Maze Of Me | Short Stories

Wishing On A Dandelion

A head nodded as it slept.

The pages of a book fluttered and crinkled.

A pencil rolled off a desk. 

A clatter, as the pencil finally hit the floor.

In the absolutely still atmosphere of the room, it was rather a loud noise.

The head jerked awake with a kaagh. 

Her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when she realized, with horror, that her one-minute revision of what she had previously learnt had turned into a full-blown nap...for an hour. She also had drooled all over her preciously taken down notes. She rolled her eyes, sluggishly got up and waddled towards the bathroom mirror to check herself and sure enough she looked exactly as she had expected her to. 

The reflection of a teenage girl with sprangled hair that was never properly taken care of stood before her. The bags underneath her eyes were obvious. She had stayed up late trying to finish the last two chapters of her geography exam the next day. Her only relief? She had managed to keep eye crusts from forming. That would have been a disaster.

After making herself look decent, she stepped out the bathroom, immediately feeling goosebumps rise along the length of her arms. The window had been open, nonetheless without the curtains drawn out. 

Doom spread across her face.

Hopefully no one saw me scratch my butt earlier.

Just as she slapped herself on the cheeks and prepared to plop herself down at her seat, a knock sounded outside her door. 

"Mara! Mama and Papa are fighting again. Come on out!", her sister's upset whispering reached her ears.

Mara groaned, loud enough for only her to hear, and pulled open her door. Her sister, though younger by only two years, was probably more courageous than her. Yet at this moment, when the two adults were fighting, she seemed utterly helpless. Her lips had settled into a pout and her brown eyes gleened with wetness. 

Sighing, Mara patted her shoulder before squeezing it.  After telling her sister to stay in her room, Mara headed towards the dining hall where her parents were, as her had sister informed her, arguing loudly. 

"Well, of course you wouldn't know it! You're always screwing around! Have you ever paid any attention to us?! Do you even realise-"

"Kaira, I already told you-"

"-that you have two daughters to take care of?! You fucking imbecile!"

Mara flinched inwardly. Her mom was never the type to call people names and curse, having been brought up in a dignified family. For her to rile up this much meant only one thing. It was the off-limit  topic... again.

Mara could only stand pathetically by the doorway as her mom struggled to contain herself. Her Father, however, was a different story. His fingers massaged his temples, brows furrowed and completely done, she noted furiously, with her mom. As much as she wanted to barge in there and defend and support her mom, reality hit hard. She was only a teenager after all. She could neither speak up nor interrupt them for she would be only be causing more trouble.

Finally noticing their child's presence, the two adults turned around. Her father, somehow became abruptly cheerful and spoke up, "Oh! What's our sweet Mara doing over here? Down for a late night snack?" Somehow, this only made Mara more uncomfortable and ridiculously mad. Having never lived with her Father for more than a month every year, she barely knew him. But, she wasn't that dumb to not know that her father was trying to suck it up to her.