peach light fading

five

 I ended up finally letting my body fall asleep at 5 am. When I was a child Mom would pray over me, rubbing my sweaty forehead with towels and wishing for me to be blessed with rest. But I would stay awake anyways, waiting for nothing and no one.

Around 9 I heard the bustle of the house around me. I laid there for a while, with my eyes open, trying to get my mind around the unattractive idea of getting up. But eventually, I did, making haste to the bathroom.

When I eventually made it to breakfast I saw only Mr. and Mrs. Ford at the dining table. They were both redheads but somehow couldn't look more different. Mr. Ford was tall, and just as intimidating as the house he lived in, with a pinched face and a sharp widow's peak. Mrs. Ford was a lot more like Sherry, with her short hair wavy and always on her face which was defined by her plump skin and a collection of freckles.

I froze in place when I realized they were alone in the room, aware of how loud my footsteps had been.

"Oh hi, Kamaria!" Mrs. Ford said, noticing me first.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Ford," I said, waving.

Mr. Ford nodded at me, from behind his coffee. I felt silly, remembering how menacing the man who now sat in a fluffy canary yellow bathrobe was to me as a child.

"My goodness, you've grown up," Mrs. Ford exclaimed. "You must be hungry."

"Not really!" I promised, looking for any possible way to leave the situation I had gotten myself into.

I couldn't look at Mrs. Ford without wondering if she knew about Sherry.

I heard the creaks of wood and turned to see Micah, fully dressed in a shirt and jeans. I felt very aware of my Mickey Mouse themed pajama bottoms.

"Not dressed yet?" He quipped, looking amused.

"No, why?"

"I wanted to take you up to Sandia Mountains. Just us and the snow, and Rochelle and Sherry if they change their minds. Unless you'd rather not today?"

"No," I said immediately. "I'd like that a lot. You know I would." 

He smiled at me, the kind that makes anyone feel like they too are beaming. And maybe in that moment I was.