AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER ONE
HEARTS OF HOPE
Age Five
“Mommy?”
I peered through the crack in the open door. The room was dark.
I wasn’t scared of the dark, but Iwas scared ofwhat it meant.
Mommy only liked it dark when she was sleeping or did the Bad Stuff, and since it wasn’t morning time anymore, it probably meant she had done the Bad Stuff.
But maybe not. Maybe she was sick. Billy’s tummy hadn’t felt good when I saw him a couple days ago, so maybe her tummy didn’t feel good too.
“Mommy?”
I walked slowly inside to see her on the bed and giggled because she looked so silly. Herjammieshirt was on backward, and she had forgotten to put on her pants.
“Mommy, I see your undies,” I whispered, still giggling wildly. “I can see yourbutt.”
She snorted against her pillow. She sounded like a piggy, and I giggled again before making a piggy sound too.
“Soldier?”
Uh-oh.
Gramma was coming up the stairs, and she was going to be mad if she saw Mommy sleeping when it wasn’t morning time anymore.
I hurried out of the room and saw Gramma. She smiled big at me and raced for mesuper fastto pick me up and swing me around.
“What are you doing up here? Did you find Mommy?” she asked.
I nodded and wrapped my arms around Gramma’s neck. “Mommy’s sleeping.”
Gramma didn’t like that. Her face gotlineyand mad, like the time when I had droppedThe Lion Kinginto her fishbowl.
“Mommy’s sleeping, huh? Maybe we should wake her up, don’t you think?”
I thoughtrealhard about that.
If Mommy was sleeping because she had done the Bad Stuff, then Gramma would yell. She would tell Grampa, and he would yell, too, and Mommy would yell back, and I would have to hide because I didn’t like it when they yelled.
But if Mommy was sleeping because her tummy didn’t feel good, she should stay sleeping because sleep made you better when you didn’t feel good.
So, I shook my head.
“No,” I said, tapping Gramma’s nose. “Mommy’s tummy doesn’t feel good.”
“Oh, it doesn’t, huh?”
I bobbed my head real fast. “Uh-huh. Billy’s tummy didn’t feel good when I was at his house. His mommy said hemaybecaught a bug, so I think Mommy caught Billy’s bug too.”
Gramma’s face wasn’tlineyanymore. Now, she looked sad, like she wanted to cry, and I didn’t think I liked that.
I poked at her lips and tried to make her smile again.
“Mommy caught a bug all right,” Gramma muttered in a quiet voice, and I was happy because I was right.
