Of Moons, Birds, and Monsters

Luke's alarm clock didn't waste anytime before it went off. The tiny digital box blared some weird yodeling with a ukulele in the background. It took me a minute before I recognized the song.

"And I will love to see that day, that day is mine, when she will marry me outside with the willow trees," I sang quietly. My voice had not yet come out of its own sleep. "And play the songs we made. They made me so, and I would love to see that day. Her day was mine."

"You know that song?" Luke grumbled.

I didn't even notice that he was diagonally lying across me. His face was by the left side of my head while the lower part of his body hung off of the bed.

"Its a cover Postcards from Italy by Florence And the Machines," I nodded. "My mom used to play that song when it rained."

"Mmm," he hummed, keeping his eyes closed.

"Are you getting up to get ready for school?" I asked, massaging his back.

"Not if you're going to keep doing that," he chuckled.

"C'mon, get up," I said sternly, slapping his bare back. "I have to make it look like I just got here."

Luke groaned and slipped off of me and onto the floor. He left his alarm clock blaring and just sat on the floor with his head resting on the side of the bed.

I tried to sit up, but immediately regretted it. My shoulders were so sore. It felt like I had been hung from a tree by my wrists.

"Shit," I grumbled, moving my arms in circles in effort to work out the stiffness.

"What?" Luke asked, his voice muffled from his face being buried into the mattress.

"You are about the worst person to sleep with," I informed him. "Each time I've woken up in your bed, you are on top of me somehow."

"Sorry," he laughed. "Why were you in bed with me, anyway?"

"You don't remember?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really," he answered.

"I started freaking out because a cat was in here," I reminded him.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, lifting his head up to look at me. "Now I remember. Sorry about that. Karen likes to sneak them into her room and keep them as pets."

"No worries," I sighed, messing up his hair. It didn't look too different. His curls were already sticking out ever which way to begin with.

I grabbed my backpack and slowly opened the bedroom door. The house was completely silent besides the fact that Luke's alarm clock was now singing Aretha Franklin. No one seemed to be up yet, so I took the opportunity and raced from Luke's room to the bathroom.

I brushed my hair and teeth and changed into a clean set of clothes. When Karen and Colby took their nap later in the afternoon, I would hopefully have enough time to take a shower. I couldn't go one day without showering. It made me feel very dirty and gross.

When I was done getting ready for work, I tip toed into the living room and quietly put my backpack into the tub of junk. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet. I took a seat on the couch and put on the last few minutes of The Cosby Show.

It was best to sit on the couch while the Moreno family went about their morning business. Mr. Moreno would be grumbling and cursing the man who made him wake up early. When Ms. Moreno was home, she would annoy the men of the Moreno family with her cheery whistling and singing. A lot of the times she would talk to herself, going through the check list of what she needed to get through the day.

"Son of a bitch," Mr. Moreno grumbled, quickly walking behind the couch and into the kitchen. "One more day, Al. Just one more day and you can sit in your chair and watch Billy the Exterminator. Last day. Last day."

I had to repress the giggles that were trying to escape my throat. Mr. Moreno was very serious about his TV. If he wasn't watching Fox, he was watching Billy the Exterminator. He got excited over that show, too. Especially when he's drunk and in a good mood.

"When did you get here?" Mr. Moreno asked bitterly from the kitchen.

"A few minutes ago," I answered, looking in his direction. He was pouring himself some Orange juice. "I accidentally set my alarm clock one hour early, so I thought I was late and rushed over here."

Mr. Moreno grunted and nodded as he continued to move about the kitchen. Mr. Moreno looked a lot older than what he was. He hid his balding head with a trucker's hat and kept his large wire glasses on his wrinkled face. He walked with a small limp because of a bad hip, and his chest was always poked out because of some spine problem he had. I didn't know all the details, just the things Mrs. Moreno told me.

"Mr. Moreno, where is Mrs. Moreno?" I blurted out. I hadn't seen her in over a week. Usually her business trips caused her to be gone one week at a time. She never went more than two states over.

"She went to Pennsylvania to do some land surveying," he answered in a harsh tone. Mr. Moreno was a total bear in the morning. "She should be back in a few days."

Mrs. Moreno was always changing her job. When I first met her, she was working at Lowes. Since then she's worked as a warehouse manager, a chef, a mail woman, and now a land surveyor. She said she liked to mix it up when it came to jobs. Her philosophy was 'It's always good to try something different,' and she lived by that.

"Mr. Moreno, do you mind if I bring some movies for the girls to watch on Monday?" I asked sweetly. Colby and Karen were throwing fits about the movies they had. They had watched every movie they had at least four hundred times, and they claimed to have never seen some of the best children's movies around.

"What kind of movies?" he asked, making himself a sandwich for lunch.

"Mary Poppins, Harry Potter, Shirley Temple," I listed with a shrug. "Things like that."

"Go ahead," he sighed, sticking his face into the refrigerator.

I nodded and turned my attention back to the television. I hadn't watched The Cosby Show in a long time. It used to be one of my favorite shows. Dawn didn't like it, so I had to stick with Fox Network or Lifetime.

The thought of Dawn almost made me explode into violent shouts. I had completely forgotten about the whole condom incident. When I go home she is most defiantly getting a piece of my mind.

Luke walked behind the couch and started digging in the box of junk for his backpack.

"Boy," Mr. Moreno barked, leaning against the counter. "Where's Jack?"

"He left already," Luke lied, tossing his backpack onto the floor and putting on his jacket.

"Why?" Mr. Moreno pressed. "It's not even seven yet."

"Izzy's car broke down yesterday, so he went to pick her up," Luke explained.

"And why didn't he take you?" Mr. Moreno questioned, tapping his fingers.

"I didn't wake up in time," Luke answered, putting his arms through his backpack straps.

"So am I supposed to take you?" Mr. Moreno growled.

"No. I can walk," Luke shrugged.

Mr. Moreno looked at his watch and then back at Luke.

"There's no way you're going to make it in time," Mr. Moreno said.

"I've got my board, I can make it," Luke insisted, holding up his skateboard.

"Get in the car," Mr. Moreno sighed. "I'll take you."

"You sure?" Luke asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!" Mr. Moreno barked, waving his hand in the air. "Just go get in the car."

Luke shrugged and set his skateboard back against the wall. He leaned over the couch and hugged my neck.

"See you after school," he said, kissing the side of my cheek.

I sat frozen on the couch with wide eyes while Luke made his way towards the garage. Mr. Moreno started laughing at my facial expression as he grabbed his car keys off of the counter.