Sacrifices

The Realisation

The light burns my eyes as I slowly open them. How long have I been asleep? Judging by the light I'd say it is late afternoon. My mother and sister are meant to be back from their meeting in Canberra today. I think they said they would be home in time for dinner which is around 5 o'clock. As I stand up I notice my lamp has been knocked over and has shattered into tiny fragments. I must've sleepwalked again, I haven't done that for months.

The neighbourhood cat makes a noise somewhere in between a howl and screech and demands to be fed so I open the front door, letting a stream of freezing cold air settle inside and give the cat some leftover chicken from the fridge. As soon as I scrape the last piece from the plate I realise I have made a mistake, that chicken was supposed to cover dinner. I'm hoping Ana and my mother have been delayed or are running behind schedule as they usually are so I won't have to worry about making their supper. I close the door and ring my mother to ask what time they think they will be home. She doesn't answer her phone. And if she did I couldn't hear her over the noise coming from the cat. "That's all you're getting, you stupid thing!" I hiss back at it.

I must have scared it because the feral runs around the side of the house and stops making a racket.

A car pulls up in our driveway, my first thought is Mother and Ana but I notice the car; our car is silver, but this car is black. It must be Mother's work car. I open the front door trying hard not to think about the sub-zero temperature I just walked into.

"Your back! So about the dinner I was meant-"

It's not them.