Jared was lying on the couch, watching TV in the living room though the boredom was making him feel sleepy by the minute. He couldn’t complain about that, though because despite just being 18, Jared was incredibly slothful. High school was a bore: he barely managed to stay awake during his classes, had no particular interest in any sports whatsoever and even his peers failed to interest him, save one or two. No, sleeping was definitely better than dealing with an uninteresting world.
Jared was tall and had messy brown hair and a few days old beard that grew in patches. To everyone’s eyes, Jared mainly stood in his own sphere and that was just fine by him. It was not like he was a lonesome introverted dumb boy. In fact despite his chronic laziness he fared more than well at school. He was just not the most sociable guy and rather spend time either playing some video games or sleeping.
As Jared drifted slowly into sleep, his older brother Nathan arrived home after a day of work.
“Afternoon you lazy punk” Nathan greeted as he slammed the door behind him. Unlike his brother, Nathan had always been the sociable and interested guy. Now, at 24, he was working a full time job and was on the verge of moving out.
Jared, whose sleep was now ruined rubbed his eyes and groaned. “You don’t have to be such a dick, I was sleeping.”
“Never mind that. Have you heard the latest?” Jared shook his head. “Well of course you haven’t. Maybe if you opened your eyes to see the shit around you…”
“Yeah, yeah. Just cut to the point.” Jared demanded. Nathan sighed. Jared could not really take any criticism at all. “So, you know the Lowsley house? Big, deserted place just outside town? Guess who moved in?”
“I don’t like riddles and I couldn’t care less about the Lowsley place.”
“Stop being an asshole for just a minute and listen: apparently a bunch of hippies bought the place. And I mean hippies! They even have those Volkswagen vans” Nathan said.
“Hippies in the Lowsley house? That is weird, I’ll give you that. The old coot who lived there must be spinning in his grave. But why do you care so much? Or better yet: why should I care?”
“God damn, you really are cranky. Go take a nap. Mom and dad will be here in an hour or two.” Jared yawned and went to his room.
Nathan sighed in concern. His little brother really lacked any interest in every day’s life. That and his pure laziness would probably be severe handicaps in his future. Jared could be his brother but they were almost polar opposites, even physically. Nathan got his mother’s genes in terms of height. While Jared stood at 6’1, Nathan barely reached 5’9 and had to use glasses since a young age, back in those days Jared systematically attempted to steal his glasses and hide them. The thought always made Nathan smile. “Simpler times… but sometimes it seems that Jared is still just a child” he thought.
He kept his light brown hair in a fairly conservative fashion and also kept a trimmed beard.
Despite the brothers’ different reactions about the hippies none of them knew how much their presence would affect not just them but many of those who lived in that small town.