Living life on the edge

4 | Bakers dozen

Karl made his way back from another night at the cliff.

The loud sound of a bell filled the quiet room, karl sneaked through the dark bakery and swung his legs over the wooden counter, he unlocked the wooden door quietly and crept upstairs, trying not to wake up his father as he made his way to his small bedroom. As he walked past the slightly opened door leading to his fathers bedroom, he noticed a lamp was left on, he then heard the loud sound of coughing from his father. Karl opened the crack of the door a little more to check if he was okay. He was not expecting to see his dad lying in bed in pain, sweat dripping off his forehead as he held his chest, indicating the struggle he was having with his breathing. Karl rushed to his bed in panic. "Dad what happened to you?" There was no response. "Do u need water?" He asked with a scared voice. His father nodded as he continued to cough into his thin bed cover.

Karl rushed back with a full glass and held the glass tight as his dad drunk from it with shaky hands. He placed the back of his hand on his sweaty forehead. His eyebrows raised. "We need to call the doctor down the road" he informed his father. He tried to keep as calm as possible to keep his dad from getting worse. He grabbed the telephone placed on the small table and dialled for a doctor. Almost immediately he heard a friendly males voice through the phone "hello this is sam how can i help" "this is um Karl, my fathers come down with some sort of fever and I don't know what to do" he stuttered through his words, constantly looking back at his father to check he's okay. "Okay ill be right there don't panic okay". That seemed to be pretty easy to say but a lot harder to do.

Karl paced the small kitchen when suddenly he heard the bell of the bakery door ring. He ran towards the counter and directed sam to where his father lay...

The beeping of a heart machine woke Karl up like an alarm clock. He sat up from being slouched in a small chair and cringed at his aching neck and back.

"How are you doing" he said as he walked over to his father lay in a small but cozy hospital bed. His father did nothing but mumbled back at karl, trying to answer but nothing coming out. Karl grabbed his shaky hand and dragged his chair to be closer to him. They sat in silence as a single tear rolled down Karl's pale cheek.

The heart monitor beeped. 1, 2, 3 "y-your m- m- mother... c- cara they called h- her" the man spoke with a raspy voice. 4, 5, 6 "she was a- a lo...vely women you know" 7, 8, 9 "you be g- good okay" 10,11,12 "i l- love you karl" 13... the beeping continued and didn't stop. Like a siren ringing in a war. Ringing in Karl's ear. "No... no no no no why why why" he repeated as tears gathered in his eyes. Doctors rushed in around him and karl was pushed to the back of the crowd. Left to stand there alone. Alone.

Karl clapped his hands together creating a cloud of dust to surround him, leaving a dot of flour on his nose. The children behind the counter giggled at Karl's clumsiness, he loved to entertain the locals with the skills he was taught by his father. He knew everyone in the town, they all visited nearly everyday to get the best fresh bread to ever be made. It hurt karl to remove his fathers name plate from the counter, so people would always get confused and call him Darryl. At first it made him tear up, but now it creates a warmth in his heart.

The first night after the incident, he turned up to the cliff early as always. There were many stars dotted in the sky but two in particular caught his eye. Two next to each other, a bit bigger than the rest. He smiled as he realised what it was. They were finally together. "Hope your having fun up there you two" Karl said as he smiled. He stared at the two stars and imagined his parents ballroom dancing around together like his father explained they did in the living room a while back.

Nicks voice broke the silence. "Karl" he said in a soft voice. Karl jumped and looked over to see nick sat next to him, staring at the same two stars he was. "I'm assuming u heard what happened then?" Karl asked. Nick nodded, wrapping an arm around Karl's shoulder. "It will get better okay" he held out his hand in front of his with his pinky finger stuck up, "pinky promise?". Karl looked as his hand and interlocked his pinky with nicks. "Pinky promise" he replied. The rest of the night was spent sharing storied about each other's parents as nick hugged Karl. Both felt safe for once. Not alone.