Ring..... Ring...... my alarm goes on .And I wake up a last time in the room which has been my safe haven ,since my ten year old self hid here after getting scared by my parents' shouting at each other during their last fight as each others' spouses ( husband and wife).

I looked at the cute bunny clock ,which was a gift from my friend Haily on my fifteenth birthday, to find out that it was almost half past 4 O 'clock in the morning . Again by ringing ,alarm showed its existence and without thinking anything, I got up from my bed ,went to the table and tuned off this alarm for a last time.

Today is the day. The day of making the first effort to fly. The day to leave the security of my beloved nest and going on my own for the adventure.

So today we are going to move out. This moving out would not have been a big deal if I

had not celebrated all of my sixteen birthdays here, if it was not the house where I was born,if

this wasn't the house in whose back yard my parents saw me taking my first step, if this was

not the place where we three (my parents and I) cried after the divorce ,if this wasn't the house where my mom. got remarried and her son and my step brother Ryan was born even after all my tantrums and opposition.

My train of thoughts of moving out came to a halt with a long sigh ha.... and thought that " Moving out would not have been an unforgettable pain if my most of the memories either good or bad would not have been related to this house ,nope, not just a house but a home ,my home ,my beloved safe haven....

I overthink, (you would have guessed,till now) but today I am not going to think , yes I am just going to do things today because I have thought a lot about this day and the opportunity it has brought.

So I take a quick glance over my empty room full of packed bags .I am ready to move out .Yes my things are packed, my mind is ready to adapt a new place , my friends will be coming over with their big car ,I have plane ticket to reach my father's city and my father will be at the airport to pick me up, well I also had a good amount of money with me ,which I had saved from my earnings of library job and my pocket money. Now all I need to do is to get ready and leave the nest.

So I went to washroom, looked into mirror and found myself wearing an oversized orange t- shirt and a pair of yellow shorts with my messy braided hair. I brushed my teeth,cleansed my face and applied moisturizer.

I came out and....

To be continued......

thank you

....and took the beautiful pink coloured top and yellow skirt which ,I myself , have kept on the table last night.

I went to bathroom and took a quick shower, dressed up and came out .I was drying my hair when slowly my door opened and my little, cute ,five year old step brother Ryan ,came in and ran towards me. l knelt down and he hugged me tightly. We did this everyday, but not anymore. I will miss my brother's morning hug. I don't know why but suddenly I felt sad, my heart sank in the ocean of sorrow.

We let go of each other, Ryan looked at me, frowning and said " Rose, you don't love me anymore, do you? Why are you not coming with us."

I take a long sigh and tell my little bro ☺️ " I love you kiddo, I really do."

Ryan: Then please come with us, my dear sis.

Me: Umm... Ryan tell me one thing. You love watching cartoons, don't you?

Ryan: Yeah, I do .But what does that mean now?

Me: Now, just suppose if somewhere you get to watch all the best cartoons for free.what would you do?

Ryan:Oohoo..,... all the cartoons and even free. This is my Dreamland, I would settle there forever.

Me: That's it.

Ryan: Then also take me with you. You can't watch cartoons 😉 without me .please take me....

Me:Oh ,my bro it's not like that. The way you love cartoons,I also love studies. I am getting a chance to study in the best high school for free. I won't be dependent on mom for school fee anymore.

Ryan: So you are gonna ditch your cute smart and little, in a word ,world's best bro ☺️ for the stupid studies.

Me: Says the boy ,who is ready to ditch his beautiful, smart and elder ,in a word, World's best sister for stupid cartoons, huh?

Ryan: Now, speaking of cartoons, I can understand that . But don't ditch me sis, you would come to meet me often, wouldn't you?

Me : Obviously, I would. I will miss you 🥺.

Ryan: I will miss you 100 times more.

Me:Aww....

Saying this we both hug each other. I really love my brother 💕. He makes me feel good. He gives me tag of sister. And this is my beloved tag, being the sister of world's cutest brother.

I let go of Ryan. He sat on my bed cross legged. I just finished drying my hair, then my brother said to me," Rose, by the way Mamma and Dad had told me to bring you down stairs for breakfast." Oh , I looked at the bunny 🐰 clock ,it was already quarter past six. I didn't realize so much time had passed away since I woke up .

"Um.. Ryan, when will you guys leave for airport?" I asked him lifting my luggage bag.

" I don't know,perhaps in evening." he replied.

"Leave it then,I will ask Max about it"

Ryan stared at me with his big eyes, like I have made a blunder. At first I didn't know what it was, then I suddenly realized for little Ryan, Max was my own father and my own dad was our uncle. The boy did not understand step-family concept. Or even if he understood, he did not want me to be his step-sister for him I was his only sister and his best friend.

For most young boys , their mother is the "most beautiful lady in the world 💞".But for my Ryan, one and only his Rose deserves the tag. Our relationship is very special. It was because my mom is a working lady. When she would be in office, I would take care of him. I was......

To be continued.....

....quite possessive of him .I would never let mom leave him in day care. When I would be in school, aunt Greta( our old neighbor) took care of him and after school I looked after him until mom came back.

So all of this overthinking means ,I was supposed to say Dad not Max.

RYAN 'S PERSPECTIVE

I was shocked. Rose herself had told me that it is very rude to call parents by name. Please, Rose do not prove my friends true, they say she is my step-sister. But it is not possible ,she is Rose ,my Rose. We have many things common in us. We both have straight black hair, big eyes and we both are clumsy. She is favourite child of my Dad. It is my family Mom, Dad ,Rose and Ryan. Look our names also start from same letter "R". Now" Rose is not the daughter of my dad but anyone else",this thought hurts me a lot. I don't know why. Perhaps I don't want to share her with anyone else. She is mine. My sister and my best friend. Now she is leaving us for school .It is painful. l really love her .We are a happy family for ever.

BACK TO ROSE

"Um... Sorry ,Ryan ,my hurry is also affecting my words .So let me say it again. I will ask Dad about it. But , kiddo don't you forget, it's very rude to call parents by name. "

I don't know why but Ryan looked very relieved.

Then his expression changed into confusion and he says" You still not talking to mom? Huh?"

I replied him ," First thing, it is she ,who is not talking and kiddo,you keep your nose out of elderly matter,duh."

Ryan replied,"As you say."

" Let's go"saying this I went towards downstairs to meet my mom and Max .I really love them. My mom is a hard-working and ambitious lady .She is the best cardiologist in the city. But when it comes to being a mom ,she will get the tag of "not bad".

Now, thinking of this a two-days old memory of our so called argument comes in my mind.

FLASHBACK BEGINS

Night time 11:00p.m

Today is our family movie night. Ryan has already slept. I look at the clock.I had already finished homework. So I wrapped up my journaling and went to join mom and Max for movie. When I went down ,TV was not switched on .Max and mom were sitting on sofa and talking. I was a bit shocked. Because both are great movie watchers. Just give them a TV full of movies and they won't ask for anything else. At that moment I knew,it was something serious.

Now, being the world's greatest overthinker, which I am, I stood there and began to think without taking any attention.

What it could possibly be they are talking about so seriously and......

..,...to be continued

Authors' note: Everything mentioned here is completely fictional,characters their thoughts,if it hurts anybody I am extremely sorry. There is a very thin line separating right and wrong. Undeniable fact is, everybody crosses it. And I am not an exception.