Co-operative creative writing.

As I run down 2nd St., parallel to Main, I think about what Colin said. "I need to talk to you Rosetta..." He called me Rosetta, as he always has. My name is actually Rose, but somehow he got it into his head that Rose was short for Rosetta. It is really funny, so I have never corrected him. As for him, I call him Colin because it is his middle name, and because nobody else does. I think of it as my secret revenge. I pass a store, when I am suddenly stopped by Lewis. He is Colin's older brother, and they are very close. However, he and I don't get along. Not any more. Lewis is 3 years older than Colin and I. Back when we were kids, we would play games together. Hide and Seek, Chase, Jump the Gap, things like that. It was really nice. But then, Lewis turned 12. His parents took him up to the big hospital on the hill, and brought him back the next day. They set him up in his and Colin's shared room, and told Colin he would have to sleep downstairs for the next week. You see, after the operation, the new adults need time to rest. During this time, only their parents are supposed to be around them. I don't really know why. Guess it has something to do with the properization. Now, I was really curious about what the new adults looked like. I had never seen one before, and it was mysterious and exciting. At least, I thought so. That's why I begged and begged Colin to sneak into his room with me, so we could see him. In our city, breaking a rule like that is a serious crime, but I was just too curious to not try. One day after school, we ran straight to his house so we could beat the adults who were getting off of work soon. We made it in time, so we were the only ones there. We went upstairs to his room, and paused at the door. "Be quiet!" Colin whispered. We had to check to make sure Lewis was asleep before we could go in. Colin pressed his ear to the door and listened for a few moments. Then he nodded to me. "Yeah, he is definitely asleep. I recognize his breathing." Slowly, we opened the door and slipped inside. The room looked quite different than we had remembered. The bed had been pushed to the center of the room, and was surrounded by strange medical equipment. In the bed was Lewis, but he wasn't at all recognizable. His entire head was wrapped in bandages. His body was covered in a blanket, but there were thick belts over it strapping him down. The top of his head was the scariest part, however. There were all kinds of cables and wires coming out of it. They went under the gauze, then... Inside.... It was too horrible to look at. I turned away. When I did so, I bumped into one of the machines. It made a squeak, which woke Lewis up. I span around and stared. He couldn't see us, so I think he thought we were his parents. He began moaning, and straining against the belts. He seemed to be in pain. Colin slowly reached his arm out, and began to move to release him. Then, we heard the noise of the front door opening below us. His parents were home! I half-dragged, half-pulled Colin out of the room. He could barely function at all. He must have been in shock. In retrospect, I think I was too. This wasn't anything like what our parents had told us. That was the day when I began to wonder about the surgery. Colin and I have never talked about that day since. Not only was it something out of a nightmare, it was illegal. Sometimes I wonder if it was all a dream. A few days later, I saw Lewis as an Adult. He didn't seem to remember the days he spent in bed at home, and if he did he pretended he didn't. He never played games with us again. He grew distant, and made new Adult friends at the higher education school (you know, they call it High School here). He was still nice to Colin, so he didn't notice the difference as much. I didn't either, until one night a few months ago. By this time, Lewis was 15. He was doing excellent at his school, and was expected to graduate early. Colin told me he was being interviewed for a position at the City Administration Offices. I was out late, picking up some things for my mother's special birthday dinner, when I saw him. Lewis stumbled out of an Alcohol Dispensary, and saw me. Something was off about the way he was looking at me, and I started to back away. His breath stank, his eyes were bloodshot, and his speech was slurred. I could tell he had imbibed more than his allotment, as was common for the younger Adults. "Hhhheyy Rosssse, yoou areeeen't with myyy brrrothherr? WHY doon't you juusssssst come with me tonight!" "No! You are drunk Lewis, and I am going home. Get away from me!" he lunged at me, trying to grab my arm. I twisted out of the way and ran as fast as I could towards home. He started after me, but tripped and fell. As I ran, I could hear him yelling and cursing. This was another side of Adults that I never knew. However, that wasn't even the scariest part about the encounter. I broke the law. You see, children are supposed to listen to adults, no matter what. But there was no way I was listening to him. He was out of his mind! I ran home, and hoped that he wouldn't remember what had happened. The next time I saw him, he gave me no greater recognition than usual, so I assumed that I was safe. I never told Colin about it, though. I didn't know what he would do, or if he would even believe me. He had always idolized his brother. This is what went through my mind when Lewis stopped me, right outside of the bakery. "What do you want, Lewis?" I said in the coldest tone I could muster. "Have you seen my brother? You hang around him all the time, right?" he seemed agitated. "No, I haven't. He was at school today, but he left right afterwards. I don't know where he could be." The words spilled out of my mouth before I could even think. In the blink of an eye, I had committed yet another crime. You must never lie to Adults. "Well, if you do see him, bring him home or call us. He didn't come home from school yesterday. We heard after work today that he was in school, but he was able to leave before any teachers had heard about the situation. We can't have him running around without supervision, especially since his 12th birthday is tomorrow." With that, Lewis strode off down the street, presumably looking for more kids who knew Colin. After a moment, I again began to tear down the street towards our meeting place. I needed to find out what was going on, and I needed to hear it from Colin.