Saturday, October 6, 2012

Saturday Surprise!


Saturday Sneak Peek


My eyes opened as soon as I heard him come through the door. He was home, but I quickly shut them and stayed warm nestled underneath Moms knitted Afghan. Dad set his keys down on the dining room table and settled into his favorite spot.
“Good your home,” Austin said from the recliner. He always woke up when Dad was getting home from a late shift. I swore any other time he slept like a rock.
Dad wasn’t one to discuss his career with me. I was a girl, I was extra sensitive to the ways of the world, as he put it. Austin was a grown man. He could handle hearing about all the gore.
“John Moore’s fixing that old barn finally, I hear he’s buying more horses,” Dad said.
“What happened out there?” Austin asked, if Dad was at the Moore’s it meant one of two things. John was dead or someone nearby was.
Dad was silent for a couple seconds. I opened my eyes just the slightest. Dad stroked the stubble on his chin. His sleek fingers came to a stop right before he began talking.
“It was the weirdest thing. We got out to the address, it was the house across the street from the Moore’s. The only thing I noticed was blood and a broken window.” Dad grabbed for the remote.
I squeezed my eyes shut staying still. No body. That was unheard of. I wondered what Dad thought about it.
“What about the neighbors,” Austin asked. “You guys are by the book. You had to have gone door to door to figure it out right?”
Dad cleared his throat. “Of course, but at any rate, it made my night shorter. Another dead body would have kept me up for days trying to find the suspect behind it.”
I scratched my nose, unable to keep still any longer.
“What are you doing listening?” Dad snapped. I sat up, snagging my pillow off the couch. I rolled my eyes heading for the stairs.
“I wouldn’t have to eavesdrop if you ever told me anything about what goes on around here,” I grumbled.
“Raven, some things are better left unknown. What good would it do for you to know how ugly this world is?” Dad asked. He said the same thing every time I tried to be included in his life.
“Being naïve gets a girl nowhere either. It gets them in trouble. That's what Mom used to say,” I stuck out my chin, giving dad a good stare and headed for the stairs.
I hit the light and crawled under the covers, staring at the moon as it beamed through my curtains, illuminating everything in its path. I loved the soft glow it made. It reminded me when I was little, when my Mom and I would sit on the porch and watch the fireflies at night. Her soft hair always tickled my shoulders when she hugged me. She smelled like flowers and cinnamon. It was the only memory I really had of her.
Mom was always trying to instill wisdom in me even when I was a little girl. Even before some of the rules applied, before I even knew any of it would mean anything to me. Now it all meant something.
I closed my eyes; the soft sounds outside easily lulled me to sleep.


Enjoy the weekend!

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