First Draft of Short Story

“Honey don’t break that!”

My mom was trying to stop my two youngest brothers from playing football in the house.

It was a sunny Saturday morning and as usual my mom was running around the house trying to get all the kids to sit down for breakfast. I quickly ran down the stairs and sat in my usual spot by the table.

“Hey Dad, you wanna go fishing today?” I asked.

“Oh sorry Tiffany, I can’t. I already agreed to fix the dirt bikes with Robby today.” Robby was my oldest brother. He loved riding dirt bikes because it was his way of relieving the stress that came with trying to keep up with the other seven kids in the family.

“Oh well that’s alright, maybe another time. Hey Mom do you wanna help me pick out my homecoming dress ?

“No sorry Tiffany. I can’t because I’ve got to take Noel and Sarah to the park for their softball game.”

“Oh gotcha,” I said disappointedly.

Whatever happened to family time? It seems that every day has gotten to be like this; my parents always seemed to be occupied with my brothers and sisters instead of spending any time with me. I honestly can’t remember the last time we had some quality time together. Because my remaining five siblings were either still sleeping or over at their friends’ houses, I decided to finish homework and get ahead in Spanish class.

Three days of school flew by pretty quickly because all I could think about was our band concert on Friday. I had auditioned against six other kids who played the French horn in the class and got picked to play the solos! It was basically all I could think about the entire week so I was obviously reminding my parents the second I got home that they were going to be blown away by the concert.

I took my place on center stage with the microphone inches away from the bell of my instrument. My legs were slightly shaking with excitement and anxiety. I looked out into the audience but couldn’t see my parents. I didn’t worry though because I knew they were there; they had to be there.

My performance was flawless. Music flowed through the air with a rich, silky texture that silenced the audience. At the end of the long piece, I received a standing ovation and felt so incredibly happy. After the concert, my friends from band and I went to the parking lot as several parents filtered out of the auditorium. We hopped into a car and drove over to Waffle House to end the amazing night. At about 9 o’clock I called Robby to come pick me up.

When I got home I ran into the kitchen planning to be praised by my mom for the concert. However, to my horror she replied:

“Oh honey, that was tonight? I completely forgot! Your father and I were at Jimmy’s football game! I’m so sorry!”

Sorry? She’s sorry? That’s all they ever say. I could not believe that my parents had missed one of my proudest moments. I am so tired of being neglected. The fact that my parents are committed to every one of my siblings more than they are to me is totally unfair. Tomorrow will be the day that they finally give me some attention.

I woke up at 11 o’clock on Saturday with red, swollen eyes from crying the night before.  I went downstairs to get some breakfast and of course, my parents and most of my siblings were no where to be found.

At about 4pm my parents got home and were about to head out again for a business dinner. After hardly speaking to them, I decided to clear my mind and headed outside to take a walk. We live in the suburbs in San Francisco so the neighborhoods are extremely long and hilly. After about 30 minutes of walking I started getting really tired and cold as I was going up an incline because it was starting to sprinkle. When I reached the top of one of the hills, I had an epiphany. I knew how I was going to get my parents’ attention.

I hurried back to the house and when I got there, my parents were already gone. I ran to the garage and hopped onto one of Robby’s dirt bikes even though I had never driven one before. I took it onto the road and went back to the same hill I had walked up earlier. The rain had picked up but without even thinking about it, I hit the gas and went flying down the road.