A Story of Short Stories

Shower

I turn the shower on. As the shower runs I stare at the water falling, thinking of many things. A sigh leaves my lips and I get into the water. The water runs down my face as I stand there, lost in thought again.

My eyes start to water as I think of why I hide in the shower. Why I use the shower to hide my tears, as they run down my face getting mixed with the water. I move the shower head towards the wall, only wanting to hear it instead of feeling it. I sit down in the tub and rest against the back of it.

I then hear the dogs barking and my heart starts racing. I quickly wipe away my tears and clear my throat from it's tightness. The sound of keys moving around and the front door being unlocked. I stand up and turn the shower head towards me. Then I hear the door opening and footsteps walking inside. The dogs stop barking and greet the person at the door. Me already knowing who it was by their footsteps. I hold my breathe as I wait to hear a yell.

Nothing. I hear nothing. No more footsteps. No more dogs jumping around the figure out in the living room, while I stand in the shower. Everything is quiet. I let go of my breathe.

That's when I hear quick footsteps walking towards the bathroom door. When they reach the door all I could do was watch as the door handle shake as they try to open the locked door. When they finally figured out it was locked they started pounding on the door.

"Open this damn door now!" I hear the woman's voice yelling at me.

My breathe hitches as I turn off the shower and grab my towel. I step out of the shower and walk towards the door. As soon as I unlock the door, it swings open and there stands the woman. The woman that I've been with since birth. The same woman that treated you different from the rest of her children.

She then starts screaming at me why I didn't do the things she only told me to do. Why couldn't of one of my siblings do it. Why did I have have to do things to get things, but the other didn't. So I started yelling at her back, like I always do since no one has ever stood up for me. I yell at her back even though it hurts, but I would feel empty and worthless if I don't.

So here stand a fifteen year old and a thirty-seven year old yelling at each other. One for the need to release stress, while the other to protect herself mentally. Finally the younger one shuts the door and locks it. The older one walks into the living room and falls asleep on the couch.

The sound of a shower turning on fills the now silent house.