Little Drummer Boy

Chapter 4: A Simple Journey

Chapter 4: A Simple Journey

Sometimes it’s the simple things, the ordinary moments that matter most. Sometimes it’s because they were the small pebbled tossed into the ocean of life, causing ripples as far and wide as the horizon, the miniscule word or action changing a life in the most wonderful or horrible way. Though much of the time it’s not. These insignificant moments, these ordinary actions, these are the moments that define us most. We live in them so often, the normalcy of life. Even when the extraordinary comes, it is in these plain moments that we give shape to our lives.

For my first full day with a brother, this was the case.

I slept late, not needing to go to school, which was ordinary.

I got up, wasted some time online, and ate a breakfast of doughnuts, which was ordinary.

I showered, got dressed, thought about doing homework, all of it ordinary.

I wondered how Jace was handling something so far from normal for him. The night before, I finally went to bed around 1 AM, though the last hour or so of being awake was just me in my room, so I didn’t know if anything else was going on. I had my door cracked open, so I could hear Jace, or he could come see me if he needed something. Though he was quiet, sleeping for all I knew. Around 12:30 Mom cracked his door open, but closed it quietly after a couple seconds, telling me that everything was normal, everything was ordinary.

I didn’t want to bother him, letting him rest if need be. However, around noon I decided to go check on him.

After walking up the steps, I knocked on his door a couple times. He didn’t say anything after a few seconds, so I walked in anyway. He was laying on the bed, facing the ceiling. Even though he was on top of the covers, they were a mess showing that he was under them earlier. I didn’t know if he was awake or not, however, after hearing me come in, he turned to face me and gave me a gentle smile. “You sleep okay?”

He nodded. “The bed is comfortable.” He slowly got up, looking back down like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep. “Did I stay in bed too late?”

“Nah, I guess not. It’s good to get plenty of sleep when you can.”

“Those blankets were really warm,” he said.

“Too much?”

“No, they were warm in a good way.”

He really seemed happy here, content with the simple things like a warm bed. That made me wonder what he might have had to go without, what things we have that we take for granted every day which seemed as precious as gold to him. “Mom and Dad wanted me to take you clothes shopping today. If you want to get dressed we can leave soon.”

“Ah okay. That sounds like fun.”

I normally wouldn’t call shopping for clothes fun exactly, but it might not be too bad. Partly because Dad gave me his credit card, though he was pretty adamant that it was only to be used for Jace. I guess after that last time I got things mixed up it was good to make sure I knew what it was to be used for. “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to go or if you need anything.”

After that I went back downstairs and got my coat out, hoping it wouldn’t take him too long. A while later I heard the bathroom door close, the sound of water flowing in the shower, followed by him yelling about it being too cold, and then a few seconds later about it being too hot. I probably should have warmed him that it seemed to jump very quickly. However, he seemed to either figure it out or get used to the crazy temperatures soon, so things were pretty quiet until he came downstairs a bit later and I saw just how big my clothes were on him. The sweatpants were pulled up over his stomach so they wouldn’t drag on the ground, and the shirt sleeves more than covered his hands.