I'll Be There for You; As the World Falls Down

I drove home after school and went inside to start on my homework. My step-father was still asleep, with my two little brothers and my little sister doing whatever they wanted. It took thirty minutes for me to get home after they did. I didn't understand why he couldn't stay up and watch them for those thirty minutes. And my mom would still be at work, not getting home until well past midnight. I sighed as I sat down at the table with my bags. "Abigail, I'm hungry," one of my brothers said.

"Did you not eat at school?" Zane shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I wasn't hungry."

I shook my head and got up to make him a sandwich. What was the point in having free lunch if you weren't going to eat it? I made his sandwich and gave it to him then sat back down at the table. Once my homework was finished I had to clean the kitchen before making dinner for the four of us. Then once we had all eaten I would have to clean the kitchen again, then make sure they had all bathed and gotten in bed.

While I was in the process of frying chicken my step-father got up for work. After he had changed into his work clothes he walked into the kitchen. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm cooking dinner."

"What are you making?"

"Chicken."

He walked over to stove and looked into the pan, "You know you have to cook that all the way, otherwise it'll make you sick."

"Duh! I've cooked chicken thousands of times. I'm not stupid."

"Watch the way you talk to me."

"Why? You're not going to do anything about it. You know that if you lay a finger on me, my dad will kill you."

He gave me a death glare but didn't say anything. He went out side to smoke a cigarette and I called for Melissa, Zane, and Lukas to come eat their dinner. While I was in the process of fixing their plates, my step-dad came back in and picked up a piece of the chicken. He broke it in half and then sat it back down before doing the same to another piece. He then went outside and left. I followed him to the door and opened it, shouting, "That was really rude! How stupid do you think I am? I know how to cook chicken. I'm not going to feed them raw food!"

He ignored me as he got in his truck and left. I sighed and walked back inside to sit down and eat. Once we had eaten I sent the kids to get their baths while I started on the dishes.

Once everything was clean I sent Melissa and Zane to bed and tried to get my almost two-year old brother to sleep. He fought me though. "Just go to sleep," I pleaded.

He cried more.

"Do you want a story?"

Lukas settled down, and I thought about it for a minute, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl who was forced to take care of three nasty, mean children every single day, and her step-father was very mean to her. There was nothing she could do about it because her mom was always at work, and her real dad was always traveling because of his work. What nobody knew though was that The Goblin King had fallen in love with her, and he had given her special powers.

"One night when the girl was feeling hurt, and her step-father had been particularly cruel to her and the youngest child wouldn't stop crying the goblins told her, 'Say your right words, and we'll take the children from you.'"

"'No, I mustn't,' the girl said, but as the baby continued crying she thought more and more about it. 'I'll do it!' she threatened, 'I'll say the words!' As the baby's cries got louder she held him out and shouted, "Goblin King, Goblin King, where ever you may be; take this child of mine far away from me!' When nothing happened the girl-"

I realized Lukas had fallen asleep, so I laid him down and went to my room. I changed into my pajamas and laid down. As I closed my eyes and fell asleep I whispered, "I wish The Goblin King would take me away...right now."