Laura walked inside her house, smelling candles burning in the living room. The wooden planks creak under her boots as she takes her coat off, and she hooks it onto the wooden peg.

“Mom! I’m home.” Laura yelled.
“Okay sweetheart! Grab a snack in the kitchen if you’re hungry!” Her mother retorted in her usual sweet, kind voice.

The trees were turning scarlet and orange outside the big kitchen window. The wind was jostling the flimsy branches and Laura thought the sun shone perfectly on the golden leaves as they danced lightly in the breeze.
Laura sat down at the kitchen table and poured herself a glass of milk. She took a bite of a juicy red apple as it made an audacious crunch.

The sun warmed Laura’s face as she took a sip of the milk. Her sweater enveloped her arms and she sat back thinking how great this day was, it couldn’t get any better.

Then the boys walked in.
They threw their bags all over the ground as their muddy untied sneakers made gray slashes on the wood. Their hair was a torrent of curly auburn and their eyes were bright green, filled with the excitement of their most recent adventure from the bus to our door.

They filled the front hall with their obnoxious noise. They rampaged into the living room and had a sword fight on the couch. Their messy fingers coming inches away from the candles.

“Can you guys calm down?” Laura asked, “Boys, quiet down.”
They didn’t even give her a glance.
“Can you PLEASE quiet down! I can’t hear myself think!!!”
Laura’s yells filled the room and echoed through the big house.
Everyone is quiet. Silence fills the room like cotton balls stuffed in a jar. Laura’s ears were pounding as her face returned to its normal porcelain shade.

Her brothers started laughing uncontrollably, giggling as they clutched their stomachs. Their faces turning a purple-pink color. Their freckles were dots in a sea of pink. They kicked their legs, rolling on the couch, and the boys cackle loudly.

Laura couldn’t help herself, the boys were crazy and she knew it. Laura started laughing, not as uncontrollably as them, but Laura soon held her stomach and her face grew a happy shade of pink.

Laura fell onto the couch between the boys, and their laughter filled the house as they all settled down. Maybe the boys weren’t so bad after all...