The Michigan Nation

Chapter 2

It turned out, Holly needed more help than Clara thought. Three-fourths of her body, feet-first, was stuck under the bed that belonged to their parents. "Clara, you're here!" she squealed. "Help me, I'm stuck!"

"I can see that!" Clara snapped, then patted her sister's head when she saw the surprised and hurt expression on her face. "Don't worry, little sis," she said gently. "I'll get you out of there."

Then Clara heard the thundering footsteps of someone running up the stairs and turned to see her little brother, Chris, run into the room. He sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes. "Holly, why do you always call for Clara and not me?!" he whined. He hung his head and looked pathetically unappreciated, which made the two sisters giggle.

Chris is always the merry clown of our bunch, Clara thought. As if reading Clara's mind, Chris started to sing the "Merry Clown" song.

"Oh, I'm quite funny, as you can see, so please laugh very hard at me!" He sang in a squeaky and off-key voice, making Holly laugh even harder, shaking her body and loosening the grip the bed's boards had on her. Clara motioned for Chris to keep singing. "Oh, yes, I'm very HAPPY! HAPPY indeed. I'm the merry clown! Just laugh at me!" Then he started to do a hilarious jig.

Clara held on to Holly's shoulders and tugged as hard as she could without hurting her sister, until only her legs and feet were stuck. Chris and Clara eventually pulled out her left leg, but they couldn't get her right one out. Holly was almost in tears, and Clara could imagine she was in pain. So she and Chris got some cushions and stuffed animals and one of Holly's favorite picture books. Then they helped Holly get comfortable and waited.

Clara felt awful. It was my responsibility to watch over Chris and Holly while mom and dad were gone, Clara thought. I should have been watching Holly and playing with her or something, not writing in my own diary! No wonder she got bored. She was just messing around and got hurt, while I wasn't paying any attention! This is all my fault! Clara suddenly felt tears burning in the backs of her eyes. She forcefully blinked them back. I will not cry. I will not cry! Clara hated that she would break into tears so quickly because she found it harder to control her stronger emotions than other people.

Clara glanced up and noticed Chris lying on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked bored out of his mind. "Hey, you don't have to wait here with us. I can watch Holly, it's fine." she told him.

He lifted his head to look at her. "No, it's ok. It's both of our jobs to watch her."

"Really? I saw some of your friends playing outside earlier. You don't want to go out and see them?"

"Not really," he mumbled. Clara could tell he didn't want to talk about it, which concerned her.

I hope everything's alright with him and his friends, she thought. Clara didn't see them often because Chris usually went over to their houses to hang out, not their own. Though this was never said out loud, everyone assumed it might be because Clara and Holly would do something embarrassing or get bothered by all the loud noises that come with a bunch of nine- and ten-year-old boys messing around. "Well, ok... but if you change your mind, it's fine."

Chris didn't answer. Instead, he turned towards Holly as he forced a smile. "Want me to read it to you?" he asked gently when he noticed Holly struggling with the longer words.

"Yes, please!" she pleaded.

***

After what felt like ages of sitting and waiting and taking turns reading to Holly, Clara heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Her parents were home.