#365DaysOfWriting – Day 188
Amelia
She combed her hair perfunctorily. To Amelia, the combing of hair was a necessary nuisance, something she did to keep her strict mother happy.
Her father, although a great father, was a doormat of a husband. Mother only had to raise a voice a few decibels above normal – he would either go quiet, or just nod sadly and slowly, like a toy clown whose key had been turned only halfway through. Even so, she loved her father because he bought her chocolate. Away from the prying eyes of her mother, of course.
“Amelia! Come down now! Or mum’s going to get angry!”
Brother. Younger to her, so she could bully him when mother wasn’t around. Somehow he always seemed to get a pass from mother, no matter what he did. Even when he did poorly in school, mother’s attention would invariably turn to Amelia’s uncombed hair, or uncut nails. Father would try to bring the discussion back on track, but to no avail.
You weren’t allowed to miss Sunday Afternoon Lunch. After all, it was the only time in the week when the whole family came together to enjoy a meal. Mother and father both worked two jobs each, so it was difficult to get both of them during the week. They rarely had dinner at home anyway.
Amelia got down to the dining table… only to find that the table had not been set. Neither had the food been served. She sat at her designated place and said a little prayer – food or no food, you HAD to say a prayer if you sat at the dinner table.
When she looked up though, expecting to see her father, he wasn’t there. She rubbed her eyes to look at the man sitting opposite her. She couldn’t even see her mother clearly. Rubbing eyes wasn’t helping any more. It was as if there were three men sitting there. Three men that looked EXACTLY like each other. She got up, crying, and ran up to her room, wondering what went wrong…
