Freefalling

6

She glared at her mother for a few seconds. She spit in the grass and stormed home.

He was left alone with her parents. He sheepishly got up and walked away.

"Wait a minute, boy," her dad grumbled. "What were y'all doin'?"

"Looking at clouds and drinking coffee, sir." Her father grimly looked at him and walked away. Her mother followed in suit.

He took a quick gander at the park. He awkwardly waited for nothing for a few minutes. When his mind was ready he walked the meandering pathway all the way to his house. He tripped a few times during his journey, but that was normal. His feet are larger than average.

When she was out of sight, she took off. It was a full-on sprint. She was fueled on sheer rage. The frigid air burned her cheeks as she ran. All thought has vanished. Her body was on auto-pilot. Children watched in awe as she sped past them.

She reached her house only to find the door was locked. She plopped down on the edge of the porch. Her breathing was heavy and constant. A goose or two would fly overhead while she waited. She had never before realized how slow her parents were.

She moved to the lawn and lied on her stomach. The grass was starting to crisp up and turn brown. She plucked a blade of grass and ran it across her fingers. The little piece of grass was swept along her fingers a few times until she pinched it between her index finger and thumb. She rubbed those fingers against each other until the grass fell apart.

She got bored with the grass and sat on the edge of the rock garden. There were no flowers in the rocks; there never was. A piece of pink feldspar caught the light and had a glint that caught her eye.

Eventually, she was completely entranced by this mineral. She dropped it into her hand, then she rolled it into the other, then she would change hands again and again.

Just as she reached for a new rock, her parents arrived. They ignored her as they walked by. Her father fluidly pulled out his house keys and unlocked the door. Her mother looked back with a snotty glare and huffed. Her father yanked her mother inside and slammed the blue paint covered door.

Ten minutes later, she decided it was clear to go inside. She leaned over and used the Earth as her helping hand. The fuzzy feeling you get when your limbs fall asleep was apparent in her left foot. She stomped the ground. Her foot was still asleep. Next she tried to wiggle it around. She got the same result. For her third attempt, she simply bent her toes over and over again. This time it worked. She walked up to the door, twisted the handle, pushed the door, and...

BANG! She was hit it the face by her own father. The world grew dizzier and dizzier. A vase and a couple other glass knick-knacks were knocked onto the floor when she stumbled around.

Her mother flung her body into the wall. Her father threw another punch right into her gut. She clenched her stomach and tightened her jaw. The merciless beating continued.

Her phone slipped out of her pocket when she got up. He wanted to apologize about their afternoon, but he noticed that she wasn't answering. Something was wrong and he had to help her.