Mum crept silently up the stairs, avoiding the squeaky third step. She had to be silent. With her heart in her throat, she reached for the door handle. She pushed the door, and it swung open with a creak. She looked around the room to make sure she hadn't awoken the kraken. And there, on the bed, the kraken slept. Or more specifically, the teenage girl she was about to wake up to spend time with her family.
She had planned this carefully. She would sneak to the end of the bed, open the curtains and pull the blanket off. That way, if Stacy was awake enough to protest, mum had a few seconds' advantage before the kraken unleashed its rage on her. The suddenly awakened teenage girl would be momentarily blinded by the light. It was ingenious. Unfortunately, she hadn't taken into account the possibility that Stacy was already awake because of the scuffling the boys had had over the remote. Therefore, when mum pulled the cover off her, she was abruptly attacked by the raging ball of fury Stacy had turned into.
Meanwhile, Tim, Ted, Elaine and dad sat in the dining room enjoying their now slightly soggy cereals and discussing the best sandwich making techniques. They were so deeply entranced into their conversation, they hardly noticed the war going on upstairs, even when the lights shook along with the ceiling.
'So I butter them, and then cut them into triangles?' dad double checked.
'No, other way around,' the twins said.
'Oh yeah, I knew that.' dad said unconvincingly. 'I was just testing you.'
YOU ARE READING
The Adventures of Elaine - The Family Picnic
Short StoryIntroducing the Lindsay family! Elaine and her family are trying to have a nice day at the park, but knowing the hectic group, anything can go wrong! Whether they get to the park at all maybe in the hands of luck.
