“Mom, I swear I didn’t do that!”

“What do you mean you didn’t do it? It’s written right here!”

“Right where?”

“Right here, in Madeline’s journal.”

“You are looking in Madeline’s journal for the answers to your son?”

“No, I’m just trying to find out what is going on with you since you won’t tell me anything.”

“I don’t need to tell you anything, Mom!” Adam knew he was a dead man from there. Breaking the law was one thing. It was such a usual event that no one seemed to mind too much anymore, but talking back to his mother was a completely different story. Now he would have to hear from his father about this, and that was going to be pleasant at all!

“You’re father is going to be home soon, I suggest you go up to your room right now young man.”

“Yes, mom.” As Adam walked sluggishly to his room, he passed his sister, Madeline, on the stairs. His eyes stared coldly into hers as he fallowed her with his head already plotting out how he would return the punishment to her.

Adam was 18, still locked in his house and struggling to escape the mysteries of his own life. There wasn’t a day that would go by where he wouldn’t be up to something mischievous, simply trying to entertain his unfulfilling, typical days.

Adam opened the large piece of wood with graffiti on it, which would lead to his humble living space that he spent so much time in. Adam had a fascination with music, as any young boy would. He had a dream to become a famous rock star that would travel around the world fascinating everyone with his talents. In his room, you would find a blood red shag carpet surrounded with black walls from top to bottom. A single lamp was placed conveniently in a corner of the room while in another corner a black light was positioned. Posters of various bands that Adam used as role models were hung up around his room spaciously. In the farthest corner from the door and closest to the window lay Adam’s precious guitar along side of his lucky guitar pick and his rock star figurine that he won at an arcade with his friends years ago. Adam sat in the middle of his bed writing in his journal waiting for his father to get home to punish him.
~ ~ ~

“Mom, why did Adam give me a glare when I walked down the stairs?” Madeline was a very curious young girl who sang Julie Andrews throughout the house and who was constantly constructing something. She was 11 years old and had all the hopes and dreams of becoming an amazing detective. Madeline wore a pink plastic bracelet and pink tainted sunglasses everywhere she went, which became a struggle when trying to tuck her into bed at night. When she wasn’t worrying about her sunglasses she was constantly writing in her “detective’s notebook” about everything with her special quill pen that her mother got her for her birthday that year. When she wasn’t writing down her notes of the world around her, she was usually drawing her collections of sea creatures, like starfish, and her precious rock collection.

“Don’t worry about it honey,” said her mother.

This was not a good enough answer for Madeline, so she decided to investigate the answer to her question on her own. Before she came across any answers, she heard the door open. Her father walked in and was ready to sit down and eat dinner.

“Where is Adam?” asked their father.

“He is upstairs thinking about what he’s done,” says their mother.

“What has he done?”

“I’ll tell you later, Henry.”
~ ~ ~

The Webbers’ were never fond of Adam’s dream to become a famous rock star. They weren’t happy supporting him with his own guitar to create his very own rattling noises. In return, Adam hated his parents for not supporting him so he entered himself, and the rest of his band that he pulled together over the years, in a battle of the bands contest at the Blue Dog Pub on April 4th. That night they had the best time of their lives. They were nervous and excited to play. They came in 2nd place and got drunk afterwards to celebrate. Adam thought it would be funny to run out on stage and jump to the purple disco ball that hung from the ceiling. It wasn’t a wise choice. Inevitably, the police came and put him in locks and chains. He had to pay a fine and his mother had to come to pick him up.

The next day, when he woke up in her safe bed, he had gone downstairs for a bite to eat and to listen to the damage he had caused. Surprisingly, there were no questions asked or any lectures. Adam decided to write in his journal everything that happened. One morning, when Adam had gone out, Madeline decided to sneak through her brother’s room trying to familiarize herself with her brother again. She found a Rubics Cube and under that, a key. It was a key to the drawer in his nightstand. She turned the key to open the drawer and found her brother’s notebook. She read it and found his secret of a few nights before. Madeline was startled. She was continuously noticing how her brother was growing up and changing. As kids, Adam wasn’t a typical big brother. To Madeline, she was the luckiest little sister ever. Things changed though and they became distant.

For Madeline, everything was a detective game and figuring out her brother again was the biggest detective game she played. Madeline jotted down in her notebook about her findings, that of which her mother regularly checked up on.
~ ~ ~

“Now dear, what are you talking about? What is this nonsense that Adam got into?” Mr. Webber was a tall, strong and very disciplined man, but he had a heart of gold as long as you behaved. He couldn’t stand when his children made ridiculous, poor choices and he usually took care of it the way he knew best.

“Now promise not to be too hard on the boy. I already scared him enough I think.”

“What did he do Liz?”

Mrs. Webber sighed, “First, I think you need to know about something that I have been keeping from you because I just didn’t want to worry you.”

“Go on.”

“I had to pick Adam up form the local police station a few nights ago. I didn’t even want to know why so I didn’t ask any questions. The police officer thought it necessary to tell me that he was brought there because he was drinking underage though.”

“HE what!? You WHAT?!

“Then I read in Madeline’s journal everything he had done and why he was celebrating. Apparently, he placed in the “Battle of the Bands Competition.”

“What? That’s it! Someone needs to have a good talkin’ with that son of ours and now I’m going to have to be the one to do it.”

“What are you going to tell him?”

“I don’t know yet.”
~ ~ ~

All the while Madeline was hiding around the corner listening in on her parents’ conversation. She knew the once her father went up to talk to her brother she would be a goner so she hid outside underneath a tree collecting up acorns.

Mr. Webber made his way up the stairs and found his son sitting on his bed fiddling around with his Rubiks cube. He said, “Son, we have some things to talk about.”

“Like what, dad?”

Mr. Webber went over to his son’s dresser that was filled with various items that Adam had collected up over the years. He placed the Rubiks Cube down, grabbed the broken hockey puck off the dresser, sat down on the bed and toyed with the puck in his hands for a few seconds before speaking. “You remember when you shot this in and won the game? You were at the other end of the rink and you made, what I thought would be, the impossible. Do you remember that, son?”

“Yeah, of course dad, but what does this have to do with anything?” Adam took the puck out of his father’s hands, rubbing his pointer finger over the ruff edges where the puck had been broken into two separate pieces.

“You could make it, being a professional hockey player, but instead you choose to become a musician along with all of the other losers. You could be a winner, but instead you decide to get drunk and steal and get arrested.”

“This is about the contest that I entered myself in?”

“You bet it is! You are ruining your future. You could have it all and here you are getting drunk and God knows what.”

“I’m sorry Dad, but this is what I want to do. Music is my life. This is what makes me happy and Hockey is the furthest thing from my mind.”

“You aren’t allowed out of this house, no, this room, for another month, you hear me?”

“What?” Are you kidding me?”

“No, I’m not kidding you and this is the last time you will play for any rock band or whatever the hell you call it.”

“This is bull.”

“You watch your tone with me and rethink some things. I’m signing you up for Hockey this season.”

“I thought I just told you I don’t want to play.”

“I don’t care. You disobey me and you talk back, so you aren’t going to get what you want.” Mr. Webber left the room and slammed the door and soon after that, Adam went looking for his little sister knowing that she had to be the one who told them. Under the tree is where he found her, practically waiting for his arrival. She looked timid and shy.

Adam walked quickly across the yard over towards their favorite tree that they played under together as they grew up. On the tree, there hung a swing. Innocently, Madeline moved to sit on it remembering her older brother pushing her on it when she was younger. “What were you thinking, Madeline? You know what I’ve said about going through my stuff.”

Madeline continued swinging. Adam could tell by the look on her face that she felt terrible about getter her brother in trouble. A few seconds had passed and she responded quietly, as if it were a secret, “you’ve changed Adam.”

“How have I changed?” he asked abruptly.

“You don’t care about me anymore. I just want to know my brother again and all you do is keep secrets anymore. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble; I just missed talking to you.” Madeline’s innocent obsession with detective work was only her way of trying to get closer to her brother again, the brother who used to play hide and seek with her, the brother who used to climb trees and take the rap when they did something wrong. She missed the brother who used to tell her scary stories and secrets rather than just keeping them to himself.

When Adam heard his little sister say that, he started reflecting on his life. He realized that he really had changed. He paused, took a deep breath and walked behind his little sister, still sitting on the swing. Adam put out his arms and starting pushing his sister on the swing. All Madeline could do was smile.