Powered By Blogger

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The Silent Sister

Pocket Muse Prompt:  Write something in the voice of someone who has, until now, been silent.


I didn't exactly write this from the voice of someone... Instead, I tried to convey someone being the voice of someone who has always been silent.


"Sigh.  Why does he have to behave like this every Sunday?" Cynthia thought to herself, as her younger brother Aaron was wailing and fighting with their mother in the front seat of their mini-van.
      "But Mooommmmmm, you said I could bring my ninja turtles into church!" Aaron argued.  "You always say I can do something, and then I can't!  I don't want to go into church if I can't bring them!" he yelled at his mother.
       "Ugh.  Aaron, it's 10:58.  Mass starts in TWO minutes you ARE coming into church with Cynthia and I, without your ninja turtles," Brenda said in her most motherly voice.  It had been three days since she really had spent any time with Cynthia and Aaron.  Working doubles at the hospital brings the money in, but it certainly had created a wedge with her and Aaron's relationship.  Greg tries the best he can as a stay at home dad, but he just doesn't share the same discipline philosophy as herself.
     "I am NOT going in.  I'm staying right here WITH my ninja turtles," Aaron persisted.
 Brenda looked at the clock.  11:00 on the dot.  She hated to do it to Cynthia, but she had to. 
    "Cynthia, honey, you go ahead inside, and Aaron and I will be right along.  You can sit with Jack and Sharon and their family, or with Ashley, Harold, and Emma.   Just walk up the center aisle, honey, and look for them.  I know you can do it," Brenda said with confidence.
      Without a word, Cynthia got up and nervously struggled to slide open the heavy mini-van door.  The door rolled open and she hopped out. Cynthia turned around and attempted to slide the door closed.  The door was in need of repair, and she could never get it shut.  She gave it one gallant pull. Nothing.  The door wouldn't budge.
      "Cynthia, just leave it, sweetie, mommy will get it," said Brenda, as she looked over her shoulder at Cynthia.
     Smoothing her hair back with her trembling fingers, Cynthia raced up walkway towards the entrance of the church.   When she was nervous, she could never just walk.  Her feet moved faster than her brain.  Her feet move so fast they hardly touch the ground. She knew from the many doctor's visits, that this was just one way that her brain worked differently than everyone else's.  She tried to slow down, she just couldn't. 
    What if Fr. Joel has already started Mass?  Are people going to turn around and stare at me?  What if Jack and Sharon aren't there?  Who am I going to sit with?  These questions flew through Cynthia's mind as she approached the large, wooden church doors. 
   It took all of her strength to pull open the heavy wooden door. Silence.  A wave of relief swept over Cynthia as she stepped into back of the church.  The door closed with a loud thump behind her.  She tip-toed up to the second set of wooden doors and peered through the crack.  Church was pretty empty today.  She could just walk in and nobody would even notice her. 
  "Here I go," she said to herself as she pushed the door open.  She pranced swiftly up the center aisle, her feet barely touching the floor.  "I don't see Jack and Sharon! Where are Ashley and Harold? Where do I sit?"  Cynthia panicked,  then she saw Mr. Rausch.  "We always sit in front of him," she said to herself as she quickly jumped into the pew.    "I made it, I made it!" she thought.  "Did anyone just see what I did?"  Cynthia looked around for familiar faces.  
   Thump.  Boom.  Crash.  Cynthia heard the noise before anyone else did.  Then the loud whispering voices.
"No." 
"Yes."
"I don't want to."
"Come On, RIGHT NOW, Aaron."  
   "Oh, no," Cynthia thought to herself.  Here they come.  And sure enough, Brenda and Aaron made their grand entrance.  Brenda had a grip on Aaron like you wouldn't believe.  He was struggling to get away from her all the way up the aisle.
  "Get over!"  Aaron yelled in his whisper voice to his sister.  "I want to sit there!"
Without a fuss, Cynthia slid over and let Aaron and her mother sit on the end of the pew.  Just once Cynthia would like to sit there.   She loved to watch Fr. Joel and the alter servers on the alter.  She dreamed of being an alter server with her friend Molly one day.
   During Mass, Cynthia tried to pretend she was sitting somewhere else in the church.  Aaron was up to his same old tricks again.  The ninja turtles distracted her and a few others when Aaron would make them battle.  Under the pew, over the pew, jumping on his mother's back, Aaron wouldn't sit still. At communion Aaron stayed behind and slithered like a snake back and forth in the pew. Cynthia was horrified, but kept her eyes off her brother and on Fr. Joel and the alter. She silently prayed for Aaron to stop acting so foolish.  She wondered how many people were watching her brother act so ridiculous.  She could hardly concentrate on Mass, she couldn't imagine what it was like for the people behind them.
     Mass was officially over, and she could hardly wait for her favorite part.  Fr. Joel and the alter servers process down the aisle, and he gives her a high five.  Cynthia quietly moved herself closer to the aisle so she could stick her hand out.  "Here they come, here they come," she said to herself with excitement.  Fr. Joel gave her his big smile, put his hand up, and gave Aaron the big high five. 
      Cynthia was crushed.  Aaron hadn't been attentive all through Mass.  She was the one who came in on time.  She was the one who sat so quietly.  She was the one who went to communion, yet he was the one who got Fr. Joel's high five.  It just wasn't fair.
      All of a sudden, Cynthia heard a gruff voice behind her talking to her mom and Aaron. 
      "Now, let me tell you something, young man," Cynthia turned around to see Mr. Rausch speaking.  "Your sister here, she knows respect.  She came in just as quiet as a cricket.  She sat by herself and waited for you to have your little tantrum,"  Cynthia could not believe her ears.  Was someone speaking up for her?
      "In case you were not aware, this is the House of the Lord.  The Lord's house is one to be respected.  We DO NOT jump on the pews.  I've just about had it with you, young man," Mr. Rausch said, "If you can't behave sitting with your mother,  you can sit with me next Sunday."
       Brenda had tears in her eyes and apologized to Mr. Rausch for her son's behavior.   It took everything Cynthia had to keep her face from breaking into a large grin.  As Cynthia, Aaron, and Brenda walked slowly out of the church, Cynthia snapped her head around to find Mr. Rausch, as if to say thank you.  She caught his eye, and Mr. Rausch smiled and winked at her.
  

No comments:

Post a Comment