This is only the beginning, of course!
~
Elsie lifted her head off her desk and peered through her curtains out her window. The Arizona sun was beginning to set, and the small animals that inhabited the cactus farm started their usual run-about. That was her parents business, selling cacti to any individual “in need of some prickly companionship”, as her mother would say. Elsie sighed, clicked her pen back in, and closed her notebook. The assignment of “writing about an inspiring individual” had put her to sleep. Then again, almost any writing assignment put her to sleep. She was more into art. Now, if her social studies teacher, Ms. Kale, had assigned “paint an inspiring individual”, Elsie would be wide awake, most likely sitting amongst the cacti stroking her brush against a clean, white canvas. She turned to her left to look at the empty canvas on the easel. It almost seemed to mock her with its enormous, open space. It told her: “Hey, I’m right here. Just pull that brush out of my little drawer and fulfill your wishes.” She turned her face away and spoke quietly to herself, “not today.” Just then her mother called her downstairs to assist her with her garden. Elsie tossed her pencils onto her bed along with her spiral notebook, pushed away from her desk and left the room.
Downstairs, Elsie could see what all the fuss was about. Three enormous clay pots had tipped over, spilling their contents onto the cement patio like milk on the kitchen floor. A few smaller pots in the back looked like they had been tipped off their shelves and were shattered. They, too, had spilled their earthen contents. Elsie helped her hoist the large pots off the floor and move them to the back corner of the cement slab. Then she gathered up most of the shards from the small pots along with their tiny, exposed flowers. She lifted her head when her mother spoke to her father in the kitchen.
“I’m telling you, Dave, its those stupid animals! I mean, you know I love ‘em to death, but those hares won’t stay away from my plants! Now why can’t we just put up that little chicken wire fencing around the patio? It won’t look too bad, and-” Her father interrupted as if taken completely off guard by her mother’s suggestion.”
“Rhonda! I refuse to put fencing around that patio! Chicken wire is cheap and won’t do a thing to stop the animals and the good fencing is way too expensive! Will you quit asking?” He looked her mother straight in the eyes. Then, as if she’d slapped him, he turned away briskly.
“Sometimes,” her mother replied, “I just don’t understand you.” With that, she swiveled on her heels and stormed off. Elsie’s stomach turned sour. That was the fifth fight she’d seen this week, and every time they seemed more and more harsh and cold. She tried to put it out of her mind as she pressed new soil around the flowers that had fallen out earlier. When she finished, she stepped off the patio and wiped her forehead. Even at dusk the heat was unforgiving. It seemed to melt you into your shoes. She slipped off her sandals and walked barefoot through the cactus garden. Bits of pebble and sand crept between her toes. She ignored it and inhaled heavily. The sweet sent of cactus flower cooled her senses and closed her eyes. Suddenly, she began to twirl. When she was little she would often do this. She loved to stand in the middle of an open area, breathe deeply and twirl. She opened her eyes while she spun, watching the red and orange of the ground melt in with the deep, endless blue of the sky. She watched as rings of white light spun around her, realizing they where the early stars. Even though she wasn‘t dizzy, she eventually stopped. She told the cacti goodnight as her mother often did, then walked towards the house.
Satisfied for the night, Elsie rounded the far side of the house where she could see her parents window. As usual the curtains were closed, but the window itself had been carelessly left open for beetles and black flies to wander in. Elsie continued to walk towards the door when hushed voices stopped her. It was her parents.
“I’m going to tell her tomorrow, Dave. She doesn’t need to be watching us fight like this. Its confusing her.
“Fine, go ahead. I mean, I guess you’d say it better than I could. Oh man, I hope she doesn’t hate us for this.”
“Its our problem, David. We’ll deal with it. She just needs to know.”
Elsie’s heart jumped to her throat. What was that about? A wave of guilt washed over her and she felt terrible for listening in on her parents. Mixed with fear and nerves, it left her feeling sick to her stomach. Whatever was going on, she’d know tomorrow morning.
…to be continued…