Hopeful and Hopeless

Five.

A/N Above is Matilda AKA Tilly, Emilie's sister. She is portrayed by Kiernan Shipka.

"There's nothing so stable as change." - Bob Dylan

Saturday, March 17, 2018

I UNTIE MY APRON, taking it off and placing it on the bench. "Dinner's ready!" I shout to get Matilda's attention. I pick up the two full plates and walk to the dining table, setting everything up. We never fail to have dinner at the table every night. Its been that way since we were born. Dad always liked doing it because he got to hear about how everyone's day was and he would say that it made us more grateful for the food we have on the table. We would always say grace too.

Grace was always a silly little tradition for me but I didn't really have a choice because Mum and Dad were Catholic. I would sit at the table, my eyes fixated on the hot, wholesome dinner before me and I would have to wait to eat it. It was so tempting.

We still do grace, I guess now I appreciate it more. Our family dinners were always boring in my mind but now, I wish I cherished them more. Not everyone has their whole family to have dinner with, food on the table or even a table to put food on.

Matilda approaches me with a smile and I sit down at my usual seat, Matilda sitting directly across from me. We join our hands and bow our heads with our eyes closed. We usually do silent grace and take the time to send our own thanks for the meal.

I thank God for blessing me with my sister's life. For keeping her alive. Even though I feel alone at times, I have always known that I'm not because she is there. I thank God for dinner and love. I thank him for looking after my family up in heaven. I know he's taking care of them.

We finish grace and break our grasp, digging into dinner. "So, how was school?" I ask her and the slight smile that was on her face drops quickly. She stays silent and continues to eat. Somethings definitely wrong.

"What happened?" I put down my cutlery, my mind fills with concern. Did she just have a below average day? Is there something wrong with her leg? Did she get a bad mark for her Biology test? She was getting her mark back for that today. "Is it your Biology? You know I don't care about marks. I know that you tried your hardest and that's all that matters to me." I reassure her and she nods, the look on her face not faltering.

"No, I actually did well on that, 58/60." She smiles faintly but it soon drops again. As much as I am over the moon for her getting such a good mark, something about the look on her face is very off putting. She's never usually like this. She pulls out a piece of paper from her back pocket and hands it to me, making an effort to not connect eyes with me.

I reluctantly take the paper and open it up, slowly reading each word.

Dear Ms Emilie Atwood,

I regret to inform you of the 5-day suspension of Matilda Atwood. After multiple mishaps within school grounds, we have come to this conclusion. This decision was not taken lightly and has been thoroughly discussed with many members of our faculty.

I ask that you attend a meeting next Friday to discuss the behaviour of Matilda. We will also be joined by Mr and Mrs Hammond, Jessica Hammonds parents. We will then try to get to the bottom of some disagreements between Matilda and Jessica and you may then raise any of your concerns with me personally.

I hope to see you there.

Kind Regards,

Greg Wilkins