Zac slowly clambered up the stairway. His mind and body frustrated and tense from the day's activity.
Falling into his bed with a heavy thud, he let a smile touch his lips at the relaxation he suddenly felt.
Sometimes being blind had its advantages. He didn't have to close his eyes when he wanted to relax. He already saw complete calming darkness.
Slowly his ears started to pick up a light noise. At Seymour he had learned that since he lost one sense, his others were strengthened.
Sitting up, he tried hard not to make any noise, so that he could listen without disruptions from himself.
He heard it again… someone was in the room with him.
"Ike?" He called out cautiously. "Tay?"
No one answered, and Zac started to get apprehensive. "Who's there?"
Still there was no answer. Then all at once, a muffled cry leaked out, and feet started pounding on the hardwood floor.
Swallowing hard and quickly, Zac felt something tackle him around the torso, and he flew backwards onto his bed.
Grabbing at whatever knocked him over, Zac was able to feel the form of a small child… with long hair. Long blonde hair. He thought wryly.
"God, Mackie!" He said loudly. "You could give someone a heart attack that way!" His sour voice stated a bit harshly as he placed his younger brother back down on the floor.
He heard Mackie take in a deep breath, and he could envision the tears in his eyes. Feeling horrible, Zac tried apologizing to him. But he heard the small feet instantly retreating towards the door.
Groaning after he left slamming the door, Zac laid back down on his bed. He was tired and worn out, and got too close to having a massive coronary. But he felt bad. He had never snapped at Mackie before.
"Yeah, well," He bitterly said out loud to himself. "You've never been blind before either."
At dinnertime, Zac had refused to join his family at the table. Knowing that if he went, there would be a huge discussion about his behavior towards Mackie earlier that day.
So, feigning fatigue and a headache, Zac was permitted to have his dinner in his room.
It was often that he liked the quiet time in his room, spending the time thinking, practicing a new beat, or drawing.
But he couldn't really draw now, and he was too emotionally defeated to try and belt out a beat against the mattress, and the thoughts that invaded his mind now were all self-pitying and self-loathing.
Somehow he now started wishing that he was downstairs getting the Hanson lecture number two, respect for everyone in the household.
Grimacing he thought of how he didn't get respect anymore, but only pity.
"Hey there."
The voice caused Zac to jerk his head towards the doorway, in which the direction of the voice was coming from.
He gave a weak nod. "Hey, Tay."
"You know Mackie was crying earlier." He started out gently.
Zac nodded his head carefully, "I kinda figured he would be." He confessed.
"Want to tell me what happened?" Taylor asked.
"No, not really." Zac replied shrugging nonchalantly.
Zac heard him walking in some more and sitting down on his own bed. "You know mom and dad already know about it. And they're just waiting for everyone to settle down before they come up here and talk to you about it." He told him.
"Yeah, well." Zac said frustrated. "He sneaked up on me, Tay. Nearly gave me a heart attack. It's bad enough I have to worry about tripping and falling, but I don't want to have to worry about my little brother throwing himself at me." He stated distastefully.
"There would have been no way that I could have protected him, if he was falling off the bed and hit his head on something." He declared rationally.
Taylor nodded his head in thought. "Okay, then." He answered. "I'll go down and divert mom and dad long enough to explain this to them, okay?"
Zac raised his head and gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Tay."
He laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it." He said before he took away Zac's empty plate and left him to his solitude.
That story is much better than me getting the crap scared out of me by my five year old brother! Zac thought angrily to himself as he snuggled down into his bed.
He sighed loudly as he rolled onto his side to get comfortable. "I wonder if anything will be as it was before…" He trailed off, not finishing what he had started.
Isaac stood silently outside the doorway of his bedroom. His head and back were leaning against the wall. "Nothing will ever be as it was before." He whispered quietly, as he felt the unshed tears sting his eyes. "Nothing will."
