After a couple minutes, just to assure they were gone I grabbed Andy and held him to my chest. Quiet as possible, I opened the door and looked all around. It seemed that the creatures left. "Matthew?" I yelled out, waiting for a response. "Yeah?" Someone yelled. I ran twords the voice and found him in the kitchen. "Oh my God are you alright!" I screamed as I hugged him for a long time. "Yeah, I'm fine. They scratched my back though." I turned him around and lifted up his shirt. "Shit Matthew! This is bad, this is really bad." "Stitch it up! We can't let mom and dad know our they'll think we can't fend for ourselves." "We can't Matthew!" I argued back with him. "But do you want them to know that!" I shook my head and told Andy to go get mom's sewing kit.

When he came back I took out a needle, and pulled out the thread. Slowly, I sunk the needle into his skin. He didn't move a muscle. Andy watched in fear and he had tears in his eyes. "Tht looks like it hurts Matty." Matthew grabbed twords Andy behind him and held him under his arm. "Don't worry buddy it's alright." Andy nodded and then backed away from Matthew again, watching me stitch his back up. It was nearly four o'clock. I knotted the stitches and put the sewing kit on the counter top just as mom's car pulled into the driveway. When she ran in she looked scared, "What happened to your room!" She screamed at me. "Sorry. I threw something up there and it just...Broke, you know?" She looked at me odd, probably wondering what the Hell it was I could have thrown to crash my ceiling.

She hugged us all and started making dinner. When father came home he didn't say a word about the roof. He justlooked at me with pure hate and walked past, kissing Andy and shaking hands with Matthew. It doesn't bother me. It doesn't bother me that he doesn't love me. Don't let it bother you Tobbi... Don't let it bother you. I rubbed away the tears that were starting to form in my eyes. My father looked at me or a second, one breif second I'll never forget without that smile in his eyes. When he realized he was looking at me, he stopped. "Mom. I'll be up in my room." Before she could answer, I ran upstairs and jumped face down on my bed. I thought for a moment about everything that had happened today and covered my mouth to bite my hand. I kept biting until my hand went numb and mom called me down for dinner. I didn't want dinner, I wanted to sit in my bed the rest of my life and starve to death.

Instead, I picked up my plate and ate in the living room instead. Matthew and Andy came to join me, I was surprised but not overwhelmed. Matthew let a cry of pain escape his mouth when he rested his back on the couch. "Watch it. You don't want to rip out your stitches." Matthew just looked at me like I was an idiot. I poured my food on his plate and headed back up to my room. I walked to the cushions on my window seal and reached in the drawer under them. I pulled out my heart-shaped box and  opened it. A tear rolled down my face as I looked at the picture of my father laughing with me when I was five and he had my hair cut like a boys so he could pretend he had all sons. As I got older and developed girl qualities, it wasn't so easy for him to say I was a son. He had four sons...and I was expected to be the fifth but I failed.

I'm sorry daddy, I'm sorry. I let the tears keep coming until I heard a tap on my window. I stood up, alert and ready to hurt soemone. It was Jackson. I opened the window and leaned on the window seal. "What do you want?" "I want to come in please?" "And rape me again? I think not." I tried o shut the window but Jackson stopped me, "No, please. Listen to me. Will you please let me in so we can talk? I swear I won't touch you." Hesitently, I let him in. "Thank you, I was about to fall." "Yeah..." I sat on my bed and motioned for him to sit with me. "I just wanted you to know how sorry I was for that day. I was drung and, and I didn't know what I was doing. I'm so sorry you had to go through that Tobbious." I nodded and he grabbed my hand, I jerked away and smacked him. "Please Tobbi, can you ever forgive me? I will do, whatever you want as long as I get your forgiveness. But first, I've got something to confess..." "What?" I felt the temperature raise in the room as he got closer to my neck. "I love you."

I froze as he pressed his lips to my neck and kissed down my shoulders. When I finally managed to move away, I grabbed him by the throat and held him against my bed post. "You said you wouldn't touch me and now you try to do what you didn last summer?" "I- I thought you liked it you didn't say anyhing!" "Get the Hell out of my sight!" I screamed as I threw him off the bed and he stumbled out of the window.

Trying not to scream, I grabbed onto Matthew's arm and headed for where the dumbwaiter should be. "Where's Andy...Where the hell is Andy!" I screamed. "Screaming is not going to help Tobbi!" Matthew screamed back. He grabbed my hand and ran for the funace. We both squeezed behind it and sat there, waiting for the horrible monsters to get one of us. We could hear them still, scrambling around upstairs. Then, I heard Andy scream. "Andy!" I screamed back, "Where are you!" Matthew covered my mouth and whispered to me, "If you don't shut up we're all going to die." I tried to get out of his grasp and run to Andy but he wouldn't let me go. After a while I settled downa dn Matthew let me go. I heard footsteps and I clutched my fist, ready to kill these damn monsters.

"Tobbi?" Said a little voice, "Andy! Behind the furnace!" I whispered back. But I must've whispered too loudly because the steps upstairs stopped for a moment, and then you could hear them running for us. "Andy!" I screamed as I grabbed his hand and we ran for the dumbwaiter again. This time, Matthew shoved Andy and I both in and told us to go up and hide in the closet. Before he could get the door shut the monsters were already running for him. I slammed the door shut and started going up. "Stop!" Andy said. "Listen..." There was a quiet sawing sound below us. Andy's eyes got big and he screamed, "Tobbi they're cutting the rope go faster! Faster!" I grabbed the rope along with Andy and we pulled and pulled as fast as we could until we reached the first level of he house, and as soon as I pushed Andy out of the dumbwaiter and I jumped out the dumbwaiter fell to the depth of the basement.

Tears ran down my face whe I heard Matthew's screams. He can't be dead. He can't be dead. He's not dead,...he's not dead. Andy grabbed my hand and pulled my twords the closet, he opened it and shoved me inside and jumped in. When I heard footsteps headed upstairs I grabbed Andy and pushed him behind me and burred him in the dirty clothes. I covered my mouth and waited for them. They were smart, smart enough not to coem runningup the stairs but to instead sneak up them as if they weren't coming and it was safe. But Andy and I knew better, we knew it wasn't safe. It tok a moment for me to realize tat the cloest door wasn't completely shut, so I slowly raised my hand to the doorknob to shut the door but Andy kicked me. I looked behind me and he was shaking his head, telling me not to do it. When I looked back I saw the lizard-like faces of the monsters and their razor sharp teeth that could tear through human flesh better than a knife.

I grabbed Anyd's hand and covered my mouth again so I wouldn't scream. I can't scream. I can't scream and let them find us. They would kill my little brother. Then, I remembered what mom and dad had said. I reached for my phone in my backpocket but I coudln't reach it, the space was too small. So I tried harder, and harder. Until I could touch the top of my phone, but when I did my foot slid out from under me and I kicked the door, drawing attention to us. I heard feet shuffling twords us now, I tried so hard not to scream and cry outloud. Andy squeezed my hand harder, it was hard to believe a five year old could hand more than a seventeen year old could. I kept as still as possible and squeezed Andy's hand back. I was afraid that I would squeeze it so hard that I'd hurt him and he'd cry out in pain so I stopped.

Nothing was moving outside the door anymore, but you could hear the quiet sniffing sounds of the monters' noses trying to smell us out. I guess it didn't work because they headed back downstairs away from us.

After I picked up the shattered pieces I headed back up to my room, slowly opening the door to see if anyone else awaited me. I walked in and flung myself across my bed, taking a deep breath of reliefe that I was alone now. I closed my eyes and listened very cloesly to the sounds around me. "Tomorrow...tomorrow we will come." For a second, I had thought I imagined the quiet hissy voices. But I heard them again. With frustraion, I closed my eyes and curled up under my covers. Waiting for tomorrow. When I woke up everything was fine and everyone was here. "Hey Tobbi! Take up!" Yelled Matthew's voice as he walked past my room. "Shut up butt head!" I yelled back as I crawled out of bed and ran down the strairs to the kitchen. Mom and my father sat at the table beside each other with concerning looks. They waited to speak until Andy came down the stairs and stood by Matthew and I. "Mommy? Daddy? Where's our lunches?" I laughed and then noticed the stern look I was getting by my father and stopped.

I looked back at my father with the same ammount of hatrid in my eyes as he had. My father hated me because I was a girl. He wanted all boys, four boys. He got three, but I was  ahuge disapointment. When he looked away we all focused on my mother's beautiful face. "Children, we hard on the news that...The Raloos were coming back. We need you to stay home today, all schools are closed. We will both be leaving for work but if anything goes wrong, call us." "If yor sister is being eaten. Let's hope they have a good meal while you run." My father snarled at me. My mother smacked his hand and kissed us all on the forehead, and left. When they were gone Matthew ran to the living room and turned on the TV. Before I could run after him, Andy was clinging to me around my waist. "Tobbi? Are we going to die? Please Tobbi, say we won't die." Tears were running down Andy's cheeks as I brushed away his brown curly hair from his eyes. "No. We won't die." "Promise Tobbi?" I nodded my head and kissed his forehead, "Promise."  

Andy wipped away his tears and  I gave him a piggy back to the living room and set him down on the couch between Matthew and I. "Sooo, who's ready to die!" Matthew yelled, trying to scare Andy. "Shut up Matthew. He'salready scared enough." Matthew rolled his eyes at me and mumbled to himself, "Tobbious is a fatious..." I stood up and punch him in the nose. "Shut the fuck up you little fat bastard!" Matthew ddin't say anything back. He just sat there and looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was. I grabbed Andy's hand and led him up to my room with me. I layed down on my bed and motioned for Andy to lay with me. Slwoly, he put his head down on my stomach and curled up his legs to his chest. I love Andy, I might not showit. But I do. "We're coming, we're coming." I looked around for the voices, but no one other than Andy and I was there. Andy looked at me, worried. "Tobbi? Are you alright?" I nodded my head and smiled at him, I couldn't worry him more than he already had worried himself.

About an hour or so later the whole house shook. Matthew ran upstairs and flung my door open. "You guys alright?" Andy and I nodded as Matthew came over and wrapped his arms around me, who wrapped my arms around Andy. Matthew was scared, I think he knew they were coming too. "Almost there..." I screamed out this time in fear and burried my face in Andy's shoulders. "Tobbi! What's wrong? What's wrong?" "I can hear them coming!" Andy started screaming then too until Matthew covered our mouths and hushed us. BOOM. . . BOOM. . . BOOM. . . "What...was that?" Andy said in his smallest voice. "They're here..." I whispered back. Andy dug his fingernails into my arm an screamed. I covered his mouth and told him to be quiet, but it was too later. They had found us. Three huge, lizard like men crashed down through my ceiling. All of us screamed now. As the monsteres scrambld to their feet we all ran downstairs and shoved Andy into the dumbwaiter. "Go down!" I screamed as Matthew slammed the door shut. You could hear Andy's terrified screams thorughout the house.

Matthew and I ran as fast as we could, down the stairs and to the basement where Andy and the dumbwaiter should be now. The monsters were running after us, you coulnd't see them but you could sure hear their monsterous roars and screatches down the halls.

NEW STORY

"Can anyone tel me how many years ago the Raloos invaded?" I rolled my eyes and my teached called upon the girl next to me. No one cared, it's not like they'd ever come back. I looked at the clock, only seven more minutes to go and I'll be out of here. I tapped my pencil on my desk and started chewing on my cheek. As time went by I didn't pay attention at all to my class until the boy behind me tapped my shoulder. "What?" "Tobbi, the teacher is lookin' at you..." I looked up heitently and saw Mrs. Varen looking at me through her thick gold glasses. "Tobbi Rode. What is your assignment for tonight in my class." "I don't know. I don't care either because I won't do it." Mrs. Varen gave me a nasty look at then began to speak but the bell overpowered her small annoying voice.

                                                                                                                                                                           I jumped out of my seat and ran to my locker to get my bookbag. I didn't have anything to bring home, but I might need it; As I turned around the corner Jackson stopped me. "Hey," I snarled at him and looked meanfully into his eyes. "And what do you want?" I tried to seem as cool and hatefull as I could, but I don't know if it worked. "I just wanted to say I was sorry." "For what butt face?" He gave me a pittied look at then looked at the ground. "For, you know. Doing that to you this summer." "Forget it jack ass. I'm done with you." I pushed past him and headed for my bus so I could go home. I gritted my teeth and pinched my finger as I thought about this summer. I love you Tobbi, we can go this together. I promise. I shook his voice out of my head and walked up the bus steps.                                                                                                                                                                  I looked around and then chose an empty seat across from my brother Matthew. "What's up fart?" I rolled my eyes at him and flipped him off. "Well, somebody had a bad day huh?" I turned myself to the window and looked at the people in the parking lot getting into their cars. A second later, I felt someone sit down with me. I looked over and saw my friend Alexis. "Hey Tobbi, are you alright?" "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She nodded her head and moved to another seat, just like I thought she would. Finally, we got to my stop. I stood up and pushed infront of my two brothers. When I stepped onto our drive way Andy ran past me with a little glass jar screaming, "Mama! Mama! Guess what I got today!" When I got up to the porch I grabbed Andy's jar and looked at it, "So, I see you finally got all the lint out of your belly button?" Andy snatched it back and glared at me, "No stupid! It's an egg." "What the hell...What kind of egg is that?" "I don't know! But I found it in my cubbie."                                                                                                                                               
I grabbed the jar again and opened the lid. "I'm pretty sure this isn't an egg Andy. Look at it." Tears filled in Andy's eyes as I handed back the jar. "You'll be tough someday ya little wimp." I said, patting his head and walking inside. When I opened my door my room was dark and my window was opened. When did I ever open my window? I thought to myself. Oh well. I went over to close it and started undressing. "Oh, I see I didn't have to ask?" Said a familiar voice behind me. I psun around and wrapped my arms around my bare chest. "Luke." I whispered. "That's right." Slowly, he walked over to me and put his hand on my face. "Don't touch me." I said in the scariest voice I could. He laughed, and moved my hair behind my shoulders. "Don't tell me what I can't do." At the moment Matthew flung the door open and ran twords Luke. One punch, that's all it took for Luke to fall down. "You stay the hell away from my little sister you here me!" I'd never heard Matthew yell like that, but I was glad.

                                                                                                                                                                    

After Luke left I sat on my bed and breathed slowly. You almost got raped. Again. You've got to be more careful. I closed my eyes and let tears run down my cheeks. Today, was not a good day. After my shower I got dressed in night clothes and headed downstairs for dinner. As I sat down my father looked at me sternly. "So, I heard someone was in your room?" "Yeah dad but you don't understand, it wasn't like that dad. I promise." My father picked up his plate and left for his room. No one spoke. When we were done I picked up my plate and threw it at the sink, hoping it would shatter. Instead, it bounced off and hit my toe. "Fuck! Shit!" I screamed as I held my foot. "You're a potty mouth Tobbi." "Shut the hell up Andy!"I screamed. I shouldn't have yelled at a six year old for knowing what to, and not to say in places. But I did, and I did it all the time too.