Seth sat on his bed and surveyed the four walls that separated him from the rest of his family. They were partially covered in a dark blue paper that had been scratched and eaten away by little animals and the passing years. A ragged strip of flowered yellow trim traced the perimeter of the room near the ceiling, marking the end of the room’s artificial coloring. All of the dry wall that once hung on the ceiling had now fallen and Seth could see the decrepit skeleton of the house. Staring at the gabled roof, he noticed a wasp nest on one of the rafters. An endless drone of vibrating wings filled the room as the insects left their little holes in the nest to orbit around the light. Suspended by a long black wire, the fixture moved whenever they hit it and the shadow it created on the floor made the room appear to be shaking. Seth stood up on his bed in order to have a better look at his new roommates. He was glad that he wouldn’t be alone.

Jumping off his bed, Seth decided to visit his sister Emily in her new room. The two had been forced to share a room in their old house. It had been wonderful for Seth. At night he sat up late and watched her write in her journal by the glow of a small flashlight. She always waited until she thought he was asleep, and even then she would try to hide herself with the covers. Sometimes she would suddenly stop writing and shut off the light, sitting straight up in her bed. Listening. Whenever this happened he squeezed his lids together and pretended to be asleep until he heard the flashlight switch back on. Once again, slowly parting his lashes enough to see her outline through his squinted eyes, he rode the strokes of her pen until he fell asleep.

“Hey Emily!” he sang out while knocking on her door.

“What do you want?”

“I was just wondering if you wanted to come see the wasps that are living in my room. They’re all over the place.” Instead of waiting for a reply he decided to go ahead and open the door, but as his hand grasped the cold spherical handle he realized that it wouldn’t turn. “Hey Emily! How come your door’s locked?”

“I’m asleep. Go away.”

He knew this wasn’t true but decided not to try again. Allowing his hand to fall form the handle he stared at the solid wooden barrier. It was a perfect rectangle, almost twice his height. The wood grains reminded him of the trees he liked to climb. He looked across the hall to his own door, painted blue and hanging loosely on its hinges. It didn’t fill the entire frame so light shone out form the side and through the two holes where its handles should have been. He said goodnight to his sister but received only the reply of the floor squeaking beneath his feet as he made his way back to his room.

Against the backdrop of the night sky, the glass of the window transformed into a mirror as the light from the fixture presented him with his own image as he re-entered his room. Seth paused for a moment to study himself. It always surprised him to see his own reflection because he could never clearly remember how he actually looked. With a large yawn he noticed that he could see his entire ribcage when he inhaled. The image of the boy he now studied appeared very frail compared with those of his friends on the swimteam. There were no bulges of muscle to cover the bones in his arms or shoulders, and his chest seemed concave in contrast to the pectorals that some of the boys carried between their arms. With this thought Seth put on a large T-shirt, shut off the lights, and jumped in to bed. In the darkness the wasps began to settle. Seth fell asleep staring at the blank wall across the room.

(GO ON TO PART TWO)