Controlled Scribbling

Kirby

The room was filled with an array of flashing lights; constantly changing colors and intensities bounced off the walls and ceiling. An old, electric alarm clock sat humming quietly to itself as it monotonously kept time in the small, chaotic room. The red numbers glared the time persistently, carefully marking each moment as it passed. The clock's alarm was set for six-thirty but it was not turned on. The alarm had not been on for weeks. Kirby had his head propped up with two pillows against the headboard and rhythmically flipped through the sixty-four channels. It was nearly three in the morning and only a couple of the channels had signed off. Kirby flipped and flipped, hoping to be entertained. He had just finished enjoying a low-budget soft porn to the extent that one can. He was left hoping for an action film or maybe a good comedy. Kirby was just three weeks out of high school and very little was expected of him. Very little was exactly what Kirby did. The colored lights cast and animated shadows all over the cluttered room.

Rain started slowly rapping against the windows. For the past couple of months the rain drizzled, spit, sheeted, and poured. The rain did everything but go away.

Kirby muttered profanities to himself as he put on a pair of shorts and dragged himself out of bed. He was very tired but was not in the mood to sleep. He stepped quietly down the hall past the room where his parents slept. He refused to call them his parents. He simply referred to them as the adults he lived with. Through a steady stream of divorces, he now lived with his third legal father and second legal mother. Neither biological parent was left. Kirby admitted it was difficult growing up at times, but claimed it wasn't that bad and couldn't care less now that he was grown. Unlike many of his peers who had grown up in similar situations and made similar claims, Kirby was not bitter and truly couldn't care less. He could hear the rain increasing as he drudged down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen.