Sitting at the creak with a little boy a few years younger with golden curls and his sister with pale hair, they are my new friends. Mommy said that their mommy is an old friend. Our mommies are needing grown-up talk right now, so we are trying to catch tadpoles.
"Vi! We found one."
David shouts to his sister who is on the other side of the creak as I try to cup my hands and pick it out of the water. It keeps slipping out every time I pull my hands above the water.
Violet rushes over to us with a big smile.
"Really, where!"
David leans in closer to me to see the tadpole.
"Isabella has it, look!"
It slips out again.
"Come on!"
I begin to complain and Violet takes over.
"Hear, let me try."
She does the same as me, but slowly closes her hands, making sure to leave enough room between them for water and the little guy.
"I got him! Quick David, grab the jar."
She directs her brother, but his attention is on trying to catch a tadpole of his own. I don't think he heard her, so I grab the jar instead. Sometimes I get that way too. So, I don't scold him for it, but Violet does.
"David!"
His attention snaps to her, and his expression is confused.
"Yeah?"
She looks at him, frustrated.
"You have to listen to me, remember! I'm the oldest."
He squints up the left side of his face and shakes his head.
"Nah ah! Isabella is. Mama said to listen to her."
Her face gets a little angry before scolding him again.
"No, she said I listen to her, and you listen to us both. Remember?"
He stops for a moment before making a grin that shows two dimples.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Wait, what was I supposed to do?"
Again, he's confused, and again, Violet seems frustrated.
"The jar, duh."
"You didn't tell me about the jar."
She takes a breath before calming her tone. Mommy taught me not to let your anger get too much too. We are supposed to breathe when our feelings cloud us.
"David, I did."
"Nah ah!"
Now he's the one to get angry. Their arguing makes me wonder if having siblings is supposed to be like this.
"Yes, you weren't listening. Will you please get the jar?"
His anger turns to sorry now.
"Oh, okay. I'll try to listen better next time. I'm sorry Vi."
She smiles and is no longer angry either.
"It's okay. Mommy says that sometimes people can't help it."
I speak up remembering mommy telling me that too.
"My mommy does too. I get that way too sometimes. Mommy says that's why I take my medicine. It helps me listen and process things better."
David brings the jar and hands it to Violet before responding to me.
"Medicine? Yucky! Is it that yellow stuff? I hate when mommy gives me that when I'm sick."
"No, it's not that kind of medicine. It's not something you take when you're sick, but something you take every day like vitamins."
"Oooh, I have some of those! The ones shaped like people?"
Violet now questions me.
"Wait, are those the medicines you take? They taste like candy."
"No. I don't think you guys take them. They are red ovals. Mommy says they are pills. You can't chew them, you have to take them with water."
"Oh! Hey, look a dragonfly!"
David's attention again on something else, he points to a flying bug just above the water. I haven't seen one before, at least I don't think. My attention too attaches to it.
"Cool!"
YOU ARE READING
The Past Awakened (Distorted reality book 1)
Mystery / Thriller*Warning, topics of mental illness and trauma are brought up in this novel.* Living a calm life after years of struggling, Maddy meets two new gentlemen that shift things in her world. Issues she tried hard to put behind her begin to pop back into h...
