Billy could feel the hot air of the outside when his mother had helped him out of the van. It made him remember the things that he used to do when it was this hot outside, like eating ice cream and swimming in the pool. Sometimes he and Clara would even go outside and throw water balloons at each other, if Clara had decided that she didn't mind getting her clothes wet, which was a rarity.

He could already hear the neighbor kids outside doing the activities that children on summer vacation usually do. He could hear playful shouting and bits and pieces of excited conversation. It gave him the urge to run, but he knew that that was just wishful thinking.

"Billy, look!" Clara pointed excitedly at one of the neighboring houses, just a bit further down from their house.

"Huh?" Billy looked at where she was pointing and saw a group of kids, looking to be a few years older than he was. They were so tall, and they seemed to play a bit rough with each other, which gave Billy a nervous feeling that he didn't dare let Clara or his mother notice.

"You should play with them, Billy." Clara suggested, nodding at the older kids, who were now involved in what looked like to be a wrestling match. Two of them were on the ground while the others surrounded them and cheered.

"Clara, I think that Billy isn't quite well enough to play...um...whatever they're playing." She chuckled at the last part of her sentence, and then said to Billy,

"But maybe you could play with them when you get better?"

Billy paused, a bit surprised. How could his mother not see what he saw in those kids? From his view, they looked quite capable of tearing him apart. He figured that mothers must forget what being a kid his age is truly like.

"Uh...I don't know. Maybe." He replied shortly and quickly.

"Okay. Do you want to sit outside, or do you want to go to your room?" His mother asked, with a hopeful smile. Billy knew that she wanted him to be outside, but he didn't know if he could stand hearing all of the neighbor kids having their fun while he couldn't be apart of it.

"My room." He answered plainly. He saw the wave of disappointment on his mother's face.

"Okay, Billy."

As soon as they were inside, Billy's mother prepared to get his wheelchair up the stairs leading his bedroom, which was just barely possible with her sprained wrist. It made Billy nervous. He always felt the sensation that his wheelchair was going to fall backwards, and he would fall with it and injure his legs even more. He tried to tell himself that a situation like that probably wouldn't happen, and he trusted his mother more than anyone else. But still, the fear of falling overcame Billy like a tidal wave.

"Mommy, can I push Billy up the stairs?" Clara asked sweetly, a hopeful smile on her face.

"Oh," her mother stifled a giggle, covering her mouth with her hand. "I think you're a little too young for that, Clara."

"Ugh. I'm not that little." Clara rolled her eyes.

"Believe me, Clara. You are." Billy intervened, quite certain that his anxiety would be much worse if his five year old sister were pushing his wheelchair up the stairs.

Billy's mother then proceeded to get him up the stairs, slowly and steadily. Billy held in his breath the entire time, closing his eyes and not daring to look down.

Finally, he could feel that he was on the flat surface of the flooring, and he calmed down and opened his eyes.

"Can I push Billy now, Mommy?" Clara asked, batting her eyelashes.

"I suppose so. You can take him to his bedroom. Is that okay, Billy?"

He shrugged. Both his mother and Clara took that as a yes. Clara proudly pushed her older brother to his room, using all of her strength to do so. It wasn't the fastest ride Billy could have asked for.

"Can't she go any faster?" Billy complained. His mother shushed him, and he mumbled under his breath about little sisters and the annoyances that came with them.

After what seemed like forever to Billy, Clara finally got him to his room, where his mother helped him into his bed. He stayed there for a while, not wanting to do anything but watch TV, and even that was getting boring.

Before he was about to try to sleep to pass some time, his mother came in with a smile on her face, holding a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream, Billy's favorite.

"I felt bad that you didn't want to go to the ice cream shop today, so I figured, why not just have some ice cream here at home?" She said kindly, handing him the bowl of ice cream, which Billy accepted gratefully.

"Thanks, Mom," He smiled.

"Aw, look, there's your smile. I knew that ice cream would get one out of you." She replied, beaming.

"Ugh, Mom." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, you've just been so quiet lately. I was getting worried," She reasoned. "Is there anything that you want to do? It must be boring just laying in bed like that all day. There has to be something that we can do." She scanned the room, looking at everything that Billy had, and trying to get some ideas.

"Oh, look, Billy." She picked up a book lying in the corner by a few old socks and a soccer ball.

"It's that book that Grandpa got you for your birthday. Have you ever read it?"

"Um..." Billy stuttered, a bit guilty to admit that he hadn't ever even thought of reading the book.

"Want me to read it to you?" His mother suggested, her eyes glimmering with hope.

"Mom, you know that I'm way too old for that." He glared. Then, he instantly felt guilty for even saying it, after seeing that disappointed look take over his mother's face.

"I mean, I guess you can. But I am nine years old now."

"Oh, Billy. You're growing up so fast. Sometimes I wish you would slow down a little." His mother sat down by his bed and opened the book to the first page, and began to read to him, just like the old days when he was only four years old and needed bedtime stories to fall asleep.

"Once upon a time, there was a princess..."

"A princess?!" Billy sat up quickly in his bed, surprised that the book that had been sitting in the corner of his room for so long had been a girl book the entire time.

"I will admit, it is a bit strange that Grandpa got you a book about a princess, but why don't you give it a chance?" His mother suggested.

Billy wanted to say no, but incoming guilt prevented him from doing that. He knew that if his grandpa had been alive to hear him say something rude about the present he got for Billy, his feelings would probably be hurt. Billy decided that he would just let his mother read the book to him.

"She was locked in a faraway tower by the evil prince of the village, where she stayed for years and years, hoping that one day, a knight in shining armor would come for her rescue..."

"Finally, the day had arrived...the great knight of the village, Sir Edward the Third, was ready to embark on an adventure to save Princess Claria. Hey, look, Billy!" His mother pointed to the page she was on in excitement, showing it to him.

"It's a choose-your-own adventure book! Oh, I used to love those when I was little. You know how they work, Billy?"

"How?" Billy was curious about what was so entertaining about these so-called "choose-your-own adventure" books.

"As you go through the story, you get to pick what choices the characters make. You turn to the page number that represents the choice you made, and you get to see how it affects the story. They're really fun." His mother explained.

"Can we do it later? I'm getting tired." Billy yawned.

"Okay," His mother put the book down and was about to tuck him in, but he stopped her.

"I'm too old to be tucked in, Mom." He complained, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, Billy." She replied almost sadly as he covered himself with blankets.

"Oh, and one more thing, before you go to sleep." She added quickly, before she was about to head out the door.

"I've been thinking about taking you and Clara to the aquarium sometime this month, just for a nice trip." She smiled.

"The aquarium?" Billy at first was excited. He had never been to an aquarium before, and the idea of it sounded fun. He would get to see all sorts of different fish, and better yet, he would get to see sharks. But then, a thought entered his mind that put his growing excitement to a sudden halt. He had never been to an aquarium before because his town didn't have one. So that meant...

"Wait, does that mean that we're going out of town?" He asked nervously, even though he already knew the answer.

"Well, yes. I thought you knew that." His mother replied, and she seemed to be a bit nervous too, knowing what her son was thinking.

"It won't be that long of a ride, just a little over an hour. It'll be fun, we can listen to music on the way, get some fast food for lunch..."

"Can I think about it?"

"Yes, of course. I haven't made any serious plans yet, it's just something to think about, in case you wanted to get out of the house." She nodded.

"Okay..." Billy said slowly, still uncertain.

"I'll let you sleep now. Call me if you need me." His mother said softly, and then walked out of Billy's bedroom, closing the door behind him gently, leaving him alone with only himself and his thoughts to keep him company.