care! Haha! Ha! Haa... I'll go get Lucas."

- - - - - - - - - -

 Tomus had gotten myopia from an early age. He had sustained an injury to both eyes, rendering permanent damage. Although after he got his glasses, his happy-go-lucky nature never quite faltered.

 Glesto had an irrational fear of the dark. He was entering his pre-teen years when it became apparent he was adamant against getting up at night, even if he had to really go to the bathroom, resulting in Tomus's constant teasing of having wet his bed. When Tomus had pressed him to explore Aunt Kole's home at night, Glesto was rather against the concept of walking around in the dark even if his brother was there to guide him, though he did impulsively decide to follow Tomus on several trips. Perhaps as an odd side effect to the phobia, it became harder for him to see in the dark. Or maybe he was just unwilling to open his eyes.

 Lucas was aware of this as well, but Karen actually tried to help Glesto overcome this fear.

- - - - - - - - - -

 "Hey. Hey! HEY! Lukey!"

 "Unngh, calm down. I'm trying to sleep here, Tomus."

 "That ain't no way to get up in the mornin'! Now get yo lazy ass UP!"

 With that, he pulled the sheets entirely off of Lucas.

 "...Oops, only meant to pull these aside, not onto the floor."

 "Crud. Fine, I'll get up."

 Lucas was a rather small boy for his age. He was also 13, but was at least three inches shorter than Tomus who stood at 162 centimetres.

 "Ooo, you're even shorter when you're sitting down."

 "Who isn't?"

 "Right."

 Someone walked past the bedroom door; Tomus took care to eavesdrop on the passing conversation.

 "Say, Glesto, did you hit your head on the ceiling again?" This voice was female, meek and cheery. Karen had gotten up quick.

 "Figured you'd have heard that."

 "Well, your room is right next to mine after all. I thought you would have learned to watch the ceiling after staying here so long."

 "Did I actually wake you up with that?"

 "Yes! From the sounds of it, you bonked your head pretty hard!"

 "Don't I always hit my head pretty hard?"

 "Well uh, yeah. But still!"

 "It's bad enough that I need another ice pack for it is what you mean."

 "I guess. Looks like mom's already waiting for us downstairs, did you wake her up too?"

 "No, she's the one who caught..." And their voices trailed off as they walked down the stairs.

 Tomus pretty much forgot Lucas was right next to him.

 "Would you kindly leave the room so that I may change?"

 "Eh? Not even a 'hi' first?"

 "Hi."

 Then Lucas proceeded to shove him outside. Tomus could feel the force of the door slamming behind him.

 "Sheesh, much privacy..."

- - - - - - - - - -

 Karen Kole was Aunt Kole's only daughter aged at 14, younger than Glesto by only a few months. She was a friendly soul, a bright and enthusiastic girl blooming with charisma to friends and acquaintances alike.

 Lucas Wyera was a friend of Karen and Tomus who sometimes visited for overnights. Not that Aunt Kole disapproved of their friendship, but Tomus could have sworn that he saw her forcing Lucas to take the storage room the first time he visited, which happened to be the farthest from Karen's room. 

 The brothers' first few months living in Aunt Kole's home were awkward; Karen was once shy and hid from them, but she grew to befriend them over the years.

 In a few days, however, they would be leaving for a short while.

- - - - - - - - - -

 "So you and Tomus are going the morning after next?"

 "Pretty much. I bet I'll get homesick in no time."

 "Don't you wonder what Europe's like? It's probably a lot more happening than here in Melbourne."

 "Have an open mind, you won't know till you see it for yourself."

 "I guess. By the way, here comes your brother."

 "Oh, hi Tomus."

 "Hiya bro!" Now that all the lights were on, Tomus got a good look at everyone:

 Glesto was in a sparingly striped black over red shirt. He was in a casual set of long green pants on which there were several cosmetic yellow streaks. His black hair black hair was combed but from the looks of it, he had done a rather shallow job as usual. Glesto's eyes were a deep brown that could pass for black and his skin was quite tan, making everyone else seem several shades whiter.

 Karen had changed into a white polo tee paired with yellow skorts. She tied her brown hair into a ponytail today, the front falling forward as bangs. Her cyan eyes were restless, darting between Glesto and Tomus as if expecting some kind of drama to begin. Like her mother, her skin was fair.

 Aunt Kole, who was walking into the kitchen next to the stairs to make breakfast, was still in her indigo nightgown dotted with white flower patterns. She had already worn her contacts (she wasn't bumping into anything, after all) and appeared to have already done her black, shoulder length hair as well; she didn't tie it up or anything of the sort, but she did comb it. Her eyes were dark green, holding a certain maternal authority.

 Tomus himself was wearing a dark purple shirt that had a stitched grey patch over the left chest and was checkered around the short sleeves. It had the letters ‘GR’ painted in black on the front, an addition made by Tomus himself. He resorted to wearing grey bermudas to bed because he was too lazy to look through the rest of the cupboard the previous night, and he was apparently too lazy to do his messy brown hair in the morning as well. His eyes were not as dark as Glesto's -- a lighter and more obvious brown -- and his skin was fair with a very slight shade of yellow.

 Lucas, coming down the stairs right behind Tomus, was wearing a light brown t-shirt and blue jeans. What really made him really stand out was his short stature and his striking blue eyes. And the fact that he actually managed to comb his blonde hair properly, parting it neatly to the right. Being white, he naturally stood out from the rest of them anyway.

 "Hey guys," Lucas said, hands in his pockets.

 "Herro, Lucas!" said Tomus.

 "Hi Lucas," greeted Glesto. "I can't believe you really wore those jeans to sleep. Did Tomus shake you awake again?"

 "Nah, he pulled the sheets off."

 "Classic."

 Karen glanced under the stairs where the closet was.

 "You know, I always wondered why mom always put those ice packs in there."

 "Something about keeping stuff in there cold. She swaps them everyday with packs inside the freezer."

 "What? I've never seen her do that."

 "She does it when we're in bed. She always walks past each of our bedrooms to make sure that we're asleep, then goes down to make the switch. Tomus told me about it."

 "But I don't get it, why doesn't my mom just leave it all in the fridge?"

 Glesto shrugged.

 "Beats me. She just takes random things from the fridge and puts them in the closet, like that orange juice from weeks ago."

 "Maybe she's putting those ice packs in the closet so it's slightly easier for you to get them."

 "Heh, maybe. She's cared for me and Tomus like we were her own since we were kids. I'm really grateful to her, she can probably take a break with us gone for a while."

 Tomus was starting to get restless with no conversation. He looked a bit frustrated.

 "Eh, you guys over there done with your life stories?"

 "Not really," replied Glesto. "Why don't you join Lucas over there?"

 Lucas was quietly peering into the kitchen where Aunt Kole was.

 "Oh, might as well," Tomus mumbled.

- - - - - - - - - -

 Aunt Kole lived in a quiet part of Melbourne, Australia. The boys had a long flight ahead of them to Germany for a school exchange programme, one of those long, stayover exchange programmes that lasted a month or so. Lucas was also going to be following them on the trip; he and Tomus happened to be classmates.

 Glesto couldn't imagine how he, his brother and Karen's welfare (not to mention school fees) were all handled by Aunt Kole. He had always been one who sought to reciprocate kindness, and had heartfelt gratitude toward Aunt Kole. Tomus didn't really seem to care and always got chastised by Glesto about it.

 Perhaps they would have guessed after staying with her all this time, but Aunt Kole was much more than merely their legal guardian...