AllFreeNovel
Share Us
10
And The Blood Came Down In Sheets Of Rain All Around Me
The birdbath was full and the birds were having a field day. I sat on my parents’ back deck, swinging on my father’s swing seat, watching their feathered wings fluttering as water fell all around them like sheer curtains or glass walls.
“You seem tired,” Dad said as he sat quietly at my side.
“Twelve hour shifts can be long,” I told him.
“Are you OK, honey?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Dad,” I told him.
“If you need to talk…”
“I don’t. It’s OK. I’m fine.”
He said nothing as we both watched the birds.
* * *
“Have you set a date yet, Kylee?” my mother asked.
She was in her pyjamas. It was half past four.
“Not yet, Mum,” I said, pulling out things from a shopping bag I’d just bought. “I got you this,” I said, showing her the bubble bath. “How about I run one for you?”
“You have to set a date, Kylee,” she said in a monotone.
“There’s no rush.”
“Kylee,” she said, “you’re not getting any younger.”
I lowered the bubble bath to the bench.
“Besides,” she added, oblivious to my feelings or reaction to her words. “Everyone is asking. You don’t want everyone to start talking about you, do you?”
“What if I told you, I’m not sure,” I whispered.
“Nonsense,” she said, suddenly sounding more awake than she’d been for days. “You won’t get a better catch than Sean.”
I looked down at the bubble bath and said nothing.
“Set a date,” my mother said, grabbing the bottle and heading toward the bathroom.
* * *
“You set a date,” Sharon said when she walked in.
“Thought it was about time,” I told her.
“I reckon,” she said, laughing. “Mum’s cock-a-hoop.”
I smiled.
Sharon smiled.
“Good call,” she whispered and patted me on the head like an obedient little dog.
