✨️ONC 2023 Shortlisted✨️
'And I knew then, with an earth-shattering certainty, that everything I'd worked for, strived for, suffered for, had just turned to dust. My life as I knew it, scattered along the pavement with shards of windscreen and the c...
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Raised voices drag me from an unsettled sleep. I sit up sharply. The effort makes me groan. Sleeping is hard now. The baby moves like a demon the moment I slip into bed. My body aches, and getting comfortable with my ever-growing bump is impossible.
Sleepily, my brain tries to process why I'm suddenly awake, and then the yelling starts again. I crawl to the window, my belly dragging along the quilt. Peering out the window, I realise it's later than I thought. The day has already started. The sky is an icy white, bright enough to burn my eyes. I look down and see Connor and Sarah gesticulating wildly at each other as they yell. I can't make out the exact words, but the volume is probably carrying across the street. This wasn't unusual. I'd heard them argue constantly as Connor's sentencing drew closer. Sarah still pushing for Connor to speak to Becca, and Connor still refusing. I reluctantly agree with Connor. If Becca told the police they'd spoken, he'd be in even more trouble and nothing good would come from that.
After a moment more, Connor walks away, his face hard and flushed with anger. Sarah stands there watching him leave. She glances up and sees me watching. I bite my lip. I should dash down, and pretend I haven't been watching, but what's the point? Reluctantly, I drag myself out of bed and make my way down into the kitchen. Dad is on the road, and it's just been me for a few days. Even though we're getting on better, I wasn't quite ready to tell him that the days when he wasn't here - I missed him.
I walk to the door, gathering up the strength I'm not sure I really have in my sleep-deprived, uncomfortably pregnant state. I open it, not surprised at all to find Sarah there. Her dark eyes narrowed and her lips pursed tightly. She storms in.
"He's the most stubborn, pigheaded... effing idiot of a brother!" She throws her arms wide and looks like she'd quite like to throw something. Possibly at Connor's head. Her anger is offset by the way she's gnawing her lip, her vulnerability written across her face.
"So we're doing this then? It's kinda early, don't you think?" I throw out playfully and she glares.
"Do not start with me today. You were watching, right? Well, you're in this now so you can damn well listen too," she spits, practically stamping her feet.
"I'm teasing," I say, yawning widely for what felt like the millionth time since I'd opened my eyes. "I'd kill you where you stand for a coffee, just to warn you." I make a cup of decaf tea, mentally making the double espresso I'd down by the bucket load the second I could. She grunts and sits down on a stool by the counter, watching me as I slouch around the space. Still yawning.
"Are you always this slow, or has pregnancy turned you into a sloth?"
"You came here to rant. So rant."
She sighs.
"Nan won't listen to me anymore, Amanda dumped me and nothing I say to Connor will get through his great dumb skull."
