Kids.

In her dream she was sitting in a room, white floor, walls and ceiling. The chair was white, her clothes were white and in the middle of the room was a dead body. The man was dressed in bright red, except for his socks, they were white. She didn’t know how she knew he was dead or why she was sitting there staring at him, she just was. Her eyes widened as the man’s mouth opened, a low rumble filled the room, vibrating the walls. The hairs on the back of her neck were on end, her bones screaming. She stood to find a way out and realised there was none, she was ripped back to reality as a light found her eyes.

Georgia sat up, sweat covered her face, her clothes moist, the light still in her eyes. She turned and jumped down from her perch. Rubbing her eyes to adjust to the morning glow she noticed a tangle of sheets at the bottom of her brothers’ bed, but no brother. In the bathroom probably, she’d need a shower soon, she hadn’t had one for a while. Her parents got angry if they used too much water.

She looked around the room for the cleanest school clothes she could find, a hard feat, and waited five minutes till she gave up and put them on. She could have a shower this afternoon. For now she could settle with some perfume she kept under the bed. One spray, so it wouldn’t run out fast.

After her breakfast of the crumbs out of an age old cereal box she went to the bathroom and knocked. She couldn’t hear the shower running. The door knob turned so she opened it, no one. Crap, where the hell was he? he wouldn’t. Georgia’s eyes widened as she realized, she slid to the ground. He left too, both of her brothers were gone, she was alone. She knew this would happen one day, she had a plan.

She wiped her eyes as she stood and practically ran to her bedroom. In a secret place in her cupboard was a bag of things she would need to run away. Her ‘rainy day’ bag consisted of a few clean clothes and a small amount of food she had siphoned over the weeks. It was on her back and she was at the front door, until it opened on her. She jumped back and held in a scream. Sam, dark eyed, bruised and dirty stumbled through the door.
“Where the hell were you?” Georgia whispered as she hugged her brother, her wet face buried in his chest.
“I went out for a bit,” His voice was husky, his breath smelled like booze. Georgia’s head snapped back.
“You’ve been drinking,” Her nose wrinkled at the thought, “You’re going to turn out like dad,” Her arms dropped and she quietly walked back to the bedroom.

The rainy day bag was replaced before her brother walked in, he didn’t know about it. “I didn’t think you would ever drink, seeing dad like that all the time.” As she spoke she packed her school bag, heavy with 99 cent books. Sam sat on his bed, head in hands not saying a word, he must feel sick. Oh well she didn’t care, not right now. Right now she was going to school and she was going to try to have a decent day. Like hell that would ever happen to her.

Georgia left without saying a word to Sam, she was pissed off. How could he get drunk, that was one of the worst things he could have done. He could have died or worse, ended up like Dad.

Her route never changed, a few houses down turn left, walk for a few minutes and cut through the park, then down past the local shops and she was at school. She didn’t speak to anyone and she didn’t stop, the same as usual, but she did walk slower. The bell rang as she walked through the school gates but she didn’t care, thoughts swimming on her fucking brother. If he didn’t make it to school he was screwed, she pushed the hope that he got here on time down deep, she wasn’t going to care now.

Another monotonous day of school finished, apart from trimming her hair in the bathroom she had a regular day at school sitting alone and finishing off homework at the last minute.
Georgia was thinking, she would stop off at the local shop and get something, anything. She would steal it, her brother did all the time and got away with it.

She waited on the corner, her feet dancing back and forth, adrenaline pumping through her. Her legs guided her through the door, a bell jingled as she opened and closed it. The clerk nodded and she gave a shy smile in return. Her eyes darted around the small corner shop, spotting the visible cameras and mirrors revealing her to the world. Georgia was good at nonexistence, she had been doing it since she was born, a running trait in the family. Two bars discreetly slipped into her pants and another in her hand, she walked up to the counter.
“How much is this please?” She asked in her smallest, softest voice.
“That there’s four dollars,” his moustache twitched as he spoke to her, twisted teeth showing themselves.
“Ok, thank you,” she walked back over to the shelf and replaced the chocolate. Her heart racing as she walked back towards the door, her hands holding the straps of her bag. The first time she had stolen and she had gotten away with it, her brother would be proud, she would be the one to share with him instead.
“Hey little miss,” the clerks voice rang through her ears and her heart came to a stop, she pivoted and smiled at him. “I could give you a discount on that chocolate if you want half price.”
“I’m good thank you,” she let out, her smile not letting up til she heard the jingle of the bell behind her as she skipped down the street.

She reached home in record time, she hoped her brother was here, he loved the type of chocolate she got. She hoped he wasn’t here when she opened the door, glass had showered the carpet everywhere, the place smelled of Bourbon. Another fight probably, her mum will yell at her and her dad wont register she was there.
Georgia walked in crunching over the shards of glass, her thin shoes letting a piece through that pierced her sole causing her to limp to her room. On her way though she saw the brunt of the fight, causing her to trip, glass penetrated her forearms and she let out a loud cry. She couldn’t look again, the image already burnt into her head, so she crawled through the sea of glass, tearing at her pants.
She reached her room, untouched, brother gone. She jumped up to her bed and lay down, her breathing became fast when the image wouldn’t leave her head and she rubbed her eyes. Taking her hands away she noticed blood all over, hers, maybe not. She screamed. Not one tear entering her eyes.