couldn’t understand why
my dad didn’t want to play games with me and mum anymore. I decided
the present I was holding was too light to be a Beyblade, so I put
it down.
‘Good boy, Gabriel.’ Mum gave
me a proud smile.
‘It’s Gabe,’ I muttered with a
roll of my eyes. I didn’t understand why mum and dad insisted on
calling me Gabriel, everyone else called me Gabe. I bent down and
picked up another present and shook it.
‘Gabriel Austin,’ scolded mum,
as her voice went up a few octaves. She always used my full name
when I was in trouble. ‘If you don’t put that down right
now , you’re going straight to bed, no chocolate.’ I ignored her
and started picking at curled blue ribbon tied tightly around the
box. I was sure that this was the one that I wanted. ‘Gabriel, I’m
going to count to three, and if you haven’t put that present down
I’ll call your father to come and deal with you.’
I gasped as I quickly looked
around at her. She only threatened to call dad down if I’d been
seriously naughty. The last time she’d done that was when I’d
pinched the Nutella out of the pantry and ate the whole jar in
secret. I’d been sick in the lounge, all over her expensive cream
rug. Brown, stinky, sticky fluid that she said would never come out
and the rug had to be thrown away. Dad had given me a serious
telling off and I’d been grounded for a week with no access to my
computer games, and I wasn’t even allowed to hang out with my best
friend Doug. Mum and I glared at each other across the room. I
didn’t like being told what to do, my parents were always trying to
stop me exploring and having fun. ‘Don’t climb that tree, Gabriel,’
they’d warn. ‘Don’t run so fast,’ they’d shout, ‘Where has all this
mud come from?’ they’d scold. I mean come on, I was a boy. Boys
liked to climb, run, jump and get dirty, it’s what we did. I was
seriously irritated now, so I pulled the ribbon on the present as I
steadfastly held her gaze. I figured this was a game, I loved
playing games and I also loved winning. She was challenging me and
I wasn’t planning on backing down.
‘One,’ she warned as she
struggled to push herself to the edge of the sofa. I pulled a bit
harder. ‘Two.’ Her voice sounded firmer and I wavered, she could be
serious and there was no way I wanted dad to be mad with me, not
the night before Christmas. I loved him, but he could get quite
scary when he was cross. Intimating? Intimidadating? I wasn’t sure
of the word, but that’s what I heard people say about him. Robert
Austin was “confident, controlled and intimidadating,” whatever
that meant. I didn’t want him to be like that with me, not for
Christmas, so I threw the present on the floor.
‘I hate you ,’ I yelled
at her. She looked back at me with hurt in her eyes. I don’t even
know why I said that, of course I didn’t hate her, but I was so
annoyed. I’d just wanted one night, one night as a family, a
night where Mum, Dad and I sat and played together. It hardly ever
happened anymore and sometimes I felt really sad and lonely. I’d
been so happy when mum had given up work a few months ago, to stay
at home while she was pregnant. I’d thought we’d have loads of time
to play together, but lately she spent hours asleep and when dad
got home from the office, he holed himself up in his study. I
couldn’t wait for a brother or sister so I had someone to talk to
and play with, though I didn’t really like girls all that much, so
secretly I was hoping that I’d get a brother.
I ran out of the lounge,
slamming the door and headed for the stairs. I knew Mum wouldn’t be
able to catch me, with that baby in her tummy she was too fat to
keep up with me and I was so good at running. I had loads of
medals from school for running fast. I made it to the first landing
before I heard her shout at me to come back down. I ignored her and
carried on, stomping around to the next set of stairs leading up
towards
my dad didn’t want to play games with me and mum anymore. I decided
the present I was holding was too light to be a Beyblade, so I put
it down.
‘Good boy, Gabriel.’ Mum gave
me a proud smile.
‘It’s Gabe,’ I muttered with a
roll of my eyes. I didn’t understand why mum and dad insisted on
calling me Gabriel, everyone else called me Gabe. I bent down and
picked up another present and shook it.
‘Gabriel Austin,’ scolded mum,
as her voice went up a few octaves. She always used my full name
when I was in trouble. ‘If you don’t put that down right
now , you’re going straight to bed, no chocolate.’ I ignored her
and started picking at curled blue ribbon tied tightly around the
box. I was sure that this was the one that I wanted. ‘Gabriel, I’m
going to count to three, and if you haven’t put that present down
I’ll call your father to come and deal with you.’
I gasped as I quickly looked
around at her. She only threatened to call dad down if I’d been
seriously naughty. The last time she’d done that was when I’d
pinched the Nutella out of the pantry and ate the whole jar in
secret. I’d been sick in the lounge, all over her expensive cream
rug. Brown, stinky, sticky fluid that she said would never come out
and the rug had to be thrown away. Dad had given me a serious
telling off and I’d been grounded for a week with no access to my
computer games, and I wasn’t even allowed to hang out with my best
friend Doug. Mum and I glared at each other across the room. I
didn’t like being told what to do, my parents were always trying to
stop me exploring and having fun. ‘Don’t climb that tree, Gabriel,’
they’d warn. ‘Don’t run so fast,’ they’d shout, ‘Where has all this
mud come from?’ they’d scold. I mean come on, I was a boy. Boys
liked to climb, run, jump and get dirty, it’s what we did. I was
seriously irritated now, so I pulled the ribbon on the present as I
steadfastly held her gaze. I figured this was a game, I loved
playing games and I also loved winning. She was challenging me and
I wasn’t planning on backing down.
‘One,’ she warned as she
struggled to push herself to the edge of the sofa. I pulled a bit
harder. ‘Two.’ Her voice sounded firmer and I wavered, she could be
serious and there was no way I wanted dad to be mad with me, not
the night before Christmas. I loved him, but he could get quite
scary when he was cross. Intimating? Intimidadating? I wasn’t sure
of the word, but that’s what I heard people say about him. Robert
Austin was “confident, controlled and intimidadating,” whatever
that meant. I didn’t want him to be like that with me, not for
Christmas, so I threw the present on the floor.
‘I hate you ,’ I yelled
at her. She looked back at me with hurt in her eyes. I don’t even
know why I said that, of course I didn’t hate her, but I was so
annoyed. I’d just wanted one night, one night as a family, a
night where Mum, Dad and I sat and played together. It hardly ever
happened anymore and sometimes I felt really sad and lonely. I’d
been so happy when mum had given up work a few months ago, to stay
at home while she was pregnant. I’d thought we’d have loads of time
to play together, but lately she spent hours asleep and when dad
got home from the office, he holed himself up in his study. I
couldn’t wait for a brother or sister so I had someone to talk to
and play with, though I didn’t really like girls all that much, so
secretly I was hoping that I’d get a brother.
I ran out of the lounge,
slamming the door and headed for the stairs. I knew Mum wouldn’t be
able to catch me, with that baby in her tummy she was too fat to
keep up with me and I was so good at running. I had loads of
medals from school for running fast. I made it to the first landing
before I heard her shout at me to come back down. I ignored her and
carried on, stomping around to the next set of stairs leading up
towards
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