Ethereal Beings

Chapter Three

The rest of the evening was miserable. Nancy's dad, Phillip, had left, and her mum was a state. Nancy had taken it upon herself to make sure that Emile was comfortable, rushing around after her mother to cook dinner and tidy up the rest of the house. Every time Nancy would ask her mum if she was okay, Emile's voice would crack, barely able to say anything, before bursting into tears again.

The two sat on the sofa, trying to drown out their sadness with crappy TV, but even a good soap drama was not enough. "Have you heard from dad?" As soon as the question left her lips, Nancy instantly regretted it. She saw her mother's face contort, as if she were in physical pain, as Emile shook her head slowly. A tear rolled down her mother's delicate cheek as she began to sob. Her shoulders convulsing with force as her tears quickened.

All that Nancy could do was hold her mother.

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The next morning was better, briefly. Nancy was awake early and found herself staring at the ceiling. She sighed heavily and rolled out of bed. She pulled a jumper over her head and left her room, heading to her mother's room.

She tapped on the door lightly, getting no response. She decided to knock a little harder, but still to no avail. Nancy made her way down the stairs, when she noticed that the front door to the house was slightly ajar. Her mother was stood outside, with a cigarette in her mouth and more tears in her eyes.

Nancy stepped outside into the cool morning air, next to her mother. She places an arm around Emile's shoulder and sighs. "Mum, you haven't smoked in a few months now. You were doing so well."
Emile sniffled and chuckled slightly, "that's what you think."
"What?" Nancy was shocked but laughed along. "I don't think I can blame you with the way Dad has been lately."
"Do you want one?" Emile offered the pack of Marlboro to her daughter, taking another drag of her cigarette. Nancy sighed, and slipped one out of the packet, expertly putting it in her mouth and using her mother's lighter to light the cigarette. "You've done that before, haven't you?" Emile chuckled again, looking into the morning sky as she stood close to her daughter. This was perhaps the closest that the two had been in years.

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The rest of the day consisted of nothing much. Nancy had cracked open her history textbook to prepare for the mini quiz that Mr. Girton had set the class at the end of last week. Her mother, on the other hand, was lost in a celebrity gossip magazine, basking in the drama of others.

Emile had calmed down since yesterday evening and had accepted that her husband moving out for a few days was for the better. Besides, it was only for a few days.

The mother and daughter sat there in silence for most of the day, only moving off the sofa for dinner. Dinner was oddly quiet without her father being present and it depressed the atmosphere in the house once again. They seemed to be sitting at that dining table for hours before deciding it was best to get some sleep.
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During the night, Nancy found her self waking to the feeling of breath on her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she could not see anything there, but the breath felt so real to her. She brushed it off, not feeling threatened by the experience, and went back to sleep until morning.