For just_1_word - 1.8 Home
Tab was eight when she first tried to run away from home. She’d seen an ad in her father’s paper about a talent show in Dublin and she’d wanted to be a rock star since she was three. She had big plans to get to Dublin and wow the audience with her version of ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady’. Of course at eight she had no idea what the words meant, she just knew that it sounded good.
A determined Tabitha tromped into her and her brother’s room and climbed up onto his bed and laid her small form over his. He wriggled and grunted and groaned and tried to push her off. Tab just sat on him and gripped the bottom of the top bunk so she could ride out his struggles.
He eventually stopped and just glared up at her with his green eyes from under his brown curls. His hair was wild and uncontrollable, but for different reasons to hers. Tab’s red hair was down to the middle of her back, and her fringe held out of the way with a clip. She never brushed it. Her mother never tried to either, so it stayed looking like she was the wild child her mother always yelled at her for being.
Her hands and knees were covered in scrapes and bruises from her enthusiastic attempts to slide down the stair rail, or to roller skate everywhere. Wheels were the fastest way to travel, after all.
She wasn’t going anywhere without her big brother though. She pulled back the covers, quickly explaining her grand scheme, and ignoring Riley’s protests that Ireland was apparently way too far and contained too many hills that he couldn’t be arsed climbing up. He couldn’t even get his skinny frame up the tree in their backyard. Unlike his sister who refused to spend time on the ground if she could help it. She took her toys up the tree, she took her lunch up the tree, and she tried frequently to get their dog up the tree. Apparently she preferred the tree because she knew their parents wouldn’t go up after her. Her mother would stand at the bottom and yell up at Tab that she wasn’t Tarzan, but she may as well be an ape. Then she’d storm off and forget about her daughter. Which worked for Tab. Riley stayed at the bottom with his books, and Tab occasionally swung from one of the branches upside down so she could hear what was happening with Rat and Mole while he read The Wind in the Willows out for her.
The tiny redhead huffed out a breath as she dragged her brother out of his bed and started to pack up a bag for them. She naturally included The Wind in the Willows and their Walkman, her hairbrush-for microphone practice and not for its intended use, and Riley’s daggy old Cookie Monster. She waited for him to get dressed, and when he was done she took him downstairs to grab a can of dog food before they went out back to collect the dog. It would just be the three of them. Riley and Stitch could watch as Tab became a rock star.
Of course they really only made it to the park a few streets away. Riley wouldn’t stop trying to convince her that he and Tab really needed to get a train ticket because he wasn’t walking to Dublin, and the dog got distracted by a poodle. They had to abandon their plans to chase after Stitch to try and get him back. It might have helped if they’d remembered a leash.
They stayed in the park until dusk, and Tab might not have performed at the talent show, but she did perform in the park to an audience of five kids, including her brother. Riley took his sister’s hand as they started to walk back home and offered her a small smile.
“You know what?”
She shook her head as she blew a bubble with the gum one of her audience members had given her.
“When we’re older, I’ll take you to Dublin. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, sis.”
“Even the moon?” she asked after a beat, her brown eyes looking at him keenly.
Riley grinned. “Even the moon.”
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 722
pullmysteth used with permission
A determined Tabitha tromped into her and her brother’s room and climbed up onto his bed and laid her small form over his. He wriggled and grunted and groaned and tried to push her off. Tab just sat on him and gripped the bottom of the top bunk so she could ride out his struggles.
He eventually stopped and just glared up at her with his green eyes from under his brown curls. His hair was wild and uncontrollable, but for different reasons to hers. Tab’s red hair was down to the middle of her back, and her fringe held out of the way with a clip. She never brushed it. Her mother never tried to either, so it stayed looking like she was the wild child her mother always yelled at her for being.
Her hands and knees were covered in scrapes and bruises from her enthusiastic attempts to slide down the stair rail, or to roller skate everywhere. Wheels were the fastest way to travel, after all.
She wasn’t going anywhere without her big brother though. She pulled back the covers, quickly explaining her grand scheme, and ignoring Riley’s protests that Ireland was apparently way too far and contained too many hills that he couldn’t be arsed climbing up. He couldn’t even get his skinny frame up the tree in their backyard. Unlike his sister who refused to spend time on the ground if she could help it. She took her toys up the tree, she took her lunch up the tree, and she tried frequently to get their dog up the tree. Apparently she preferred the tree because she knew their parents wouldn’t go up after her. Her mother would stand at the bottom and yell up at Tab that she wasn’t Tarzan, but she may as well be an ape. Then she’d storm off and forget about her daughter. Which worked for Tab. Riley stayed at the bottom with his books, and Tab occasionally swung from one of the branches upside down so she could hear what was happening with Rat and Mole while he read The Wind in the Willows out for her.
The tiny redhead huffed out a breath as she dragged her brother out of his bed and started to pack up a bag for them. She naturally included The Wind in the Willows and their Walkman, her hairbrush-for microphone practice and not for its intended use, and Riley’s daggy old Cookie Monster. She waited for him to get dressed, and when he was done she took him downstairs to grab a can of dog food before they went out back to collect the dog. It would just be the three of them. Riley and Stitch could watch as Tab became a rock star.
Of course they really only made it to the park a few streets away. Riley wouldn’t stop trying to convince her that he and Tab really needed to get a train ticket because he wasn’t walking to Dublin, and the dog got distracted by a poodle. They had to abandon their plans to chase after Stitch to try and get him back. It might have helped if they’d remembered a leash.
They stayed in the park until dusk, and Tab might not have performed at the talent show, but she did perform in the park to an audience of five kids, including her brother. Riley took his sister’s hand as they started to walk back home and offered her a small smile.
“You know what?”
She shook her head as she blew a bubble with the gum one of her audience members had given her.
“When we’re older, I’ll take you to Dublin. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, sis.”
“Even the moon?” she asked after a beat, her brown eyes looking at him keenly.
Riley grinned. “Even the moon.”
Tabitha London Browne
Original Character
Words: 722
pullmysteth used with permission