Crowned

One

"Livi! Knock it off!" I try to shove my little sister off my leg. Her little pale arms are snaked around my knee while her feet are locked around my ankle, making me immobile. She is only six and can still cling onto peoples' legs, which is kinda frightening.

"No!" She yells, sucking her thumb. Wow, this little girl is skilled, sucking her thumb while having a death grip on my leg is pretty amazing.

"Liviana, Charlie and I have to go to the market to get food and parts for mom. Now let go, before I go get Sage," I say as Charlie comes over and tries to loosen Livi's grip. No use.

" No!" She screams, griping my leg tighter. I think I'm losing blood circulation to my foot...

"Let me go!" I demand as she looks down at my mud covered boots. I notice that her once white day dress is now stained with dirt and mud from playing with the boys.

"You'll steal from people," Livi whines, looking up to me with her sad, pale blue eyes. "Its bad!"

I sigh, bend down and pick her up from my leg and hold her in my arms. My mom always does this when Livi doesn't understand something, or doesn't get her way. I look into her eyes, the same eyes my mom has, and silently plead for her to understand the families and my struggle.

"Listen Livi, I do that stuff so we can get money to live. So we can survive."

She stays silent for a bit, thinking it over.

"Why?" She whispers so quietly that I have to lean in to hear her.

"Because mom, dad and Sage don't make enough money for you, me, Levi and Oliver to live," I smile down at her sadly. Ever since the capital, Iris, has been threatening a war to break out with Suleo Rico, they have been over pricing food, water and electricity. We decided at the beginning of the new year that we could go without electricity for the spring, summer and fall. So now, to keep the house all lit up, we bought lots of candles and a few torches and to keep the house cool, we cover the windows and open them up to let the air in. I love the days when the breeze comes from the sea, were I can smell the salt and feel the warm, crisp air on my skin.

"Why did mommy have lots of babies?" She asks suddenly, continuing to suck her thumb.I swept a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, I was about to answer her when Charlie butt in.

"Because daddy was a little too stressed all the time," Charlie smiles innocently. I shoot him a glare and look at Livi, who looks confused.

"Well, its when a mommy and daddy love each other very much-" He tries to continue, but I elbow him in the gut. I get a glare in response.

"What he means is that daddy was stressed because he was tired," Way to go Addilyn, terrible save.

"If daddy was tired why didn't he go to bed?" She asks, clearly confused.

"Because he wanted to burn some calories to sleep better!" My older brother Oliver yells from the stairs. Oliver is a pain in the ass, he is a year older than me and acts as bad as Levi. I notice that his dark hair is ruffled from sleep, and his green eyes are slightly pink from waking up, I also see that he isn't wearing his work clothes, which tells me he is late...again.

"Oliver, shouldn't you be at the farm?" I demand as I watch his tan face go pale.

"What time is it?" He asks quietly, fiddling with his hands.

"Five til twelve," Charlie smirks down at his watch. Wow he still has that watch from when I gave it to him in the third grade. I smile at the shared memories.

"Shit!" Oliver yells, he turns around and dashes up the stairs.

"Shits a bad word!" Livi yells after him and Charlie and I share a smile.