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Every Sunday morning, Teresa wakes up to the smell of pancakes and maple syrup. There was nothing she enjoyed more than the simplest pleasure of stretching her body across her bed. It was her way of letting her body transition from her dream state.
On the side table, there was a note in her husband's handwriting.
GONE TO THE GROCERY STORE. PANCAKES ON THE COUNTER. XXX
She got out of the bed and fixed the covers, only to walk out of her room and into the hallway. She could hear the television coming from the living room, a cartoon probably, but what really caught her ear was the sound of daughter's voice coming from a bedroom with the door closed.
Teresa pressed her ear against the door to hear closely.
" ... and then she pushed me down at recess and everyone laughed at me. But then I wrote a note, saying it was Peter McLennan — that guy I told you about — to meet her by monkey bars. Let's just say he didn't show."
Teresa managed to suppress a smirk as she turned the knob and opened the door.
The walls were painted a dull blue, full of grim artwork and music posters. Her seven year old daughter, Ara, stared wide eyed at her mother who never woke up that early. She was seated in a La-Z-Boy by the windows, where the light streamed against her brown-almost-blonde hair, next to the bed where a teenage boy laid. His left arm had an IV that was connected to a silver briefcase with a timer that read 00:00.
Teresa's shoulders fell at the sight, "Ara, what did we talk about?"
Her eyes lowed, "Only come in here with you or Daddy."
Teresa sighed, "Scooch over."
Ara quickly moved to the side of the recliner as Teresa sat down, crossing her legs. "So, a girl pushed you, huh?"
She looked up at her mother, "I don't wanna talk about it."
"That's fair. We'll talk about it when you're ready," Teresa reached for a book from underneath the bed. "You wanna read or should I?"
"You can," Ara said.
"Hey," a little girl peered from the hallway, her five-year-old, Vela. Her eyes squinted as her mouth curled up into a smile. "What are you guys doin'?"
"We're gonna read to Orion," Teresa answered. "Wanna sit with us?"
Vela shook her head, curls bouncing as she did so, "Trolls is about to come on." Ara's eyes darted at her mother as Vela ran back into the living room.
Teresa chuckled, "Go."
Ara jumped from her seat and dashed out of her brother's bedroom.
Teresa smiled at their eagerness until the screen on her phone flashed red. She'd left it in his room the night before, she remembered.
