Things To Do | the walking dead

viii. A life lesson

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I wonder if I am the only one at the table who pretends their families are with them. I know I'm not the only one who doesn't have any family right now. Glenn, Jacqui, Dale, Andrea- okay, basically everyone except the Grimes family, and Sophia and Carol don't have a family. So I wonder if the other adults still imagine and pretend it's a normal morning and they are having breakfast with their families and not a random group of strangers they met a month ago.

I hope it's not weird that I'm pretending I'm back home, with Dad making us breakfast, Mom sitting across from me, reading her book, and, Morgan coming in the kitchen about to throw a silly fuss about something. I liked my parents' cocking a lot. Sometimes they'd have goofy competitions of who cooks the better and make Morgan and I choose. But we'd always make some excuse to say it's even (even though sometimes one of them cooks better meals than the other) because we always loved to praise Mom's cooking skills. Still, God forbid we chose Mom's meal because Dad would go into this overdramatic fuss episode where he'd be all pouty and sad. It wasn't for real, he just loved playing around like that.

Also, the mornings differed depending on who woke Morgan and me up. Mom used to be very gentle when waking us up. She'd be quiet as she kissed our forehead and ran her fingers through our hair. The difference between Morgan and I was that she couldn't sleep if the room wasn't as dark as the afterlife. She needed the windows completely covered so no moonlight could get in, and her lights off (obviously) so she'd sleep. While, at first, I liked having a small lamp on the nightstand, but after a while, I wasn't able to sleep with it on. So, Dad would leave a small light on our front porch because it was right before my room and I'd have light coming through the window in my room.

I sort of changed the subject so back to how our Dad used to wake us up. And, just to say, it was chaotic. Well, maybe not that chaotic but he'd wake us up in the most loud and annoying ways possible. When I was little, he used to just come into my room, pick me up, and throw me in the air, making me land on the bed wide awake. He probably used to do it to Morgan when she was my age, I don't remember it though. And for Morgan, he used to pour water on her. But he had a good reason! She used to kick around a lot when you'd try and wake her up.

Also, one year during the Summer, we had a pool in our backyard and Dad would gently pick me up and take me to the pool. He'd wake me up before just throwing me in. He did it to Morgan, too. Even though she was fifteen, he was very strong. I think he did it to Mom one time, too. I remember Morgan telling me something about it after I returned from my grandparent's house.

Well, I guess that doesn't matter anymore. But I do really hope it's not weird I'm trying to pretend I'm back at home, sitting at the table, eating, and spending time with my family.

Glenn is sitting by my side. He's hungover, slouching over the table, holding his head. Mom and Dad used to drink, but they never drank a lot. Not like I saw some other people or their friends drink. I think they were doing it for us. However, sometimes when I was outside in the yard, watching the sunset as I rode my roller skates, I'd come back home and there would be some funny smell in the air and Mom and Dad acted more... chill and weird. I didn't know what it was before Morgan told me it was pot.

"Morning," Rick walked into the dining room.

"Are you hungover?" Of course, he is? "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right," Rick told Carl as he sat down.

"Mom has that annoying habit," Lori said, making me stiff a giggle. It was true. Weirdly enough, Mom was always right about everything. It's annoying sometimes, but also... helpful?

"Eggs- Powered but I do 'em good," T-Dog walked into the room, carrying a pan of eggs. "Bte you can't tell." I chewed my bacon and looked at Glenn, who groaned loudly. Jacqui put her hands on his shoulders, Dale chuckled and T-Dog placed some of the eggs onto his plate. "Protein helps the hungover. You want some, kiddo?" I nodded and smiled when T-Dog asked me.