THE JACK DAWSON DIARIES
Chapter One
Unfortunately for Jack Dawson,
this was exactly what he did not want to do.
He could hear his little
brothers, Kyle and Max, sleeping in their bunks. His older sister, Madison, was
also asleep.
He heard a whimper from the
little crib in the corner, which his baby sister slept in.
He picked her up, and gently
rocked her against his shoulder.
"It’s okay, Scarlett. It’ll
be okay,” he said calmly.
But in his heart, he knew it
wasn’t okay.
Since his seventh birthday,
everything had gone wrong for Mom, Dad, and him.
*****
"Happy birthday to you!”
the children sang. The birthday boy blew out the candles and made a wish, not
that he really needed any type of wish.
His mom and dad looked on
proudly. His sister smiled at him and nodded.
"Happy birthday, Jack,”
she whispered.
*****
Jack came back to reality with a
start. He could feel a soggy piece of fabric in his hand, and he grimaced as he
realized his sister was wet to the bone.
Honestly, he thought as he changed her, can’t
anybody else help out around here?
Obviously not, a voice inside his head told him. Obviously
not.
He wasn’t exactly what one might
call responsible. He’d been expelled from seven schools in four years. It was
nothing to be proud of.
He was fed up, really. His life
was going to waste, and nobody cared.
He felt tears come into his eyes,
and his heart welled up with bitterness.
Social services, he thought angrily. Damn those stupid
people.
He needed to get out the
apartment. He rarely went out. He was too scared of being murdered.
But tonight was different. A
person only lived life once, and he wanted to live life dangerously...very
dangerously.