Ficlets

A Secret and A Threat

She crept nimbly up the stairs, having memorized long ago exactly where the creaky spots on the plain wooden boards were. She walked slowly into the room she shared with Susanna, sitting gently on the bed and messing up the cover, to make it look like she’d spent the whole night there. Then she lay down and closed her eyes, hoping to get a few minutes of peace before the day began. *
“Wake up, slugabed! You ought to be downstairs now, helping your sister with the breakfast!”

This harsh voice was what greeted her every day at 6 in the morning. She opened one eye and glared up at her mother, who was currently standing abover her with a hand on her hip, and a look that said move-or-die.So move she did, though slowly.

“You’d better be down in 5 minutes, or I’m sending Ian up!” her mother shouted as she went down the stairs. She knew that the threat of Ian’s shrill voice this early in the morning would be enough to move her if she was in a coma. And so every day began…a secret and a threat.

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