I sighed as I stared out of the window. I my cheek against the palm of my hand as my arm rested on the window sill. I watched as rain poured down from the sky. The rain left droplets on my window, letting them gather only to slide down the glass.

My moment if tranquility was broken when I heard my mother scream for me.

"CLARA! COME HERE!"

Sighing, I took one last glance out of the window before pushing myself out of my chair and walking towards the living room, where I heard my mother call for me. I stopped at the doorway and stared at my mother.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Can you clean up the dishes and out them away? And after can you clean this up?" My mother asked, gesturing towards the mess that laid in the living room.

"I'll clean the dishes, but I won't clean the living room." I said.

"Why not?"

"You said that we should all learn to clean up for ourselves. I don't mind cleaning the dishes, but I'm not cleaning this mess. From all these toys it's Joe's mess not mine."

"Joe's only 8 years old, Clara. Give him a break."

"Mom, I helped you with the laundry when I was 5. I started working on my chores when I was his age. I don't understand why he can't clean it up. All he had to do is out the toys in the you box. Joe's not even doing anything."

To prove my point, Joe walked into the living room and say on the couch. Grabbing the remote he turned on the TV and started watching Diego. I raised an eyebrow at my mother.

"Just do it Clara. You're the eldest so you should take care of your younger siblings. Your father and I won't be here forever. Learn to clean up and take care of your siblings. Now go!"

I growled quietly under my breath. I held in the comeback and took a deep breath. I stared at the lazy form of my younger brother before stomping off to do the dishes.

I worked silently as my thoughts scrambled in my mind.

'Why is it that I'm always the one to do all the work? Is it just because of the eldest. I did chores by myself when I was Joe's age. I'm glad that at least Maggie helps around once in a while. She cleans after herself which helps too. But my responsibilities are still a lot different from hers even though she's a year younger than me. I just don't understand how being the oldest I have to be treated so differently. I end up having to do all the chores and cleaning up after Joe. It's just not fair.'

I stopped as I placed the last dish in the cupboard. Taking a deep breathe I walked into the living room and saw that no one was there. From the noise coming from the basement, Mom and Joe were probably playing Dance Central again. Going in my knees I began picking up all the toys and placing them in the toy box. I stared at the toy car that was in my hands.

'When was the last time I actually played with toys? When did I start acting like an adult?'

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that I wasn't treated as a kid anymore by my parents a year after Joe was born. I think I was 6 around the time. They started talking about how I should watch over my siblings. They started yelling at me whenever I did something wrong.

'Did my childhood really end when I was so young? Could that even be considered a childhood?'

I feel like I was forced to grow up too fast. I wasn't treated like a kid. I was given chores and responsibilities a kid of 6 shouldn't worry about until I was older.

'Was this the role of being the first?'