This is something wrote for school a bit ago so I thought I'd share it with you. It ends on a cliffhanger so tell me if I should continue. Thank you all for all the reads, votes and comments. It's unbelievable how much this has grown since July. And if it isn't to much to ask, for either a Christmas present or a birthday present(January 4th) would my lovely readers mind getting this book to 10k. It would mean so much to me. Enjoy!!!

Chapter 1

Mariam had always been quiet as a baby, child, and now teenager.  Her mother and father never worried even when she was just a newborn, she barely cried and only made noises of discomfort. Mariam's friends were fine with it too, they were content with her presence and her quiet giggle.
Mariam liked her quiet but if it was her brother making the noise she wouldn't mind. She loved her brother even with the twelve year age gap. The age gap could even be why; Mariam's mother shouldn't have been able to be pregnant, but it happened with consequences. Max, a beautiful, premature baby boy was born and Mariam couldn't be more glad he was.
Max, now two, is doing okay, his brain doesn't work the same way the other kids did but he was happy. That's what made Mariam happy, watching his eyes light up as they played with the soccer ball on the occasion that that their father was home. Their father was a man who thrived off of working and valued family. He was almost never around but when he was he tried to spend those moments with his family.
"Mariam!" Max yelled with his ever present lisp slurring his words.
"Yes Maxy?" She called back at a quieter volume.
"Daddy's home." She just smiled to herself and continued on with her math homework, "I'll be down soon." As she continued, small footsteps patterned up the steps and made their way to her room. She cringed as Max opened the door causing it to slam against the wall but she let him sit by her feet.
"Is it soon yet." He asked tilting his head back to look at her.
"Not yet," Mariam said tangling her fingers in his blond hair as she solved more problems. She had always wondered how he got his hair color, her hair was a coppery red just like her fathers and her mother had dark brown, nearly black hair.
"Okay den." He said resting his head on her legs.
It wasn't long until Mariam finished her work and she packed it into her bag. She sighed as she leaned back and stretched her back, popping it a few times.
"Let's go down now." She said but smiled when she looked down to see Max nodding off at her feet. She carefully picked him up and tucked him in the bed before heading downstairs.
"Hello papa." She said from the foot of the stairs brushing it off when his simple response was a tight smile in her direction. Mariam just nodded and decided to sit and watch her parents interact.
        Her mother's movements graceful as always but her father seemed off. His joints tense and his movements rigid instead of his normal clumsy and bouncy state.
Mariam was an observer and when she noticed subtle difference she worried. Maybe not ripping her hair out worried but the kind of worried where it repeatedly replayed in her mind. Mariam decided to push it to the back of her mind and play it of as him having a bad day at work.
"Have you practiced today, dear?" Mariam's mother quietly asked while stirring the soup in the pot. Mariam simply shook her head and returned to observing the little things like the cupboard squeaking every time her mother opened it.
Her head snapped up when a small weight crawled into her lap and quietly yawned.
"Hi there." Mariam said resting her head on his.
"Can you play for me." He sleepily asked relaxing further into her.
"Sure." Mariam said placing Max on her hip as she walked into the other room.
             There stood her full-sized harp causing Mariam's eyes to sparkle. She placed Max on the couch opposite from her before sitting on her wood bench. She stared at the strings deciding which ones to play in which ones would follow. Her fingers brushed against a string causing a small but short sound echo through the house. Her nimble fingers plucked and strummed the strings to cause a beautiful sound to ring out. The melody putting a smile on her mother's face as well as lulling Max back to sleep.
        Mariam always got lost in her music blocking out the world around her and softly swaying to the beat. More often than not she would hum the melody unconsciously. Mariam's music was a big part of the family. The family, including Mariam relied on it to use it as calm moment in all of their lives.
             Very slowly, Mariam worked herself out of the music and silently sat on her bench. She watched the trees outside the window sway in the wind reminding her that fall was slowly rolling in. Fall was Mariam's favorite time of the year, the chilly weather always made her feel magical.
            Fall was just the time she felt like she could express herself fluently. Like she was lost in the wind like a leaf, slowly trying to find her way home.
       Mariam flinched as she heard a slamming noise in the kitchen, maybe a cupboard slamming or hand being brought down on a table.
"Mary-Ann, I understand but my decision is is final!" Mariam's fathers voice boomed through the house causing Max to stir.
"But why?" A frail voice wailed after him. Mariam could hear shuffling in the other room as well as an exasperated sigh.
"Mary-Ann...Mary, how about we speak about this later."
"Okay." Was the faint whisper that followed.
        Neither parents knew Mariam had been unintentionally listening in but Mariam decided it was for the better. Maybe, Mariam decided, being an observer is just better.