A Tangled Mess! --Short Story and Drabble Collection

The Monday Surprise

This was another short story that I made for class. I am also very proud of this one.

The end is a little bit sappy, fyi

It was a crisp fall morning. The freshness of the air from my open window washed over me as I sat up in bed. The clock on my nightstand read 7:30. Perfect! I stretched and started my morning routine like I do every day. But something seemed off. Dad hadn't knocked on my door like he usually does, and I hadn't seen mom yet either.

"Odd..." I muttered to myself. "Whatever." I shrugged it off as Monday blues.

After I finished getting ready for the morning, I trudged down the stairs in blue jogging pants and a lavender sweater. I moved to the kitchen where I pulled a frozen waffle from the freezer and popped it in the toaster. Then I walked into the living room. I immediately noticed mom on the green leather couch. By herself. With only one cup of coffee. Oh no.

"Good morning sweetie," Mom smiled.

"Please don't tell me--"

"--he's gone on another emergency flight," Mom finished with a sigh, leaving the 'again' unspoken. That's the third time this month. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. He's a pilot after all, and that's an important job. But still.

I heard a pop from the toaster, letting me know my waffle was done. I went over and grabbed it. This is going to be a long day.

"Ughhh," I groaned, faceplanting on my keyboard. It was two and a half hours later, and I was stuck trying to memorize every state and capital in the United States and failing. Miserably. Like, how are you supposed to remember that tiny piece of land called Rhode Island exists!? And how are you even supposed to pronounce "Baton Rouge"!? And why does there have to be a Washington state and a Washington D.C capitol city, whatever it is!? And Salem is the capitol of Oregon when Salem in Massachusetts came first! And, oh, I don't know, maybe the Salem Witch Trials were held in Massachusetts and NOT OREGON!! I mean, what's up with Oregon!? It's Oregon, but the Oregon Trail was barely even there! Come on!!*

I was close to throwing the computer against the wall and hoping that it would solve all my problems (which it probably wouldn't have) when I saw something move in the backyard. Please don't be the neighbors again, I silently pleaded. Our neighbors had "come over" once before. And when I say "come over", I mean camped in the woods in our backyard with the loudest and probably most aggressive dog I ever had the displeasure of meeting and kids that may have been even louder. Their parents didn't keep tabs on them at all, so we ended up with rock indents on the side of our house, scorch marks from their mini bonfire on our grass, and candy and chip bag wrappers fluttering around. We probably haven't even found all the trash yet! What they were doing was so destructive and distracting that I eventually had to ask them to please leave... and ended up with mud all over one of my favorite sweaters for my polite request.

Now, I leaned out the back window and held my breath, hoping I wouldn't get a face full of mud. Instead of seeing feral teenagers and their rabid dog, I saw something much, much more peaceful; a family of three deer. I gasped at the sight. One of them was a very young fawn. It still had vivid white spots and stripes on its hide to help it blend into the foliage. It looked so cute! A doe stood calmly next to the fawn, nuzzling his side in between bites of lichen on an old, scarred oak tree. The last deer was the biggest of the three. It looked like a full-grown buck--with a rack of beautiful antlers to prove it. It was alert, swiveling its head, watching the forest for any dangers that might attempt to harm his family.

They all looked so peaceful and pretty. Like a family. The doe reminded me of Mom. And the fawn looked like a mini-deer me! So, I suppose the buck must be Dad.

I miss Dad. A lot. But he'll come back soon. And then we'll be one family again! One happy family. Suddenly, the buck turned and locked eyes with me. His kind but firm stare seemed to say, "Don't worry. Everything will be alright."

Maybe today won't be so awful.

* I mean no offense to anyone living in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Washington, D.C, Oregon, or Massachusetts. This is purely for plot convenience.