A general fiction short story collection. It's hard to say just what these stories are about. You'll have to read them to find out! .. ^_^
Cover Art: John Canelis (on unsplash.com)
"STANLY!" I heard my Mom yell my name in her angry voice.
"Coming Mom!" I hollered back as I jumped up from my spot on the living room floor. I looked at the little two-year-old who I'd been playing with and told him just to stay put cause I'd be right back. But, he never even looked up at me. He was too busy playing with my plastic Ninja Turtles.
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I ran to the front door. It was flung wide open and Mom was standing on the front step consoling our neighbour, Miss Wade. Miss Wade looked frantic. I could see she'd been crying. Her eyes were red and swollen and her nose kept running.
When Mom looked at me she gave me one of her I'm-going-to-kill-you-when-this-woman-is gone looks and I found it hard to swallow. I was always getting that look and always getting in trouble with Mom. You'd think I'd get use to that look by now but I wasn't. I could feel my hands break out in a nervous sweat as I stood there looking at both women.
"Stanly," my Mom said through clenched teeth. I watched as a vein popped in her forehead. "You don't happen to know where Eileen's son is, do you?" Her voice sounded strained, even though she was smiling at me as she talked. I wasn't sure what was going on with her face but I knew it wasn't going to end well for me.
"Yes," I said clearly.
Miss Wade burst into tears, aggressively pushed past my Mom, desperately grabbed me by my thin shoulders and asked in a congested and teary voice, "You've seen my baby? Where? Where is my baby?"
I was so shaken up by her bloodshot eyes, runny nose and her generally unstable appearance that I couldn't find any words to reply at all. So, I just pointed down the hall to the living room. She let me go instantly and ran for Ethan, her baby boy, who'd I'd left playing with my Ninja Turtle toys. I'd never seen an adult run that fast before. I thought she'd do well on the track team at school but it was too bad adults couldn't participate.
Next thing I knew, my Mom had a painful grip of my arm and she was hauling me around to face her. She must have followed Miss Wade into the house and shut the door, but I'd been so preoccupied with the snot running down Miss Wade's lip that I hadn't even heard my Mother approaching.
"Gawd Stanly," she swore at me in one of those low angry whispers that only Moms can perfect.
