Blossom

Cracking

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Sasha Age 8

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The light from the sun shone on the old home in the middle of that green field. A younger Sasha played around in the grass and sun, rolling around in the front yard and tossing leaves around. Watching her on the porch were her mother and father, sitting in rocking chairs, drinking iced tea while basking in the sunlight.

As Sasha played around in the summer heat, Marcus and his wife began to speak to each other, with the latter starting up the conversation. Sasha was just far enough to be out of earshot but not far enough to not be seen, so it was perfect for them.

"Fourt grade, huh, four more, and she'll be in the eight. Time flies too fast; I can feel te gray hairs sneaking up on me."

Marcus chuckled at his wife's comment and took a sip of his iced tea. He knew that things were changing, the world was changing, and that even though the two of them were in their mid-fifties, they still had to prepare a child for the real world.

"Yep, damn sure, going way faster than when we were growing up. That means we gotta act quick, Adanna."

Adanna looked over to Marcus and seemed a bit confused on what he meant by "act quick".

"What do you mean act quick?"

Taking another sip of his ice tea, Marcus thought about how different the world had become from when he was growing up and even when he was in his young adulthood. The decisions in the world and how people were, it wasn't exactly a place that he wanted his daughter to be in.

"Gotta prepare her for the world she's about to be entering. Things aren't like they were before the second Korean War; people aren't the same as they used to be. They're a lot more... hostile."

It seemed that Adanna wasn't all too happy with what Marcus was saying as her expression changed to discontent.

"She's only 8 Marcus, and she already had those Muay Thai classes; let her be a kid for a couple more years."

After thinking about it a little more Marcus decided that it would probably be best to follow his wife's advice this time.

"You're right, which is why I'm not going to start now. But I do want to see where her head is at and how she sees the world, because when I do prepare her for it, I don't want to be creating a little monster."

Adanna definitely wasn't liking what she was hearing, but that could be the maternal side of her coming into play. She never really thought that Sasha could ever become some kind of monster.

"Monster? You think she'll become a mass murderer or something?"

Looking out towards the field, directly at Sasha. Marcus knew that Sasha wasn't going to do anything crazy to that degree; he and Adanna were going to make sure that she had an upbringing where that never happens.

"Hell no, definitely not one of those. Our daughter is a lot more intelligent than you give her credit for, which makes me proud but also concerns me at the same time. People like that, people like here, can either do good in this world... or flip it right on its head."

After he spoke, Marcus took another sip of his ice tea, and the sounds of gunshots, explosions, screaming, and death rang throughout his mind. Even if they weren't there in this quiet space, they were there, like a recording being played back to him. He looked at his hands to the faded letters that spelled the words "keep calm" plastered on each individual finger.