Sadie's Nightmare

Chapter Four: Parents

Dressed in her least favourite pyjamas-because her favourite ones were in the laundry basket-Sadie climbed into her bed and cuddled her magic blanket.

The nights were cold, so her bed had a thick, poofy doona on it. The doona cover had all kinds of Pokémon on it, although Sadie mainly wanted it for the big Eevee in the center.

Sadie wriggled her way into the covers and laid there with the light on, facing the ceiling. Waiting. Waiting for her mother to come kiss her good night and turn the light off.

She waited.

And waited.

Until she heard a door shut and then the muffled voices of her parents.

"Where's Sadie? Is she in bed?" Asked Steven.

"Yes. She's in bed." Replied Patricia.

"Did you give her a bath first?"

"Yes!" Patricia shouted.

"Why are you yelling?"

"Why are you bombarding me with questions? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Right. Busy. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt." Said Steven sarcastically.

There was silence before the sound of footsteps began to grow louder and soon Steven was at Sadie's doorway. He looked at her and they shared a smile.

He went to her bedside, tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead. "Happy birthday, sweetheart."

Sadie only smiled.

"Did you have a good day?"

Sadie nodded. "Mhmm."

"That's good" Steven's mouth pulled to the side. "Did mummy give you a bath?"

Sadie shook her head; No.

Steven sighed and frowned. But, he forced a smile as he looked to his daughter's face.

Sadie smiled back, before saying, "Good night, Dad. I love you."

"I love you too, princess. Sweet dreams."

Steven turned off the light as he left and closed the door most of the way, leaving it slightly ajar.

As soon as he was gone, Sadie sat up and pulled her magic blanket over her head. She sat there in the dark with only her face exposed to the warm light that leaked in the crack in the doorway.

Sadie smiled, the blanket smelled sweet. But soon her smile faded. She could hear her parents arguing. Again.

"Sadie was waiting for you to tuck her in, you know?" Steven said with a deep, stern voice. There was a pause before he continued, "What? You're not gonna say anything?"

"I was busy." Patricia snapped back.

"Too busy to give your daughter a bath as well?"

"Oh my god, would you drop it. I have had a long day. You'd know that if you ever paid any attention to me."

"You aren't more important than our daughter. It's time you put someone, other than yourself, first." Steven then went to the spare room-which had been his bedroom for the last few weeks.

After Patricia lost her job, Sadie's parents began to fight a lot more than they used to.

Patricia followed Steven and continued to argue with him, so Sadie pulled her magic blanket over herself completely and wished to be someplace better.

Someplace where things were always beautiful.