When Reagan walked through the front door of her house, she stomped her snow boots on the welcome mat. It wasn’t because she wanted to get the snow off of her boots; it was because she was frustrated. She slammed the front door closed behind her and kicked off her boots letting them land in two random spots in the living room.
“Hello?” a voice called from the kitchen.
“Hi,” Reagan replied loudly. It wasn’t a friendly greeting, but she also didn’t want to take her frustrations out on her brother, either.
She walked through the living room and entered the kitchen. Dave was sitting at the table with his laptop in front of him. He looked focused, but he also looked like he would burst into laughter at any moment. Reagan snorted to herself. Who could laugh at a time like that?
She opened the refrigerator and peered inside. All she wanted was an ice cold soda, but of course there was none left in the fridge. She groaned as she grabbed a water bottle and shut the fridge door.
Reagan looked over at Dave, who was still giving all his attention to his computer screen. She groaned again, this time louder hoping that Dave would respond. Maybe he would ask her what was wrong, even though she didn’t want to talk about. Maybe he would offer her a hug, even though she didn’t want any sympathy from him. Still, a little acknowledgement would have been nice.
She twisted the thin plastic cap off from her water bottle and took a big gulp drinking nearly half of the water in one sip. She let out a huge sigh relieved to get some air, but she was so thirsty. It had been a long unexpected drive home.
Dave was still typing away on his computer. Reagan leaned her back against the countertop beside the fridge watching him. Didn’t he even realize that she had come home early? What was his problem? Why didn’t he bother to care that his older sister had returned home? He was the one who didn’t want her to leave in the first place.
She cleared her throat and then grunted again. Louder this time.
“Is everything okay?” Dave asked. He never once took his eyes off his computer screen and his fingers were still typing away. Reagan shook her head. She never did understand how Dave was able to have a real life conversation and type something at the same time. His brain worked in mysterious ways.
“No, everything is not fine.” Reagan said stubbornly. She wasn’t about to explain it though. Dave was only asking because she was probably being a nuisance as he was trying to get some work done. If he really cared, he would have stopped doing whatever it was he was doing and at least look her in the eyes.
“Obviously…” Dave deadpanned, still typing. “What’s wrong?”
Reagan rolled her eyes. She thought about shrugged the question off and telling him it was nothing, it was no big deal. She also thought about just walking out of the kitchen all together. Maybe Dave would follow her, maybe he wouldn’t. Then again, as much as she didn’t want to talk about it, she did tell Dave everything. She did want to explain to him what was going on. She had to have someone to talk to.
Finally, she let out a sigh of defeat. She hung her head looking down at the tiled floor. They really needed to mop the floor.
“I’m just…” Reagan began and then sighed again. “I’m just done.”
“I’m done!”
Reagan snapped her head to look up. How did he know what she was going to say? He didn’t even know what was going on.
Dave was still sitting in his seat with a wide grin and his arms fist-pumped into the air. Calmly, he lowered his arms and turned to face her. “I’m done. I am officially done with school. I just finished and turned in my final thesis.”
Reagan couldn’t help but smile. She put her water bottle down on the counter and walked over to her with her arms stretched wide. “Congratulations! I’m so proud of you for sticking with that!” she hugged him.
“You have no idea how much weight has been lifted off my shoulders in just a matter of seconds pushing that send button to my professor…” Dave said almost with tears in his eyes.
“Well, this calls for a celebration!” Reagan announced. She pulled away from the hug and clapped her hands together.
Dave chuckled rubbing the back of his neck. “No, not really, Reagan. I mean, I have to do really well on this thesis in order to graduate, so I’m not out of woods yet.”
“You’re not going to fail. And, even if you do, you’ve still accomplished a huge goal. Let’s go,” Reagan took him by the hand and led him out of the kitchen. “I’m taking you to your favorite restaurant.”
“But I just ate lunch!” Dave protested, but allowed himself to be dragged along by his sister.
“Then we’ll get dessert!” Reagan laughed.
They got their coats and boots on once again and before Reagan knew it, she had forgotten all about her problems.
Words: 879
Sunday Morning
An abandoned house. A heist. A new puppy. Lost Love. From unbelievable to true-to-life, this flash fiction collection will take you to many places and get to know various characters. With no two stories alike each is thought-provoking, emotional,...
