Chapter 1 - Fragile

Estimated reading time: ±6 minutes

Finally Venaol, the weekend is upon us. I leave school and we are a crowd heading to the stop where the three buses will take us to different destinations. I'm boarding the one going south of town. I look at the seats on the bus; they are all already taken. The bus fills up quickly and it's always best to sit down, but many are faster and stronger than me. I make pale figure with my frail weight. After the usual 30 minutes, the bus starts to empty. I still have 15 minutes to go through this, and I can finally sit down.

I finally get home and go straight to my room to avoid my parents and their questions about my day. I hate having to tell them about my day. I feel I have to provide a report on every hour that has passed. I close my room door and I hear my little sister banging on my door.

Sister: Where did you put my doll!
Kellan: I didn't touch your doll, I have better things to do!
Sister: Liar! Give me my doll!

She starts knocking on my door. I sigh, an 11-year-old girl, it's painful with the gap 7 years. I hear my father approaching.

My father: Kellan, where did you put her doll?
Kellan: I didn't touch her damn doll! Leave me alone!
Father: Open the door.

I get up from my bed and go open the door. My little sister pushes me in and starts going through my things.

Kellan: I told you not to touch my things and leave me alone. You probably lost your doll somewhere in the house.
My father: Ophelia go, leave your brother alone.

My sister comes back to my father and puts her arms around my father's leg, then looks at me and pulls out her tongue. I sigh and roll my eyes. My dad's looking at me.

Father: Dinner's ready in 10 minutes, you'll eat with us I hope.
Kellan: Yeah.
My dad: And leave the damn door open or I'll take it off again.
Kellan: Yeah yeah...

My father leaves with my sister who keeps shouting that I have her doll. I sigh and close my door enough so that my bed is not visible. I'm gonna sit in my desk chair and turn on my computer. I consult things I find interesting on social networks but there is nothing very interesting. People who publish pictures of their pets, people who complain about everything and nothing at the same time, others who write messages about the politics of the country. Really, just stuff to die of boredom. I look at my bag and open it to get my homework. If I don't do it now, I won't have time to do it later.

So I do my homework on the spoken and written languages and maths courses. The other classes aren't that important. So homework is imperative that I get the pass mark.

My mother finally came into my room, furious. Well, what haven't I done yet or done wrong?

My mother: We must have called you 20 times, dinner's ready.
Kellan: Okay, I'm coming.

I get up from my chair. My mother didn't even bother to shout my name, I'm sure. She's heading for the kitchen, I'm just hanging out back. When I arrive in the kitchen, I notice that my sister has her doll in her hands and keeps her against her. She gives me her famous "I'll punch you in the face" look. By the way, the doctor said that people should avoid hitting me because of my weak bones. I already spent a month with a cast because some bully at school decided he wanted to hit me. I sit in my usual place and my mother puts my plate in front of me.

Kellan: Oh, I'm going out tonight, after I've done my homework.
My mother: Where are you going?
Kellan: I don't know, probably walking around.
My father: It's clear he's not going to meet a girl.
My mother: No, that's clear.
Kellan: Thank you for your support.
My father: But what are you going to do?
Kellan: I'll go for a walk I tell you.

My parents don't believe me; I would have had better luck if I had told them a lie.

Kellan: It's okay, I'll go smoke with some people in the park.
My father: I knew you were lying!
My mother: You have already been told not to smoke, you will stay here tonight.
Kellan: No, I said I was going out so I'm going out.
My mother: And I said you're staying here.

I sigh and finish eating quickly to avoid having to suffer this kind of discussion for a long time. I rinse my plate under my mother's inquisitor eyes and then go back to my room. I have to at least finish my homework before I go out.

So I finish my homework and put it high enough on my shelf so my sister can't take it and draw it on the paper. After that, I take my wallet and my keys to the door. I have less than 30 seconds to get my shoes on before my parents react. I throw myself, I get by the door and put my shoes on quickly. I take my jacket without putting it on and my mother starts her call. I hurry to close the door quietly and start running towards the park.

Once in the park, I find a bench on which I will sit and blow my week. I look at the people who pass by, those who walk their dogs, those who cycle by, others who jog. I'm exempt from sports because of my bone problem. I sighed as a family arrived with both parents and their two children. I wonder why they look happy and what my parents did wrong so we can barely talk to each other without screaming. Time passes and so do my thoughts. It's getting late, I should get home, but I don't want to. I want to stay outside, away from my parents and my pestilent little sister.

Around 21:00, I start to feel weird. There are fewer people in the park and actually, almost no one. I put on my jacket thinking it's just a cold snap. I try to warm up, but I quickly realize that I am not cold and that it is something else. I close my eyes and twist with pain, a cramp in my stomach, a really intense cramp that makes me want to scream.

I try to calm down but I feel my sweater getting tight, as well as my jeans. I feel excruciating pain in every muscle of my body; I didn't know I had so many muscles. I don't know what's going on with me, but I'm in terrible pain. I start screaming and my sweater tears and then my jacket too a few seconds later. My shoes are breaking and so are my jeans. I'm in so much pain, what's going on with me? I feel my muscles growing and my bones hardening, as if my body was finally catching up with all those years when I was thin and fragile. The pain finally subsides, I open my eyes and find that my body has completely changed. I'm suddenly very muscular and I feel giant. What the hell happened to me?