The car reached the highway, windshield wipers rapidly swiping back and forth across the front window. Perhaps it was the motion on the wipers or the tired, depressed brains but either way, all children fell asleep.
Josie's silent, rhythmic, heavy breathing added to the calming motion of the wipers while Colton's constant snoring lessened it.
Slowly dozing off, under the warm blankets and heat of the car, Ava heard things, but her brain translated them into its own words. Perhaps what it wanted to hear.
Mom was on the phone with dad again after he came back from the hospital. "Oh my goodness! Ed is the cancer really gone?" Then came her dad's faint, electronic voice come from the phone. "Yup! Radiation worked this time and there is no trace of it left. Can't wait for Ava, Jo, and Colton to hear. They will be super excited!"
Ava then dozed off completely, picturing favorable memories of her dad: Colton's baseball games when he would chant his name with the rest of the team, Jo's dance recitals where he would give her flowers and Ava's races where he would stick his hand out like a fan trying to get their favorite celebrity to touch them.
Then the scene shifted to a vacation in Disney World in Orlando when the whole family went on the Mount Everest ride and dad screamed the whole way.
The scene shifted again to Ava walking through her house, her dad laughing at the kitchen table then when she walked into the living room, her dad lay sleeping soundlessly on the couch with "The Avengers" playing on the flatscreen.
Walking upstairs now, Ava saw her dad talking to her about how he was so proud at her for coming in 2nd in the High School Science Fair. He said he couldn't wait to go to the region 3 award ceremony.
Now the she thought about it, Ava realized he never made it. They were rushed out of the ceremony because her dad was having some kind of breakdown from the cancer that would not leave him alone. He died in the hospital that night after hearing Ava came in first and was moving on to nationals.
Ava woke up screaming and thrashing around in her seat. Mom was on the phone but paused to look around at her when she started screaming. A startled pair of sibling looked cautiously at her. " Ava, mommy was just saying how there is no trace of flooding back home so daddy will be safe", Josie said trying to calm me down.
Ava knew that she shouldn't and that it would scare Jo but she started crying until it felt like very last salty tear had left her body.
YOU ARE READING
The Baseball
Teen FictionAva found that baseball. She loved it for its own special reason. Then, it nearly killed her. Jake helped her find it then he himself nearly killed her with it. In the hospital, Ava must survive her injury and the betrayal that came with it.
