LJ Idol Week 1

[jexia]

It's hard being seven and a crybaby. I hated the way that wordless rage would build up inside me and overflow in pitiful, silent tears, but I couldn't control it. My big sister knew it, and she knew all the ways to make it happen. Taunting, teasing, relentless pestering; I'd try to ignore it, but I'd always get mad. I'd get mad and the tears would come.

I was a coward, too. I was afraid to try new things, afraid to take the risks that more co-ordinated children breezed through. It was just another thing for my sister to tease me about. "Cry-baby four-eyes! Chicken chicken chicken!"

She never got in trouble for it, though. Somehow, she always sensed when someone was coming, in time to move innocently away.

I was a bookworm, and an easy target when I was reading; in another world, I wouldn't notice as she'd sneak up to me. Her favourite trick was to push the book so it would smack me in the face. Otherwise, she'd snatch it away and hold it out of reach, laughing and laughing with her stupid big mouth.

But I grew. I grew faster than her, and I caught up. One day she grabbed my book and held it high, but as I stood up I could see the realisation in her eyes that this trick wasn't going to work any more.

She ran. I followed. I'd had enough. I was tall enough now that I could almost keep up as she ran outside. She reached the end of the driveway and spun to face me. The road was busy, and we weren't allowed near it. As I reached to grab her arm, she looked around in desperation. She hurled my book onto the road. It flipped open and skidded across the tarseal, its pages crumpling and folding as it came to rest near the centre line.

Those damnable tears welled up again. I was mad, madder than I'd ever been. She knew it, too. I could see the faintest twinge of fear in her eyes, but as always she covered it with belligerence and bravado.

"Go and get it, then!" she taunted. "Or are you too scared?"

Too angry to speak, I shoved her. She stumbled a tiny step backwards, and started laughing at me. I turned away, looking frantically for my book through tear-fogged glasses. Mum would be furious if it got ruined. What if a car ran over it? I'd be in so much trouble. But if she saw me go on the road... and what if I got hit by a car?

I teetered on the curb, weighing up my anxieties. A chortled "Chicken chicken chicken!" decided me. I judged the traffic, scrambled to the centre and scooped my book up.

It was anger that propelled me to throw the book at her. It was adrenaline that guided my aim. She crumpled to the ground, clutching the bridge of her nose.

"What- what on earth is going on here?" It was Mum. Uh-oh. "Why were you on the road?"

My tears dried on my cheeks as my rage ebbed away, replaced by a feeling that could only be called guilty success. "Because I'm not a chicken."

Comments

[jexia]

This week's topic is: Jayus “From Indonesian, meaning a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh.”

[roseaponi.livejournal.com]

Swap your sister for my brother and we have the same life. Why is it to this day that nobody understands that he was actually being cruel, or is willing to call it what it is?
Thank you for this story! :)

[eternal-ot.livejournal.com]

that was brave for a seven yr old...

[jexia]

Thanks!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_luaineach/]

<3

[jexia]

Cheers <3

[penpusher.livejournal.com]

Ka-Boom. This story was a blast!

[jexia]

Thanks!

[shay-writes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you went after the book. My brother and sister teased me relentlessly when we were growing up.

[jexia]

I don't think they realise how damaging it can be. My daughter has one of the things I used to get teased about (terrible overbite), and it's often all I can see when I look at her. :(

[shay-writes.livejournal.com]

I don't think so either.

*great big huge hugs for you both*

[solstice-singer.livejournal.com]

Definitely nnot a chicken. Great job.

[jexia]

Thank you!

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Phew, I kept fearing this might lead to one of you getting into an accident.

Nice ending :)

[itsjustc.livejournal.com]

I did too!

[jexia]

Well, there was the time she threw the full cutlery drawer at me...

[itsjustc.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading that and it had a great ending.

[jexia]

Cheers - I really struggled with this topic.

[kajel.livejournal.com]

OMG the end. I can't stop laughing. Well done!

[jexia]

Thank you!

[elledanger.livejournal.com]

A really nice strong opening here, well done.

[jexia]

Thanks!

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

I liked this.

[jexia]

Thanks :) I'm... not thrilled with it, but content to have done something for a topic that thoroughly stumped me!

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! Yeah, sometimes the thrill of knowing you found something for the topic is enough.

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

I really hope this was a true story. It felt true.

[jexia]

The core of it, yes. The road incident, nope. But the guts is all true.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

that was one well-repurposed punchline. Nice.

[jexia]

Cheers :)

[elvagreenfield.livejournal.com]

This was well-told. :)

[jexia]

Thank you!

[kandigurl.livejournal.com]

FANTASTIC. I love the twist on a classic joke!

[jexia]

Thanks!

[beautyofgrey.livejournal.com]

Oh, very nice! I liked the way you wrapped this one up. (I had similar arguments with my big sister, including at the end of a busy road.)

[jexia]

Big sisters seem to be a plague!

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

Holy crap! That last line just sneaks right up on you.

Well done, ma'am. Well done. :)

[jexia]

Thanks so much!

[whipchick.livejournal.com]

Damn straight! I enjoyed this very much - kathrynrose sent me over :)

[jexia]

Awww, thanks!

[halfshellvenus.livejournal.com]

Victory at last!

Being bullied by an older sibling isn't that uncommon, but it's also no joke. Good for you for standing up for yourself!

[i-17bingo.livejournal.com]

My big sister knew it, and she knew all the ways to make it happen.

I always say that family always knows exactly which buttons to push, because they're the ones who installed them.

Also, that was one satisfying ending.

[majesticarky.livejournal.com]

lol nice ending!! I'm an only child, so at least I only had to deal with the teasing at school, but I had my fair share of that. I bet your sister thought twice about messing with you after that :3

[adoptedwriter.livejournal.com]

I hated all the sibling fights and scrapping to prove myself all the time. AW

[snarkerdoodle.livejournal.com]

Excellent ending line! And very real interaction/feelings of the narrator and the big sister. :)

[jexia]

Write what you know, right? ;)

[dreamsreflected.livejournal.com]

oh siblings can be just so cruel! I love the subtlety of this piece, it's very well done.

[cheshire23.livejournal.com]

I love this deconstruction of the chicken crossing the road.