Saturday, October 24, 2009

The day was bright and hot. Scarlet looked out at the expanse of dryness from the kitchen window, wondering when the next rain would ever come. Rain seemed a distant memory. 

A movement drew her eye , and she noticed one of the boys coming to the door with intense purpose and a watering can. "No" said Scarlet. "It's the middle of the day, you can't have any water for the plants now. Wait till it's cooler tonight."  He stopped and scrutinised her through the screen door, realising his predicament. His bottom lip dropped; he fell to the ground, his face becoming creased and red. "NO NO NO" he shouted, with his head pushed against the concrete. "NO! NO! NO!" he screamed.  Scarlet stared, but remained calm. "Later tonight when it's cooler," she repeated. The small boy screamed louder, and his feet started to kick wildly. 

Scarlet walked towards him, opened the door and picked him up. He was sobbing. "I ... I ... I only... only wanted to show you the ladybug inside," he said, pointing to the discarded can. He buried his face on her shoulder, still crying. Scarlet pulled his face to hers and looked into his dark eyes. His face was hot and stained with tears. Scarlet bit her lip.

2 comments:

  1. You have a great writing style :).

    ReplyDelete
  2. can so relate! there are some parenting moments when you just want to kick yourself. And kick yourself hard.

    ReplyDelete