Sarah's Release

She cringed as she felt the heat of the sun on her exposed neck and shoulders. The slight sting an unnecessary annoyance to her already over-burdened mind. She jumped down from the rock she had been resting on and turned toward home.

Now I'll have a sunburn on top of everything else, she thought. Just what I need.

She looked up and took note of the dilapidated house in front of her. The paint peeling off in large strips, and faded to a grayish hue that was unrecognizable as the sky blue it used to be. The shutters, while not quite falling off, looked slightly crooked. She sighed and continued her trek. There really wasn't much that she could hope to do about the appearance of the house. That required money her family didn't have. Her mother worked as many shifts as she could get at the local diner, but then her dad just drank it all away anyway.

Which basically left just her to take care of her younger brothers and sisters. Which was what she was heading back to do. Today wasn't that bad, because only the baby was home, and she had put him down for a nap before heading down to the river. The rest of the kids were at friends' houses and after school activities. She was the oldest of 8 kids. She was 18 years old, and she had been taking care of the rest of her family for as long as she could remember. She needed to get out.

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As she walked onto the front porch she could hear her father yelling about something from the living room. She hung her head for a second and then pulled open the screen door.

"Sarah Where the hell are you girl? Sarah " He had his head lifted up from his pillow and he was looking over the back of the couch when she walked through the door. He had a massive hangover and the baby had been crying for a steady 15 minutes. He saw her and narrowed his eyes. "That baby has been crying for 15 minutes and I think something's wrong with it. Get your ass in there and shut that thing up "

"Why don't you get your lazy ass off the couch for once," she muttered as she walked by.

Dan had heard her say something, and he was pretty sure he didn't like it. "What did you say to me girl?"

Shit, she thought. You know what, I don't care anymore. "I said why don't you get your lazy ass off the couch and do something yourself for once."

His head was spinning and he didn't want to deal with her anymore. "Whatever. Just take care of the baby."

It wasn't long before her dad was asleep again. As she changed and fed the baby she couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to just leave. To get out on her own and not have to worry about taking care of anyone else. She was lost in these thoughts when she noticed that it was starting to get dark outside.

She loved the night time. It was the only time that she got to be herself. The only time that she was actually left alone by the rest of her family. When they were all asleep she was free to do what she loved and that is just walk or gaze at the river under the moonlight. She even wrote when she could. She just loved the freedom. It was the only time she got any at all.

About the time that she finally got the baby down for the night is when everyone started to come home from their separate activities. Her mother came home and went straight in to take a shower, and the kids just went to their rooms. Her dad was still passed out on the couch, so he didn't really care what anyone did.

When she walked out of the house that night nobody noticed. The one who had spent her whole life taking care of her family had no one to take care of her when she needed it the most.

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She woke up with a horrible headache, and she couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep. The last thing she remembered was sitting on her rock down by the river and just relaxing the day out of her mind. She was thinking about just leaving the next morning. She couldn't deal with having all the responsibility anymore. She just wanted her own life. Not one that involved planning her life around her little siblings' schedules so she could be there to watch them when they got home. She was sick of them always fighting her on everything she said.

She remembered hearing a rustling noise in the brush behind her, but hadn't really thought anything of it. There was a breeze blowing and she loved the feel of it on her sunburned skin. She figured it was just blowing some of the weeds into each other.

After that everything went kind of fuzzy.