Hidden Burdens (working title)

Lunch Date with Kayla

Kimmy went to bed that night with not only Chester, but all three of her stuffed animals clutched securely in her arms. Her favorite action figures, Edward Elric and his brother, Al, were standing on her nightstand to “watch over her while she slept.”

She still wore the headphones, even though it got uncomfortable whenever she turned over on her side. As long as Kimmy stayed on her back, they weren’t too bad. Despite having more of her toys back, Kimmy still struggled to fall asleep. While rinsing the toothpaste out of her mouth, she overheard Ben yell, like he was upset over something. It wasn’t long before she realized it was about her. Kimmy didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but ever since she heard her parents arguing, Kimmy felt drawn to listen despite hating it and worried if Kayla would be okay. Sometimes the arguments escalated to assaults, with either her mom or her dad making the first move. A few times, Stella even would taunt her dad.

She suddenly felt someone shake her upper arm.

Kimmy shot up like a bullet. So fast, the force knocked her headphones back onto her pillow. She quickly looked up to see Claudia standing there.

“You were tossing in your sleep,” she said, standing up straighter. “You okay, kid?”

Kimmy continued to stare up at her, trying to stop her racing heart.

“Bad dream?” Claudia eventually guessed.

She managed a nod. 

Claudia backed up to sit on her bed. “You wanna talk about it?”

Kimmy searched for her stuffed animals to focus her attention on something else. Truthfully, she barely remembered what she was dreaming about. She didn’t even remember falling asleep. She remembered worrying about Ben and Kayla. As for the dream, there were bits and pieces of them, and her own parents, but it was a puzzle trying to fit it all together. Usually, her dreams shifted from one to another without her knowledge.

After a minute, Claudia told her, “Well, if you ever need to talk, I’m here,” heading over to the door.

Kimmy stole a peek out of the corner of her eye, watching Claudia turn off the light and got back in bed. Her eyes had just adjusted to the light being on when the room went dark again. She sat there for a moment before dropping back on her pillow. For a spilt second, that is. The back of her head collided with her headphones, causing Kimmy to shoot up again, holding her hand to the spot that was now hurting.

It was loud enough for Claudia to hear it. “You okay?” she asked again. Why did Claudia keep asking questions Kimmy could not respond to?

Kimmy rubbed her head for a moment before using the same hand to search around for the headphone and slipped them back on. She then laid back on her pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Some more time passed before Kimmy realized she had to pee. So, throwing back the comforter, she got up and quietly made her way across the dark hallway.

Getting up during the night had gotten easier over the last month. 

Stella was a hard sleeper, so once she was asleep, Kimmy could easily slip to the bathroom. But, if Stella woke up or was still awake, watching TV or playing games, she questioned why Kimmy was out of bed. Even if Kimmy said she was using the bathroom, Stella would tell her to go back to bed. In her mom’s defense, when she was little, Kimmy would try to stay up past her bedtime and use any excuse she could. As she got older, Stella got stricter and wouldn’t even allow her to use the bathroom and make her go before going to bed. So, Kimmy had to wait until after she went to bed and tiptoed to the bathroom.

With Ben and Kayla, she never had to wait long since they went to bed shortly after the kids. Kimmy still continued to walk cautiously across the hallway. There was one night when Samson decided to lie in the middle of the hallway for some reason. Though, their dog did that, too, or anywhere that seemed inconvenient to the humans. Samson even has multiple beds: one in Ben and Kayla’s room, a bed downstairs, and a bed outside on the back patio in case it was a nice night out. But, for some reason, dogs still choose to sleep on the floor.