Beacon

I saw the beacon from far away. It was red and glowing. I was on a horse. I was Paul Revere. It was my 5th grade school play and I was Paul Revere. After the play we all went out to celebrate. My mom, dad, and two brothers. We had pizza and sodas at a place close to home. We never were allowed to drink soda, so this was a real treat. I saw Madeline through the doorway sitting in the room adjacent to ours with three of her friends. They were older, in middle school. I felt embarrassed to be with my parents. We ate the pizza and drank our sodas and my dad even let me have a second one. Then we went home. As soon as we got home, every- one did what they usually do. My Mom got ready for bed and watched television in her bedroom. She probably turned on a movie channel and fell asleep before ten o’clock. My older brother went downstairs into the basement, which is where his bedroom was. My younger brother went up to our bedroom, we shared a bedroom, and turned on Nintendo. He was probably playing that Ice Hockey game. My father went straight to his liquor cabinet and poured himself a glass of whatever he always drank. Whiskey, I guess. Or scotch. I watched him, as I always do, to see which glass he would choose. There were three kinds of glasses in my father’s liquor cabinet. There was a tall thin glass, a regular sized glass, and a short fat glass. After my father chose a glass and poured his drink, I went upstairs to my bedroom. I laid on my bed and looked at the solar system stickers on my ceiling.