Chapter One

I was sitting on my big ugly puke green couch thinking about all that happened that past year.
“Samantha Alison Faith Edmund, GET DOWN HERE RIGHT THIS MINUTE”
Here we go again, Moms going all out with her crazy traditions we HAVE to keep every year. I mean big deal. It's New Years Eve. Not like anything exciting is going to happen this year anyways. Except maybe that I'm turning 16! I slowly moseyed my way down the stairs. No surprise there. My Mom is sitting around eating her heart out with chips and dip. My siblings all look like they'd rather be somewhere else. “Pull out a board game, honey” my mom asked. Now let me just tell you something. One thing I REALLY hate is board games, and my mom knows this. So I choose a family favorite, Life. I ended up being the most successful.
“Holy Cow! Look at what time it is!” screamed mom which made our goldfish jump out of their tank. 11:59.
“Hurry get the remote turn it to Channel Two! HURRY HURRY HURRY!”
“Mom if you just shut up maybe we would have a chance to find the remote!” I yelled back.
We got the T.V. on just in time for the 5....4....3...2....1 part. Wow, Whoop De Do. We got to see the ball drop. This night was as exciting as watching a plant grow. I told my mom goodnight and went to bed.
New Years Day was about as fun as cleaning public toilets. All day I just watched T.V. appreciating the holidays. But I didn't get a single call from any of my friends. So I ended up just going to sleep at 7 hoping to get some good sleep for my first day back.
I heard screaming. That's not good. I bounced up and ran downstairs. The baby is crying and my mom is gone. I looked around, her keys, purse, and car was gone. Great. Mom decided to do her vanishing act tonight of all nights when tomorrow is a big important test. Yeah, I know its really stupid that I have a big test on the day back but my teacher wanted to make sure we had “gotten enough sleep, kept reading, studied, and ate good breakfasts” while we were on vacation. So I hurried up and made the baby a bottle hoping to save the other kids from waking up. Too late.
McKenzie, who is 3, was already up. She came and told me she loved me and asked where mommy was. I told her that she had to go get us some milk and for her to go back to sleep. She cuddled up to me and snored. No matter how mad I was I always got really comforted when I heard the soft breathing of kids. The baby, (whose name is Emily), feel asleep and I laid her down. I called my Mom's cell phone. She answered.
“Hey, mom where are you?”
“Is anything wrong!”
“No, just the baby was screaming and I woke up and I have an important test and I'm worried about you”
“Oh”
“So where are you?”
“I'm sorry I didn't think the baby would wake up. I just went on a little ride. I'm just around the corner. I will be home in about fifteen minutes.”
I put the Emily in her crib, picked up McKenzie and put her in her bed, and carried myself to my bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.