What Little Worlds

Four

The day Amelie stopped walking by the alley, she left a note attached to the back of the dumpster with sticky tack.

I hope you're not freezing too much of the world without me there to thaw it all with my fire breath. Come over my house if you're ever around.

-A

Middle school ended an hour earlier than elementary school had, so Amelie had taken to going home withMaggie every day after school to avoid spending almost five hours alone before her dad came home. He was a janitor in the community college and his shift did not end until seven p.m. With the drive home that meant he usually got back around seven thirty.

Today was one of the rare days she went home directly after school. She had gotten in a huge fight with Maggie the week before and had been going home by herself all week. She remembered the fight and involuntarily shuddered.

She and Maggie were in the living room doing their homework when Maggie's dad arrived home. Her dad was hardly ever home when Amelie was over and upon hearing the garage door open Maggie immediately started packing away their things.

"Let's go upstairs to finish," she said.

"Oh...ok," Amelie replied, uncertain as to why they were rushing.

They had almost finished cleaning up when the door slammed open. "Sharon!" yelled Maggie's father. "Sharon!" he called again, louder this time.

"Come on," Maggie said under her breath and started tiptoeing to the stairs. Amelie started to understand what was happening and hurried after her friend.

"I'm coming darling!" They heard Maggie's mom yell.

They still had not yet reached the steps when they heard a thud. Amelie stood still.

"Do you want me to tell you how my day was, darling?" Maggie's father grunted.

"Of course I do," her mother responded.

"No, I don't think you do. You would have called me at lunch had you wanted to know. You didn't call me. You promised you would call me today. My day was terrible because of you. I was worried sick all day." The girls heard another thud.

Amelie gasped and grabbed Maggie's hand.

"Shouldn't we do something? He's being so mean to her!" She said.

Maggie frantically shook her head and tugged on Amelie's hand to follow her up the stairs. Amelie firmly planted her feet.

"I was at work too, darling. I only had ten minutes for lunch so I used the time to quickly eat something. But you're right I should have called you like you asked. I'm sorry you worried. You could have called or texted me to ask if I was okay."

They heard the sound of a slap.

Maggie started crying.

"You ruined my day you bitch."

Amelie walked silently back down the steps. Maybe if Maggie's dad knew she was there he would stop hurting her mom. She had almost made it to the kitchen when she felt Maggie grip her arm. Amelie tried to pull her forward but Maggie dug her nails painfully into her.

Amelie gasped in pain and let Maggie drag her away from the kitchen. She led her to the backdoor and the girls crept outside.

"What were you doing, Amelie!" Maggie screamed.