Just Kids' Play

"Yo, Chip. Wake up!"

Chip could hear his friend very well, yet was not planning on opening his eyes or moving. He had the strangest dream in which he was a dog, hungry, but forbidden to eat a squirrel.

"Chip! Come on!" Something began nudging him, and then shaking him.

"I'm asleep, go away."

"We're going to be late, Chip!" the voice said with a hint of exhaustion.

Before Chip could protest, the blanket was pulled from him, hitting him with icy cold air, and he was thrown to the floor. "Sheesh, I'm up I'm up!"

His friend, Robert Blue, a boy with ashy blonde hair over one eye, and two bright greenish-blue (almost cat-like) eyes dull and bloodshot. Robert was always one to sleep in too far into the day, so it was sort of ironic how he was the one waking Chip up.

"Late for what?" Chip said with a moan, rubbing his eyes.

"For class! Break's over, it's a Monday, or did you forget?"

"Meh," Chip said. Oh, well. School again. He got up and walked over to the large dresser in the room, pulling out a green T-shirt and some jeans.

"Not to mention, we have a t--" Robert paused for a yawn "--est today. Got that?"

Ah, right. Sunshine's Home had the only education system where they would give large tests the morning right after the break. Of course.

"It's the hard knock life," a thin, muffled voice sighed. Turning around, Chip saw a short boy, fully dressed, with his face on the side of the bed, his unzipped book bag right next to him. Sully.

"Come on, man, get up," Chip said, grabbing the boy by the collar and yanking him from the bed. "You have a test, too."

"Forget the education system," Sully yawned, rubbing his almost-purplish eyes. "It's no good if we don't survive past age 17, and Ivy says teens need a lot of sleep to live right."

"Tell that to them, just you don't fail. You can't afford failing." Chip picked up Sully's backpack and threw it in his arms. "Go downstairs and wait for us. Grab us two biscuits, too."

Mumbling under his breath, Sully turned towards their door and left. Chip turned around, ready to get dressed, then saw Robert, leaned against the dresser, a trail of drool down the corner of his mouth, dozing.

"Rob!" Chip snapped. Robert jerked away, wiping his mouth. "You just complained to me about oversleeping and now here you go doing it? We probably don't have much time, hurry up!"

"Fine.." Robert said, the word nearly sounding like a hiss, opened the drawer and pulled out a white shirt.