Life As We Know It

by Lynne Sabourin

A teenage boy about the age of fourteen walked home from school down the sidewalk of his quiet New England town. It was a crisp fall afternoon and the sun was shining. A cool breeze blew through the leaves, which were changing to more vibrant hues of red, gold, and orange every day. The boy, however, was not paying any attention to his breathtaking surroundings. All he could think of was getting home. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of hunger, boredom, and his immense distaste for walking.

When he entered his home, he threw his backpack to the floor, kicked off his sneakers and ran into the living room. He payed no attention to his smiling mother who had come to greet him at the door. The boy instantly turned on the television and went into the kitchen for some potato chips.

Hours passed by as the boy droned in front of mind-numbing programs that showed tasteless images of sex, violence, and sheer stupidity. His mother's smile slowly turned to a frown as she tried to shake him from his stupor, to alert him that dinner was ready. Finally his father dragged him into the dining room, and sat him down at the table. The dinner was completely silent. The mother's smile was ripped from her face. It was replaced with a tight-lipped mouth, and a slight look of despair neither her son nor her husband noticed.

As soon as he had taken his last bite, the boy jumped up from the table, without one word of thanks to his mother, and ran back to his sacred box in the living room. It was as if the boy's life was solely dependant on it. Almost nothing could tear him away from it. He sat there into the night, eventually passing out at three in the morning, only to continue this cycle the next day.