From the Outside Looking In

Leaving Halyn to complete her piece, I went upstairs to fold her laundry. As I was putting away a white sweater, I took a deep breath. It smelled like her favorite air spray, lavender and vanilla. Halyn’s room was so neat and clean. You wouldn’t be able to see a single speck of dust anywhere. Her bed cover was simple, a solid turquoise. The nightstand was white, and the lamp on it was also a plain blue. And of course, her bookshelf of drawing pads. Sometimes, especially when she is mad at me or Rylee, she storms up here, grabs three of her notebooks, and slides under the covers. Once, when I came up here to apologize to her for something I did wrong, I found her peacefully sleeping, her notebook laying on her stomach, open to a drawing of the three of us. We were at the park, the two girls on the swings, laughing. I was behind them. At the bottom, she had gotten me to title it “The Three Musketeers.”. She was practically beaming as she had ran to show Rylee her new masterpiece. I had carefully tore it out, found a push pin, and stuck it on her wall, right across from her bed. It was still there to this day.

I went downstairs after I finished folding her last t-shirt. Halyn was still stooped down in her desk, and by the looks of it, she was adding some finishing touches. Rylee was finishing her math homework, quickly working each problem out. For a while, I stood there, studying her figure. Her eyes were cast down, concentrating hard. Her thick, curly red hair fell over her face like a curtain. She was amazing at math. She could solve long multiplication problems in less than half a second. Rylee was light years beyond me in her knowledge in math. Now reading was a completely different matter. I had to practically force her to read just a two hundred page book. I don’t think she has the attention span to sit and read for a very long time. Now that I’ve thought about it, she is different in more ways that we are similar.

I whipped up a quick dinner of spaghetti and mashed potatoes (Yes, odd combination, but both the girls love it. And Halyn absolutely despises meatballs.). After eating, I looked at the pile of dirty dishes accumulating in the sink, debating if I should do them now or later. I  was really tired, so I didn’t feel like doing them. If I waited till the next day, I would probably continue to procrastinate on them. My sensible side won over, and I started running the hot water. By the time I was done, my arms felt ready to fall off. Rylee had already went to bed. She had school the next day. So, I dragged Halyn upstairs and got her to brush and change into her pajamas, doing the same myself. While slipping into my pajamas, I noticed my purple mark on my shoulder that I had acquired the day before I transformed for the first time. It was shaped like a crescent with a white dash in the middle. I knew that Rylee and Halyn’s mark would be a different shape, but still have the white dash in the center, representing our family. I was excited for that day, the day we could all go on a run together, sensing the extraordinary freedom of running, simply running.

Clearing my mind of all thoughts, I checked to make sure that Halyn was asleep. She was. That was unusual. She normally took about an hour to drift off to sleep. Maybe she was just extremely tired. Yawning loudly, I stretched and climbed into bed, sleep soon claiming me.

~~~~~

The next morning, I woke with a massive migraine. Groaning, I pulled myself up from the comfort of the bed, and got washed up. Popping ibuprofen into my mouth, I hurried down the hallway to get the girls up. Ugh. Mondays were always the worst.

“Halyn, Rylee, get UP!” I yelled for the seventh time. I stormed into Halyn’s bedroom and opened the windows wide, bright sunlight suddenly streaming into the small room. I heard her groan and turn in her bed, wrapping herself in the covers like she was in a cocoon. Throwing the covers off her, I shook her. Finally, Halyn’s eyes opened. Yes, it took a lot to wake her up. I pointed to the bathroom and told her to go brush her teeth. She nodded at me slowly, her eyes still drooping with drowsiness.
Rushing downstairs, I packed her a Sunbutter(peanut allergy) and jelly sandwich along with her grapes and a pack of plain chips. This was automatic for me, I had packed this sack lunch so many times. Halyn refused to eat anything else for lunch. Any change of her routine, and she would go sit in the corner of her classroom, let out a few shrill cries, and refuse to eat anything. I knew from experience.
Of course, Halyn ended up coming downstairs with a ripped shirt on that said, Gotta Love those PJ’S! Sighing, I glanced at the clock. Seven already? We had five minutes to get out. I went upstairs to her closet. I quickly rummaged through it, tossing Halyn a clean black t shirt. She stripped slowly, taking her time.
“Hurry up! We have three minutes!”

Rylee came up to me, saying something about not being able to find her favorite tank top. I was not in the mood.  

“Well find something else to wear then!” I replied, aggravated. “Your breakfast is downstairs, you’ll have to eat in the car today.
“Fine.” She muttered, stomping down the stairs.
Somehow, I managed grab a piece of toast to eat, while pushing both the girls out the door. Just as I got in the driver’s seat, I realized that I had forgotten my coffee.
“Mom, we’re already five minutes late!”
Shaking my head, I stepped on the accelerator, leaving my forgotten coffee on the kitchen table.