“Parker Louise Gray!” his mom shouted in a shrill voice as she yanked the blinds open in the window next to his bed. He quickly covered his head with his pillow to protect his eyes from the morning sun. “If you’re not downstairs ready to go in ten minutes…”

“I know. I know. It’ll be the end of me.” His mom huffed and walked heavily out of the room. It always surprised Parker how much of a presence she could make for herself being as petite as she is. He peeked out from under the pillow just as the tips of her blonde hair disappeared through the doorway.

Parker knew if he was late downstairs one more time, it was chore duty for a month. And it wasn’t just his normal chores; it was his sister’s chores as well.

He jumped out of bed and flew through his morning routine. One last glance at the clock and he darted out of his room. Tripping over a couple of his sister’s toys he held in his comments. It drove him crazy how she didn’t pick up after herself.

Running down the stairs, he saw another one of her toys right in the spot his foot was about to land. “Oh…” he groaned just before he inevitably crashed on the toy. He felt a gust of wind rip passed him and the toy slid to the side just in time for his foot to land safely on the step. “Phew.”

Stopping in the living room, he found his mom sitting in the leather recliner waiting on him. Kendall was playing with more of her toy in the corner, completely ignoring everything that was happening around her.

“About time you’re down here. What takes so long?” His mom laughed a little but Parker knew that she was past her limit of him getting downstairs late.

“I don’t know… sorry…” Parker dropped his head to avoid eye contact. When he was looking at his toes he heard a noise from behind him.

“Good morning!” Parker jumped not expecting it to be the voice of his dad. He normally had already left for work at this point. Being out in the middle of nowhere meant that he had to drive quite a ways to make it to work on time.

“Good morning Dad!” Parker looked his dad up and down. “Wow, nice suit!” he said complimenting the dark gray, three-piece suit his dad had on complimenting the salmon colored shirt he had on. The shirt seemed to glow next to his tanned complexion. “What are you all dressed up for?”

“Boss told us to come in a little later today for a meeting. Some corporate big wig is coming in so she gave us the morning off.” His dad laughed and Parker almost had to look away because of how white his teeth were.

“Shouldn’t you have a tie on then?” Parker asked as he poked his dad in the chest where his tie would normally lie.

His dad looked down at his empty chest and laughed. “I suppose I should, shouldn’t I?” He tousled Parker’s hair and said, “Come help me pick one, would ya?”

“Sure!” Parker turned and took off up the stairs before his mom could say anything about starting his work for the day. Being homeschooled meant, to his mom, that you start school the moment you get downstairs. He could hear his mom say something but couldn’t make out exactly what she had said.

The amount of ties that his dad owned always amazed Parker. It seemed like he had every color of the rainbow and all the ones in between as well. Having so many options to choose from always made it hard for him to pick out a tie for his dad to wear.

Parker never said it, but he loved when his dad would ask him to help pick out a tie. It didn’t have a ton, so when he got the opportunity, he always wanted to impress. He picked up tie after tie and held them up to his chest, trying to find the perfect one. The salmon colored shirt made it difficult to pick the right tie.

“Come on dude, haven’t got all day ya know.” His dad laughed and tousled his hair again.

“You’re a little more chipper than normal,” Parker pointed out.

“How would you know?” his dad queried. “I’m normally at work already by the time you get up and trust me, I know. Your mother mentions it routinely. You better step your game up or it’s gonna be chore duty for you.”

“I know. I know,” he said holding up a basic gray tie. “Here. It’s perfect!” His dad grabbed the tie and quickly tied a Full Windsor. “How do you do that so fast?”

“Practice. Lots of practice. Now, it’s time for you to start your day sir.” Parker followed his dad downstairs knowing that if he tried to put it off any longer, he would just end up with chore duty anyways.

When he got downstairs, his mom handed him his books for the day and motioned for him to head to the kitchen table to start. Breakfast was waiting for him along with Kendall who was quietly eating her breakfast.

Her long blonde hair hung down in front of her face. Parker didn’t know how she was able to eat and not get a mouthful of hair as well. But, he figured at nine years old, she must’ve had enough practice.

He didn’t have to worry about eating his own hair along with his cereal. Although it was a bit longer, enough to hang in his eyes, he always kept it cut enough that he wouldn’t have to taste it.

“Good morning,” Parker said as he consumed a spoonful of cereal.

“Morning,” Kendall mumbled through a mouthful of her own cereal. They both laughed at this, spitting small bits of cereal onto the table, which only made them laugh even more.

After breakfast was finished and Parker had gotten the first three assignments of the day done, he decided he wanted to take a little break. That was one benefit of being homeschooled. Although it got a little lonely during the day, he did get to take breaks pretty much whenever he wanted as long as he got his work done.

Parker decided that he would go out and jump on the trampoline for just a little bit and then get back to work. While doing a front flip he landed off balance and shot forward. Fear flooded his body and his heart started to beat like it wanted out of his chest. Just as he was about to crash on the ground, the cushions from lawn chairs blew across the yard and he landed hard on them with a loud thud.

He rubbed his ribs from where he landed. Parker thanked the heavens for the luck he’d just found. If it hadn’t been for the cushions, he was pretty sure that he’d be a dead lump on the ground.

As he walked back inside, not willing to dare the trampoline again, he started to inspect his chest to see if there were any bruises from the landing.

“What are you doing honey?” his mom asked as he walked into the house with his shirt pulled up.

“Nothing…” he responded, embarrassed to tell her what happened. Parker also knew that it would only make her worry that the trampoline was too dangerous and they’d have to get rid of it and he wasn’t ready to let the trampoline go just yet. If that were gone, all he’d have to play with would be the cornfields that surrounded the house. And although they could be fun at times, May was not that time of year.

Parker’s dad walked into the kitchen, still dressed in his suit and tie. He froze as soon as he saw Parker sitting down at the kitchen table to continue his schoolwork. He didn’t say anything, but Parker felt like there was something resting anxiously on the end of his tongue.

“I thought you had a meeting?” Parker asked.

His dad stared at him for a moment, clearly trying to think up some believable lie. “The boss called and said the big wig couldn’t make it in today so they moved it to tomorrow. Then she said we could have the day to ourselves to prepare for tomorrow.”

Parker eyed him suspiciously, not believing a word he said. “Weren’t you ready today? What else is there to prepare?” His dad made a face letting Parker know that he’d caught the lie.

“Well, I could get into it but it’s just a lot of business talk that wouldn’t make sense to a twelve year old,” his dad said growing more and more confident with each word. “Now, get back to work,” he said with finality and left the room.

Lunchtime rolled around quickly and it was starting to bother Parker a bit. As he was working, he would notice his dad looking over him. Whether it is as he walked by or by creeping around by the door spying in. At first, Parker didn’t think anything about it but after the fourth or fifth time, he couldn’t focus on any of his work.

He put down his math assignment and stood up. Out of the corner of his eye, Parker saw his dad disappear behind the doorframe to the kitchen. Parker quickly walked to the hall to catch his dad and all he saw was the back of his foot disappear into his parents’ bedroom. The door closed very quietly as though his dad were trying to hide where he was.

Parker crept up to the door and he could hear mumbling come from the other side. He placed his ear to the door and it was warm. He thought he heard his dad say something about wind and fire. Then, he felt a poke in his lower back that made him jump.

“Whatcha doin’ Bub?” a small, higher pitched voice asked.

Parker swung around surprised by the unexpected appearance of his sister. “Kendall, it’s nothing. Promise.”

She stared at him with doubt filled eyes. “Sure looks like you’re try to spy on Mom and Dad.” A smirk grew on her face as Parker’s expression fell. He stepped back from the door and Kendall made a quick dash for the door and opened it. “Dad,” she said and Parker’s heart fell into his stomach. “Could you help me with my reading assignment?” Parker stared at her with both anger and disbelief. She’d set him up and did it like a professional.

“Sure can!” he said tossing his suit jacket onto his bed. Parker stepped into the nearby bathroom to avoid being seen. He heard the door to his parents’ room close and then their footsteps disappear into the kitchen.

Parker stepped out of the bathroom and listened for them to start Kendall’s work. He grabbed the doorknob to take a peek into his parents’ room to see if his dad was hiding something. The second he grabbed the doorknob, a searing pain shot through his hand and he let out a loud shriek.