We Begin Again

Do Good

Ada woke up in the darkness, dragged from sleep by the abrupt wail of her phone's alarm. She groaned as she rolled over to switch off the sound. Her skin prickled against the cold air of the dark February morning, wanting nothing more than to bury back into her pillows and stay huddled beneath her blankets. Squinting against the brightness of her phone's screen, she took a few moments to scroll through some messages from her friends that she missed the night before. Outside her door, she heard the telltale creak of floorboards, followed by the struggling rattle of the door handle. Her youngest brother, Freddie, popped his head around the door with a sleepy smile, clutching the ears of his well-loved stuffed rabbit in his hand.

"Mornin'." he rasped in his croaky morning voice, rubbing his eyes with his other fist as he approached Ada.

"Morning my little Freddie-bear." Ada returned with a yawn. She reached out to pull the boy up onto her bed, folding him up into the warmth of her duvet. He snuggled into her side, resting his head on his sister's chest as they both quietly adjusted to the morning. After a few lazy moments passed, Ada gave her brother a light squeeze. "Right, come on then, time to get up. You hungry?"

Freddie shook his head, fighting against the oncoming day by crawling onto Adas lap and wrapping his little arms around her neck in protest. Ada couldn't help but chuckle at his futile protests as she hugged him tightly. She wanted to let him stay in bed.

"You don't want to be late for school do you?" Ada prompted, stroking his back soothingly. After a slight hesitation, Freddie shook his head no again. "No? Me either. Shall we go and make some tea and toast and watch TV before Maya and Charlie get up?"

The prospect of having control over their Friday morning TV and forcing their other siblings to watch childrens cartoons had Freddie jumping back and nodding excitedly.

"Come on then," Ada stretched before rolling out of bed and pulling her dressing gown on over her pyjamas. She turned back to Freddie, who stood on her bed, pouting comically.

"Pick up?" he asked reaching out and grabbing his hands towards his sister, teddy tucked under his arm, refusing to get down from the bed until Ada agreed to carry him. Ada shook her head fondly as she scooped Freddie into her arms, resting the small child on her hip as she carried him out of her room.

Across the landing, lights shon from underneath all the doors. Everybody was up, slowly getting ready for the day. Their father was already out at work, always leaving before anybody else was awake to drive to whatever building site he was stationed at that week. Their mother worked as a receptionist at a local hotel, usually having just enough time to drop Freddie off at his primary school before starting her morning shifts, leaving the older three children to get the bus to their secondary school. Ada, being the eldest, had the responsibility of getting herself and her siblings ready for the school day, which included making Freddie his breakfast.

Ada deposited the child on the settee of their small livingroom, wrapping the boy in a throw blanket, remembering the lecture she got off her dad a few weeks back about how expensive it was to turn on their electric fire these days. After smacking the remote a few times, she managed to get the TV on and clicked through the children's channels for Freddie to pick something to watch. Once he was settled, she made her way through to the kitchen, cursing herself for forgetting to put socks on as her bare feet made contact with the cold tiles. Ada filled up the kettle, yawning loudly as she selected their mugs and waited for the water to boil. Opening the cupboard door, she sighed. It had been a while since her parents had been food shopping and the cupboards were pretty bare. She pulled out the bread bag, counting the slices. Three. Four if you included the heel of the bread that no one ever wanted to eat; Ada knew already that that piece would be hers. She took all four slices over to the toaster and popped them in, tossing the empty bag into the overflowing bin.