English Accent (The Accents #1)

Six words

Christmas came and gone without any extraordinary events. I mean, for me Christmas itself is an extra-extraordinary event, but how much can I talk about something we all know?

I was sitting in an armchair opposite to the Christmas tree. We put it up together with Teddy, which meant it was lopsided and looked like a unicorn had vomited all over it, but we both loved it. Right now, the two of us were curled together, huddled under a thick blanket, sipping hot chocolate decorated with mini marshmallows. It was my last evening home and I wanted to spend it with my little brother.

"Your car crashed into mine, you lose" Teddy shouted, waving his little toy car in the air.

We were playing races, driving our little cars on every free space of the sofa.

"Nuh, uh, little guy." I nudged him with my elbow. "I had the priority, which meant I was supposed to go first. You broke the rules."

"But those are car races! There are no rules!" He said and continued crashing his car into mine.

"Oh really? Let's see about it."

Throwing the covers back, I advanced on him and wrapped my arms around him. Digging my fingers into his sides, I started tickling him, knowing it was his weak point.

"Stop!" He giggled and kicked his legs. "Abi, stop!"

"That's what you get for breaking the rules! "I grinned and moved my hands to his armpits.

"What is going on here?" Mom emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands with a towel.

"Abi.. is trying... to kill me!" Teddy gasped, trying to break free from my tickling hands.

"He's been cheating!" I told her, never stopping to move my fingers.

"But you were just playing with cars!"

"These are never just cars, Mom." I informed her, bringing Teddy's writhing body closer to me. "This is life or death."

She stared at us, shaking her head. Before she retreated back to the kitchen, I swear I heard her murmur something about adult daughters.

"Let. Me. Go!" Ted demanded, tugging at my grip.

Somehow, I must have underestimated his strength again, because he managed to break free. His leg fell forward and knocked into the mug sitting on the edge of the table. The cup fell, glass shattered and hot chocolate spilled all over the floor. We both froze and stared with wide eyes first at the crime scene before us, then at each other.

"Do I really need to... Oh, goodness!"

Mom paused in the doorway with her mouth hanging open in shock as she took in the scene before her.

"What in the world has happened here?"

Teddy and I glanced at each other, then at her.

"It was his fault!" I yelled at the same time he pointed at me and said the exact opposite.

Her eyes danced between me and him and she let out a long, patient breath.

"I don't care whose fault this is, I just don't want to have to clean this up." She said and raised her hands.

Then she disappeared back into the kitchen without another word. A second later a cloth hit the ground at our feet with a wet plask. We eyed it carefully.

"I think this means we're the ones supposed to clean it." I raised a brow.

Teddy scrambled away from me and jumped to his feet.