Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
So many changes for Chan and Evan, and for Chan's siblings, and for such a sad reason. But life goes on, as they struggle to find a new normalcy. See what's going on with them in this week's chapter of Super Trooper. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
For practical purposes, Chan and Evan decided to
take the master bedroom for themselves, instead of continuing to sleep in the
guest room. They’d discussed it between them, and Evan had understood when Chan
explained how he felt closer to them there. He was still finding it difficult
to cope with their deaths. He could only imagine how the children felt, having
never been faced with such a situation before in their young lives.
Chan offered
to move Laksha into the extra room, so she would have a bedroom of her own,
instead of having to share a space with Madhu. But Laksha turned down their
offer, albeit politely.
“Madhu needs me,” she said simply. “I don’t want her
to be alone.”
Chan was touched by his sister’s generosity. Touched
but not surprised. She had always shown empathy and understanding to her
siblings. Still, he was worried that she was going to be forced to grow up more
quickly than she should.
The promised sublet didn’t happen, unfortunately,
but the manager promised to keep looking. Evan told Chan not to worry about anything.
But Chan couldn’t help but worry. Evan was paying for an apartment he wasn’t
even using, plus he intended to pay half the bills for all of them. Certainly
not what he’d signed on for. And yet he never complained.
When it was time for the children to go back to
school, Chan almost cried. He wanted to hold on to them as much as he could.
But he realized it was better for them to get back to some sort of normalcy,
see their friends, and resume their education. Plus he and Evan needed to get
back to work.
He made sure Laksha and Kamal had a hot breakfast,
gave them lunch money, made sure they had everything they needed and watched
from inside the house until the school bus arrived. Shortly after that, Denise
arrived to watch Madhu. Evan had an earlier shift, so he was already gone.
Madhu hadn’t spoken much in the past few days, and
she had never cried. She carried her stuffed wolf Kela everywhere, and would
often cuddle up to the animal while watching TV. What concerned Chan was that
she was sucking her thumb again, a habit he thought she’d outgrown. But he didn’t
think this was the right time to fuss at her about it. Maybe it was comforting
to her, and he could understand her need for comfort.
He picked up his little sister and held her close. “I’m
sorry I have to go,” he murmured softly. “But I’ll be home before we know it,
okay?”
Madhu made no response, just looked at him with her
large brown eyes. He had no idea what was going on inside her head. “I
love you,” he said before handing her to
Denise.
“Why don’t we read?” Denise suggested. Madhu nodded.
Chan was glad to see her respond well to her new babysitter.
“We’ll be fine,” Denise assured him.
“I know,” he said. “And thank you again.”
“Any time,” she said. “Your parents were lovely people.
They didn’t deserve…” She paused and took a deep breath. “Well, anyway, I’m glad
to help. Have a great day. We’ll see you later. C’mon, baby.” She carried Madhu
toward her room. Chan gave a forlorn little wave in her direction, but Madhu
never looked back. Chan sighed and headed out the door. He didn’t want to be
late on his first day back. At least his commute was shorter now.
to be continued
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