Ruckus

He stepped the last tired step onto the leathery branch. Squirming around, he finally felt comfortable. Sitting there, looking over the glistening bay he watched a whale shoot up with joy and smash back down with a huge splash. He lay back and stared up at the huge cloudless sky. He loved this peace away from his house full of ruckus.

            "Ethan, come in for dinner honey,"

                He shifted from his daydream and scrambled down the tree. The fresh aroma of enchiladas straight from the oven wafted out to meet him.

                "Wow, thirteen year old boys eat a lot," Saki said as she piled a second enchilada onto his shining clean plate.

                Ethan snatched another corn bread square and gobbled down the homemade food.

Ethan awoke with a start to see a pair of little feet coming at his face. He quickly rolled out of harms way and felt the impact of Sid's feet on the mattress. His little brother Sid had been taking karate lessons and was trying at every moment possible to hurt Ethan. 

            He scrambled out of bed before Sid could get another hit on him and started pulling on his clothes.

            "What the heck man!" Ethan said, "Why are you trying to kill me?"

            "I don't know."

                "Whatever."

                He walked out of the room and immediately his legs were taken out from under him.

                "Dude, chill!" Ethan complained after falling on his face.

                Sid sprinted down the hall, leaped down the stairs and Ethan heard him crash into one of the counter stools.

            He dragged himself up and lumbered down to the bottom story.

                "Isn't it a great morning?" Saki said.

                "For almost getting killed by your little brother," Ethan muttered under his breath.

                "What?" Saki asked.

                 "Nothing."

            She scooped up some oatmeal out of the rusty pot and plopped it on his plate. He got out the brown sugar bag and put some on his breakfast. He felt the little grains mulling around in his mouth then slithering down his throat. His stomach indulging them happily.

                All of a sudden Sid seized up and, jerking his head this way and that, fell off his chair and started flailing his arms and rolling around knocking over stools and running into the walls.

                "Sid, Sid," Saki shrieked prancing around not knowing what to do. "Help! Ethan help."

                Ethan jumped down from the stool that Sid was repeatedly running into and after getting kicked and hit in the face he finally got Sid pinned down.

         After a few hard minutes of Sid struggling under Ethan, he finally calmed down, breathing long gasping breaths.

         "I'm taking him to the hospital," Saki said. "Now!"

         Ethan gently lifted his brother's ten-year-old body off the smooth wooden floor and set him in Saki outstretched arms.

         "You stay here, okay?" Saki said

         "Yeah, okay." Ethan said glumly.

         Saki turned and walked out the door hurriedly. Ethan heard the low grumble of the engine starting up and the crackle of the car pulling out of the gravel driveway. 

         Ethan stood there in the middle of the house, all alone, everything so quiet, too quiet. He walked across the room and fell over onto the couch. He had hated his brother's ruckus and confusion but now he realized what he hated most was this deadly quiet. He felt his life was not whole without his brother going absolutely crazy around the house.