Chapter 1
I am known to lead an unusual life and have some unusual events but there are things that have been hidden from those close to me that I can't quit thinking about. The sights I have seen, the scents I have smelt, the noises that I have heard, damn those noises still linger from time to time. It leaves me disoriented and when people ask me about what is wrong I just tell them it is nothing. I tell them nothing because that is what it is, it's nothing. How can a dream be real, even if what happened in the dream seems so real? It is just so crazy. I must be going crazy.
I jumped up from the sound of a rooster crowing next door. I go to the window and I look outside while covering my unadjusted eyes with my arm and spot the rooster.
"That damn rooster needs to go buzz off. I am so tired of it waking me up so early." I lightly said under my breath.
I jumped back into the bed and covered myself with the blankets that are scattered across my unkempt bed.
"I just want to sleep through this day. I don't care that my parents want me to be there, this is for someone that I don't even like." I thought to myself. "Maybe if I tell them that I am sick then they will let me just stay in bed." 
I heard a banging noise come from the floor below me. I thought for a second and realized that my parents were most likely already awake and making breakfast. I could smell the food that they were cooking and I could pick up the scent of some of my favorite breakfast items, blueberry muffins and pancakes. They clearly knew that I wasn't going to want to get up out of bed this morning.
"Ugh, why do they have to know me so well?" I thought as I threw the blankets out from over my face. I looked to my door as I heard footsteps reaching the top set of the stairs. There was a light tapping at the door and that was obviously a sign to me to get up out of bed and answer the door. I groaned as I pulled the covers back over my face.
"Pyper, you need to wake up and get ready. There is breakfast downstairs ready for you. It's blueberry muffins and pancakes."
I threw the blankets off the bed completely with a loud groan and walked to the door. I opened the door to see my mom with her usual light and welcoming smile. 
"So, will you be joining us downstairs?"
I looked down at the ground and told her no, and that I was feeling sick. She gently placed one hand under my chin and looked me in the eyes and after putting her other hand to my forehead said, "You don't seem sick. I would like you to be downstairs with us in two minutes please." She obviously knew that I was lying to her about being sick because I have a habit of looking away from someone when I tell a lie. She pulled her hand back and gave me a giant smile that is enough to cheer me up instantly, if only for a few seconds. I watched her as she turned around and started walking down the stairs.
I turned to look at my room. The blankets that I had thrown were lying on the floor in front of my dresser at the end of my bed. I looked over to the mirror that I had set up next to one of the windows that shows a long and never ending dirt path out of the area. I stood over at the mirror and looked myself over; the long green and crème colors of my fur were messy and my eyes were still a bit crusted over from just waking up. I scratched my eyes and shook myself over to try and make my fur a bit less of a mess. I let out a heavy sigh before I turned to my opened door and walked out.
As I reached the table, I saw my dad and mom both talking to each other at the sink. On the table were three plates with silverware and glasses of orange juice set for each of us and pancakes stacked at the middle with a syrup pourer set next to it. I plopped into my chair between where my parents would sit. I looked up at them as my mom picked up a wicker basket with a small towel covering the muffins to keep them warm as they walked over to the table. My dad took his place in his chair to my right, followed by my mom sitting to my left. She took one hand and uncovered the towel to let me choose a muffin and then moved it over to my dad. She set the basket down and grabbed a muffin for herself.
"So, are you excited for today?" My dad asked while looking over at me "I am sure that you brother is really excited for us to be there but especially you, Pyper."
I looked over at him with a frown and then looked back at my plate as I set a stack of the pancakes onto my plate. "I don't really care. This day doesn't really concern me."
"Of course it does. It is the day your brother has been looking forward to his entire life and he is really happy that you will be there," my mom told me as she set a stack on pancakes onto her plate.
My dad passed the syrup to my mom as he had finished using it. "You should be excited too. This is a really big day for him and it's not often that you get to attend your own brother's wedding."
I focused on my muffin and started eating it trying to ignore my dad talking to me. I took the syrup after my mom set it in front of me and poured it onto my plate of food. I set it down and as I was reaching for my fork, my dad interrupted my focus and said "Look, you have to forget about the past. He may not have always been around these past few years but you can't hold a grudge because of that." My mom looked at him with a stern face, and after that, I had realized that prior to me making my way to the table, they were likely discussing how I was going to be reacting to today and whether I was going to think about him being gone all the time. I could tell that mom was upset that my dad had brought up something like that at the table while we are eating. I really didn't care. I was going to be thinking about that anyways.
My brother and I had never really been all that close growing up. After he left, I didn't really want much to do with him. He pretty much left out of the blue and we hardly ever got to hear from him. He would send letters but I didn't really care to read them when my parents told me about them. I realize that I am probably too old to hold grudges but I don't really care. I just want to go through today without ever talking to him.
I was the last to finish my food and as I set my fork on the plate, my mom gathered the plates and silverware and carried them to the sink. "I would like you to go upstairs and finish getting ready please, Pyper."
I looked over to her and nodded as I started to get up from the chair. I made my way up the stairs and looked to the right to a room that contained the bed that my brother used to sleep in. His stuff was gone and everything that he didn't have with him already was probably just boxed up and placed in the storage room of the house. I felt anger begin to run through me as I quickly turned away from the room and walked into my room to the right of the bathroom that was across from my brother's room. I looked back to the mirror and wiped my mouth of crumbs left from the muffin I was eating at the table. I shut the door behind me and proceeded to get ready for my brother's wedding.