The Doctor

Chapter 2

Now exactly what happened before the teenager ended up in this location? Albina strained her brain for last night's memories...it was faint and short but something happened...

...Albina felt the yellow-hot water flowing as her salmon-red hands were scrubbing the china plates that were tarnished of the gooey leftovers of supper. Her eyes were warm and she was sniffling...trying to be strong and forcing herself not to cry. She must show her father that she is not afraid of him and that his venomous, earsplitting shouts don't affect her at all; she told herself that all she heard was Polish jabber and the scorching heat in his voice was nothing less than the buzzing of a mosquito. Heh, hopefully one day both of her parents will bellow themselves out just enough to get laryngitis.

"IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL 'BIGOS'? IT TASTES LIKE DUNG!" Mr. Ratownik roared "YOU ALWAYS BURN THE STEAKS, COOK SOUP TOO BLAZING HOT AND MAKE STUFFINGS IN THE PIEROGIS TOO LUMPY!"

"ADRIANA CAN COOK BETTER THAN YOU, SHE CAN CLEAN BETTER THAN YOU, SHE TRANSLATES BETTER THAN YOU DO, SHE CAN DO EVERYTHING BETTER THAN YOU!"

"WHY CAN'T YOU BE MORE LIKE YOUR SISTER, YOU LITTLE PIECE OF – "

KI-KKKSSSHHH!

"If you hate your supper so much, why don't you get my sweet, precious sister to cook for you or even better – DO IT YOURSELF!" Albina retorted. The angry bull stood there and panted, ready to ram the matador that was waving the red cloak playfully. Albina turned off the faucet and left the sink that was half-full of mustard-splattered plates; she grabbed the soapy, lavender sponge and threw it on the terracotta floor.

"And if you want you can clean the dishes yourself too." The teenager uttered as she left the kitchen.

"COME BACK HERE, PICK UP THESE PLATE PIECES AND FINISH CLEANING UP!"

"Leave it to Adriana; she can do a better job than me." Albina responded coldly. She was satisfied with herself that is, until she heard running footsteps and a wheezing breath as she climbed up the stairs. Fear and energy burst in the girl the second she heard that devilish noise. She sprinted towards the oak door and locked in the speed of light but just as she was about to get comfortable in her leather chair, there was the sound of aggressive fists pounding against wood and shouting that reached the sound of six octaves.

Tears flowed down from the poor girl's eyes to her neck, snot was clogging up her nose and she kept breathing raggedly as to hold back her sobs. She didn't want her father to hear her crying; there was no reason for the monster to be satisfied by her weeping. Why did she have to go through this so many times? Did they have any guilt their hearts? No, maybe she was the one who should have guilt in her heart. She wished that she was good enough and that those rare occasions of pleasing her parents could turn to daily routines. If only she could be as good as her sister and that she wasn't such a terrible daughter.

Then the rest of the memory was all but foggy. Wait just minute, Albina was sure there was more to it, something more important than the screeching of that monster....

......the red digits on the alarm clock stated that it was seventeen minutes to eleven o' clock, Albina's eyes were burning from staring at the screen too long and her fingers were typing feverishly on the keyboard. Just two more pages to finish for her Chemistry research project and then she could go to sleep. The girl's mind was slipping away... slowly... maybe if she took a quick name then she would feel better just to relieve her tired eyes and the emotional pain of today. No! She had a research paper to do and her Chem average was already down in the dumps; perhaps if she turned on some music on YourRadio.com then she would not fall asleep so easily. Albina saved her work on her project and clicked on a crimson radio-shaped icon. As soon as she pressed the play button, Louis Armstrong's voice echoed from the speakers and Albina opened the first window to return to her work.