Reach for the Sky

[Footiecrinkle]

Hi all,

 

Just an idea I had floating around in my head for a while. Hope you like it.

 

………

 

The door swung open, and Arthur Volkmeyer turned to look.

 

 

 

“Hey Art, I’m home,” came a voice from the entryway. His brother Skylar stood in the doorway. Kicking off his red converse, the preteen pulled his school backpack off his shoulder, adjusting the hood of the fleece hooded onesie he wore. Art smiled. Sky always had a unique style, having rocked unique fashion such as kilts and “male polish” among other avant-garde looks over the past year, but the grey and purple onesie he had customized for Christmas had been one of his favorite recent outfits. Art had bought it for him, helping Sky to customize the jumpsuit to his liking.

 

 

 

The boy stopped at the side table and dumped his school ID, keys, and phone out of the front patch pocket, and his wallet out of one of the zipped side pockets. “I put your key back in its hiding place,” he called.

 

 

 

“Thanks man,” Art called.

 

 

 

Sky made his way into the kitchen, pulling the cerise zipper of his onesie down an inch and running his hand through his blonde-streaked undercut before sitting down at the kitchen table, “You got everything ready for tonight?”

 

 

 

“Yep, got pizza, soda, and even some of those good danishes for breakfast tomorrow.” He replied. Art knew Sky had been looking forward to this for a while. Their parents were out of town on business, so Art, being over a decade older than the preteen Skylar, had been tasked with babysitting for the weekend.

 

 

 

“Yeheaa,” Sky exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. “Ready for some Ready or Not?”

 

 

 

“Only if you’re ready…or not,” Art said, smiling.

 

 

 

Sky stood up from the table and headed for the living room, “Ready or not, here I come, you can’t hide,” he sang, “You know, they totally missed out not using that song in their trailer, as far as I can remember at least.”

 

 

 

And so the night had gone, the pair playing video games and watching movies, until late into the night, before the pair headed off to bed.

 

 

 

A knock on his bedroom door woke Art up later that night. Sky stood in the doorway, looking worried, wearing his onesie, as he had not brought any official pajamas.

 

 

 

“Hey, Sky, what’s up?” Art asked.

 

 

 

Sky lowered his onesie’s hood, his blue eyes shimmering in the darkness. He put his hands into the patch pocket and walked over to the edge of Art’s bed. He sighed, and ran his hand once more through his blonde-streaked brown hair. “Art?” He asked, voice weak, “can we…talk?”

 

 

 

“Sure, Sky,” Art said, sitting up and motioning for Sky to sit next to him, which he did. The cold Wisconsin moonlight filtered in from outside to light them as Sky spoke.

 

 

 

“Well…this is gonna sound stupid but…I had a nightmare,” Sky said.

 

 

 

Art didn’t laugh. Sky had always been sensitive, always considerate of people’s emotions and sensitive to sad or upsetting content, “Hey,”Art said, wrapping an arm around Sky and pulling him close, “It’s okay. Everyone gets one every now and then. What was it about?”

 

 

 

“Yeah I was in school and I had just finished some test, and I was walking back out through the school in the dark, and there was no one around. There was a light at the end of the hall and I knew that was where it was safe, so I ran through the dark hall, and somehow I got turned around, and I remember thinking ‘help me, help me, oh God help me how did I get turned around in a straight hall?’ and then,” Sky paused for a moment and chuckled, “I heard someone dropping something on the floor, little things, and I remember yelling ‘why are they dropping skittles, help me’ and then I woke up. I don’t know why the skittles…at least I think I yelled skittles, was scary, but it was. Weird.”

 

 

 

“Well,” Art said, “Come on, kiddo, you’re bunking with me tonight.”

 

 

 

“I’m not a little kid,” Sky insisted weakly.

 

 

 

“I know you’re not, but part of being mature is knowing when you need a little help. Now come on buddy, lay down here with me.”

 

 

 

Art eased himself back as Sky scampered under the covers, his bare feet skirting against Art’s legs as he found a comfortable place.

 

 

 

“Come here, buddy, reach for the Sky,” he whispered as he wrapped an arm around SKy, using a cheesy phrase from their youth. He giggled before snuggling into the embrace.

 

 

 

“That’s such a cheesy line,” Sky said.

 

 

 

“Cheesy is good.” Art replied,

 

 

 

Sky arranged his onesie’s hood across his shoulders as he settled into the bed, “I wonder what that dream meant,” he mused.

 

 

 

“I don’t know,” Art mused, “You know, you’re too hard on yourself. You…always give so much of yourself. You…well you have always been you. You’re not afraid to try new things or new styles or new foods. I…just want you to know how awesome that is. I’m so proud of you.”

 

 

 

Throughout this speech, Sky’s face had scrunched up more and more and he had turned his head more and more into the pillow. Art tightened the embrace as he continued, “I know I don’t see you all the time like I used to, living over here and such, but I want you’ll to know, I am so proud of you. You are such a wonderful, brave person and I will always be here for you, no matter what, okay?”

 

 

 

Sky had fully geared up now, burying his face into his brother’s shoulder as he choked out a sob.

 

 

 

“Hey, hey,” Art whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

 

 

 

Sky choked out a sob-laugh and smiled, tears streaming down his cheeks, “Thanks, I…know you didn’t just. It’s…I’m always like this.”

 

 

 

“And that’s a good thing,” Art replied, taking an edge of the pillow and wiping Sky’s cheeks and eyes with it, “Being able to express your feelings is a wonderful gift that not everyone has. Cherish that.”

 

 

 

“Thanks,” Skylar repeated again, “You…said I was brave?”

 

 

 

“I did,” Sky replied.

 

 

 

“Well, there is one thing that I’ve been thinking about for a while and…I wanted to let you know.”

 

 

 

“What is it?” Art asked, “You can tell me anything, you know that.”

 

 

 

“Well…I think I may be…bisexual,” Sky choked out, “I’ve thought about it for a while and I think I am.”

 

 

 

“That’s cool, “Art replied, smiling, “I know mom and dad won’t mind, although I won’t tell them if you don’t want me to.”

 

 

 

“I don’t mind if you do but I will when they get back. I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

 

 

 

“Great, here,” Art said, motioning for Sky to raise his head so he could flip the pillow, “There we go, come here, buddy,” Art pulled Sky close again, ruffling his hair. Sky giggled and settled into the embrace.

 

 

 

They lay like that for a moment, content in the silence and the comforting presence of the other. Art eventually spoke up.

 

 

 

“You know, when you were little mom or dad would always sing to get you to go to sleep.” He whispered.

 

 

 

“I don’t need a lullaby,” Sky replied, chuckling.

 

 

 

“Shut up, my bed, my rules, now…what do we have…”

 

 

 

“You wanted me here, but okay,” Sky joked as Art thought of a tune.

 

 

 

“Starry, starry night, paint your palate blue and grey…”

 

 

 

“Hey,” Sky piped back up, “are you trying to make me cry again?”

 

 

 

“Sorry,” Art replied, “How about…stars shining bright above you, night breezes seem to whisper I love you..”

 

 

 

“Are we World War 1 soldiers having a flashback?” Sky quipped.

 

 

 

“Well I don’t know. Those are just the songs I had in my head,” Art replied, smiling.

 

 

 

“No, no, that’s cool. Just joking,” Sky replied.

 

 

 

“Well, that’s all the lyrics I know so…humming it is,” Art said, “You know. I love you, kid. I’ve always got your back, okay?”

 

 

 

“Love you too,” Sky replied, smiling.

 

 

 

Art ruffled Sky’s hair playfully and the pair settled back down. Art continued to hum “Dream a Little Dream of Me”, mixed with the occasional attempt at lyrics, as he stroked Sky’s hair gently with his thumb. Eventually Sky’s breathing slowed, and he drifted off to sleep, snuggled into his brother’s cozy embrace, and Art closed his eyes, both of the pair finally falling into a peaceful, nightmare-free sleep.

 

 

………

 

This is just a first draft, so any feedback would be encouraged. Should I add more to the beginning or is it good as-is? I wanted to get the important details out in the beginning but have the late-night heartfelt stuff be the main focus, without too much unnecessary fluff.

 

Sky’s nightmare was a real one I had a while ago.

 

Hope you enjoy.

 

Cheers.

[Sissy Becky]

Here are my thoughts… I’m not an established writer, just someone who loves to think about the craft of writing.

First up, something wacky has happened with your spacing, With so much dialog in your story, it decreases the readability.

I kinda think of the DD story forum as primarily a smut forum, so when I noticed that Art and Sky were brothers, and one was 10 years his senior I was ready to NOPE THE HELL OUT. I didn’t and scanned the story, and I’m glad, ‘cause it’s super sweet. It might be worth posting that at the top?

Here are my specific thoughts.

There is a lot of musing going on here:

On 2/7/2022 at 11:27 PM, Footiecrinkle said:

Sky arranged his onesie’s hood across his shoulders as he settled into the bed, “I wonder what that dream meant,” he mused.

“I don’t know,” Art mused,

You could almost drop the dialog tags completely, and instead

Quote

Sky arranged his hood and settled into bed, “I wonder what that dream meant?”

”I don’t know.”

At this point in the story, I would let it breathe for a little bit. Art is just about to launch into this really touching speech about how awesome his little brother is, but that is RIGHT after Sky talks about the dream. 

What if you tried letting the room go silent for awhile.  Describe the room, describe the weather outside. 

Then Art can blurt out the speech.  I think it will have more impact.

The story is cute as hell. I like it.