Their consistency to argue had become Olisa Van Shorel's regular morning alarm. To her affliction, it was something that no action of hers could possibly resolve, and in fact, her interference would almost certainly make matters a lot worse. Because of this she had become a distant memory to a content night's sleep and had become reasonably frustrated at their lack of thought and care. Olisa's parents had lost the maturity they once held with great dignity and began to act in ways which would see Olisa punished if she followed this behaviour herself. She gathered herself together and resurrected her fatigued body out of bed. Rubbing her eyes, she reached for her watch, a gift from her grandmother, and fastened the well-worn strap around her wrist. Glancing down, she realised her father was late for work and no doubt had an aggravated day in front of him. The morning's events, which were most likely caused by Olisa's mother commenting on her husbands "Deficient habits", would leave a sour taste in any bystander's mouth, so a direct hit would not put one in a commendable mood. Olisa, trying to push the annoyance to the back of her head, reached for her robe, snatched a clean towel from the laundry pile and slipped into the bathroom. She decided to keep quiet to ensure she did not pain anyone with her presence, a skill she seemed to accumulate over the latter months.
On his way to work, Dustin Van Shorel reviewed his rather inflaming argument with his wife on a continuous loop in his head. Although he did not regret anything he had said that morning, and indeed many mornings before, he somewhat felt sorry for the lack of enthusiasm he no longer had for his marriage. With that in mind, he switched off the radio and drove in silence. The silence which prevailed showed great comparability with that produced by enduring evenings spent with his wife: They would be seen sat on opposite sides of the room and unless an opportunity arose for her to, once again, pick at his deficiencies, no conversation would be made. However, if Olisa's wellbeing ever needed to be discussed, they were able to obtain a civilised manner, but no heart- warming affection could ever be detected. Despite the fact, and despite their differences, they both loved Olisa very much.
After showering Olisa felt refreshed; she was able to forget the morning's disturbance, well at least diminish the affect it would win over the day, and was ready to reconcile with her Mother's assumed attitude. She approached the kitchen with caution but the reassuring smell of cindering toast guaranteed a safe entry. The radio sang out a blissful tune in the background and the ceiling lights that bordered the kitchen cabinets, pierced through the darkness of the winter's morning. Today was explicitly cold; a characteristic that seemed to reflect the unforeseen expression that inhabited her mother's face. She went by the name Evangeline, but due to her distaste towards this, she was more commonly known, and always introduced herself as Eva. Like Olisa, she had bronze coloured hair that carried a permanent shine from root to end. However, her eyes were a compelling cobalt in colour, unlike the admirable green of Olisa's, which Olisa inherited from her father. Both Olisa and Eva carried the height of Eva's father but where Eva was generously built, Olisa borne an athletic build, also like her father. Eva uncommonly expressed little emotion so for Olisa to meet the dreary presence of her mother that morning was quite daunting. She expected that the previous events of the morning were to blame, at first, so she decided to extinguish any unreasonable thoughts, but it was not until her mother began to speak in an inhibited way that any worries were rekindled.
Olisa slumped down into the chair opposite and slowly sipped from a mug of coffee that her mother had made. Eva stuttered on her words and muttered under her breath. "Mom, what is it?" spoke Olisa in a tone that carried a degree of concern. Eva settled her eyes upon her daughter, who was dressed appropriately for school, and breathed out hastily. "I heard you wake up earlier, we woke you up, didn't we?" Olisa was unsure why her mother sounded regretful but stayed mute and carried on listening. Eva provoked a minute nod from Olisa then continued to speak. "I don't know what you heard but I don't want you to worry. Your father and I have shown slight deviation recently; we've had our fair share of problems over the past few months, I will admit, but we are sorting things out, I promise." Olisa was unsure of the contents of truth her mothers reasoning held. She knew the arguing had become repetition and was also aware of her mother' capability to announce the defects of someone – most prominently, her Father's. Olisa, herself, had become rather rapid at pointing out and mocking these flaws, which were decided upon and labelled by Eva. Although Dustin did not particularly warm to Eva force feeding Olisa her petty behaviour, he would not seek revenge and would not fight back. Olisa, who had gradually learnt her mother's peculiarities over the 16 years of her life, could be commonly seen agreeing with and obeying her mother to avoid losing an intellectual and critical battle of right and wrong: At first, she would have tried to defend her arguments but defeats were unravelled by the bucket load and she eventually decided her mother was unbeatable.
"Mom," Olisa spoke sensitively, trying to avoid any hint of disagreement with her mother's apology. Eva smiled, implying that it was ok to continue. "Are you and Dad happy? Do you still love each other?" Her words echoed her younger self, carrying tones of innocence and disquiet. Eva reached across the kitchen table and took hold of Olisa's hand. She smiled sweetly. "I will always love your dad, but love doesn't always make someone happy. Sometimes when you truly love someone, the best thing you can do, is let them go." Eva's constant stream of emotion concerned Olisa and she knew her mom was hurting. A single tear fled down her face and her grasp of Olisa's hand tightened. Olisa hurried to her mother's side and wrapped her arms around her. Eva, now, was hysterical and Olisa couldn't help but mimic her mother's behaviour in response. "Mom?" Olisa whispered between tears, "Sometimes, even if the world you thought you knew is slowly disappearing, the best thing you can do is smile. Shedding a few tears will only help today but a smile will show everyone nothing will break you." Eva sighed and looked at Olisa, releasing herself from her daughter's hug. "I think this could break me" Olisa watched Eva stagger up the stairs and disappear into her bedroom. She felt concerned for her mother but became slightly irritable at the lack of response Eva gave to her words of reassurance, especially as they were borrowed word by word from the many similar conversations she and her mother had shared before.
Olisa hung her pink polka dot satchel over her right shoulder and, after slipping on her black school pumps, she left for school. Their family home, saturated with silence, had lost all vibrancy. The laughter and love, that had once teemed from the house, fell flat, sharing a great likeness with Eva and Dustin's behaviour towards each other. Olisa's walk to school, very much like her father's journey, would be reflective of this mornings events, her mothers words and the obvious hurting from both sides. Although she was unsure, she accepted that, as adults, her parents would sure construe the problem that seemed to be emitting their absurd attitudes towards one another.
