Chapter 5

The wind blew in softly, ruffling the edges of the flowery curtains in his room. The birds resting in their nesty homes on the branches of the tree next to his window sang, their early morning anthem gearing him awake faster than his alarm clock would.

He opened his eyes and groaned, stretching and yawning wide as his hands went up, loving the popping sounds his bones made as he clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles.

His eyes darted to the alarm clock, and he smiled, praising himself that he woke up before the set time on the alarm.

"Good morning," he said to himself, crawling out of bed.

"Jared! Are you awake?"

His mother's thin musical voice breached through the walls of the house, scents from the kitchen floating upwards to his nose.

Surprise ran through him at how vividly he could identify each smell around him. The whiffy odor of the black socks he had worn the previous day wafted to his nose, making him cringe in disgust.

He coul