Loving 4 ears

Off To School

Louise bounced into the kitchen where her family were enjoying a breakfast of sugary cereal and slightly burnt toast. Hurrying to her seat at the circular table Louise snatched a bowl and poured only fragments of cereal into it. She let out a deep sigh of annoyance.

"Gene! You ate all the cereal again!" She howlered, making her brother look up from his extra large helping of the sugary food

"What sis? A man's got to eat." Gene replied while shovelling cereal into his mouth. "After all I'm eating for two of course." He said while patting his stomach.

"Gene for the last time you are not pregnant....you're not even a girl!" Bob called over his newspaper.

"You can never destroy my dreams!!!" Gene yelled back angrily.

Louise rolled her eyes and just took some of the aforementioned burnt toast. After a few slices she just sat there in thought, listening only slightly to Tina's monotone voice as she said how exciting it was that Louise was having her first day at high school. This surprised her, normally she would be making witty remarks at the family's craziness but now she was feeling strangely nervous.

"Why i am I feeling this way?" She wondered. "Am I going crazy? Or is it anticipation to meet Lo.....NO!! That's not it, that can't be it!....Or can it?" Louise was disrupted from this infighting by her mother's chirping.

"First day at school, first day at school firrrrssssttttt daaaaayyyyyyy aatttttttt schhhooollll for Louise!" Linda sang.

Gene slowly started to clap, building up the speed and standing up to give a massive applause. Linda took a bow and then sat down with the rest of the family.

"Mum that was the best song about school and Louise I've ever heard." Tina said in her usual tone.

"Ohhhh thank you Tina." Linda smiled and turned to Louise. "Sooooooo how excited are you for your first day?"

Louise let out a grunt before turning to face her mother. "It will be ok I guess, nothing special."

"Oh ok darling." Linda said, a little worried from what she just heard.

Looking across the table at Bob she let a loud cough to try and get his attention. When he didn't respond she coughed again which only got the same result.

Linda sighed then raised her foot under the table to deliver a quick and painful kick to Bob's leg. Instantly, he dropped his newspaper and clutched his leg, leaving him to take some loud breaths with a few arrgs and owwws. Glaring over at Linda angrily he was about to let out a complaint though when then he saw his wife motion towards over Louise it made him immediately shut his mouth.

Louise was looking down at the ground, noticeably distressed.

"You ok Louise?" Bob asked.

"Umm...yeah of course." Louise answered back while still looking down.

Linda shuffled over to Louise and put her hand on her back to try and comfort her.

"Come on Louise, you know we always want you to be ok. If something is bugging you then just say-"

Linda's words were cut off by Louise suddenly coming alive and yelling, "Time for school!".

She jumped out of her seat and hurried to the front door with a giant smile now on her face. Taking her school bag from the hook on the wall and flung it onto her back at the same time of turning to Gene and Tina, both still sitting, who stared in confusion.

"Come on you slow pokes!" She called.

Gene and Tina looked over at their parents with discomfort and then shuffled off their chairs to also pick up their school bags. When the door clicked shut behind them Bob and Linda were left looking flabbergasted at each other.