She Lays Down [h.s.]

One*

Soft music plays from the outdated apple computer on the desk. Harry is in the back corner of the room where the kids have arts and crafts and Ember is seated across from him. She's happily coloring away, although her paper is coated in dark blues and grays.

They've been talking about anything and everything as they wait for her Aunt Claire to pick her up. It's unusual for her to be late and a few hours have already passed. But Harry can't just leave Ember sitting in the front office alone. He's trying to keep her entertained the best that he can, even though he's got stacks of papers to grade.

"What are you going to do over winter break? Anything exciting?"

Ember stops coloring for a moment to look up at him as she answers. There are a lot of things running through her mind and she's not even sure what's going to happen for Christmas this year. "I don't know. Mommy wants to go see Grandma and Grandpa. But Daddy doesn't like that and he wants to stay home. But me and Mommy are going to put the...the pretty things on the Christmas tree and...and help the puppies and kitties at the animal place."

Harry frowns, the yellow crayon feels heavy in his hand. Something isn't right in her household and it hurts just to think about. She's such a bright little girl and he hates knowing that there might be something going on that could dim that happiness.

Ember's coloring again and Harry can't stop himself from asking, "What about your Daddy? Doesn't he do those things with you too?"

This time Ember doesn't look up from her drawing. She shakes her head and her smile quickly fades to a frown, "No, Daddy doesn't come home a lot."

She finishes her drawing a few moments later and Harry feels like someone has just punched him in the chest. He cares for all his students, and it's heartbreaking to know that their home lives aren't as healthy as they should be.

Harry sets the yellow crayon down and offers her a smile, "Can I see your drawing, Ember?"

Ember nods and pushes the paper towards him as far as she can with her smaller arms. She doesn't look very proud of her drawing like most children would be, and his smile diminishes almost instantly.

Harry's frown deepens at he looks at the drawing on the table in front of him. Ember's drawn her family in slightly misshapen stick figures. A gray stick figure stands at the edge of the paper, another stick figure in blue is near the other end, and a red, smaller stick figure stands beside the blue, their long arms forming circles around each other and turning purple in some areas. There are tears in the blue figure's eyes.

"Ember, why did you draw this? Is everything okay at home?"

Ember shrugs her shoulders. She isn't sure what to tell him. Things at her house have been...strange for as far as she can remember and it's started to feel normal to her even though she knows that it isn't.

"Mommy cries a lot. Sometimes I pretend to have nightmares so I can hug her and make her feel better. I think it's Daddy's fault. He comes home at weird times and sometimes they yell a lot. Sometimes Mommy makes him sleep on the couch."

Harry doesn't know what to say. Ember's such a smart, sweet, and excited little girl and he never thought that she might be going through something unhealthy at home. He knows what it's like to see parents argue with each other and become distant. No child deserves to be in the middle of that.

"Are you okay, Ember?"

Ember smiles and answers with a nod, "Yes. I just want Mommy to be okay."

She's alright. Her Mommy makes her happy and she has a roof over her head, food, toys, and friends to play with at school. Sure, she knows that she probably should feel sad, but she can't be sad because she still has things that make her happy, even if her Daddy isn't ever around. Even if Daddy makes Mommy sad.