Owen pointed at her with both of his index fingers. He wagged them back and forth but nothing was coming out of his mouth.
Sienna folded her arms over her chest and stared him down. She knew he didn’t have anything to say to her. He might not have approved of what she did, but even he knew she had good reasons for doing it.
“Are you going to get out of my way?” Sienna asked.
Owen brought his arms down by his side and sighed. “I guess so, but you shouldn’t have done that.”
“I know I shouldn’t have done it, but they shouldn’t be doing it either. I had to do what I had to do.” Sienna defended herself coolly.
Owen stepped to the side and motioned with his arm for her to go. Sienna didn’t move though. She frowned.
“Are you mad at me?”
“I’m not mad, just disappointed.” Owen replied. He held up his hands in defense when Sienna opened her mouth to protest. “I know, I know, I’m not trying to sound like mom and dad. Trust me, that’s the last thing I want to do. I understand why you did it but… I don’t know, I thought you were stronger than that.”
“I am,” Sienna said a bit exasperated. “I knew what I was doing when I did it. I had to do it just once so they would see how terrible it is and how dumb they look.”
Owen tilted his head to the side. “So… you’re not going to do it again?”
Sienna shook her head. “Honestly? I don’t think they’re going to do it again either.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Oh. Well, okay then. Good job, I guess.” Owen said. He stretched out his arms and wrapped his older sister into a hug. Sienna hugged him back resting her chin on the top of his head.
“Sienna?”
“Hm?”
“You need to take a shower right away when you get home. You reek of smoke.” Owen said. He pulled away and made a disgusted face.
Sienna smelled one of her sleeves. She groaned. “Yeah… I almost couldn’t put out the fire I started. It was kind of scary.”
“I saw.” Owen said grimly.
“Like I said, after seeing me struggle and almost burn the place down, I don’t think they’ll be running around starting fires anymore.” Sienna explained.
“I hope so… but seriously, mom and dad are going to come home within the hour. Go shower and toss your clothes out. I’ll throw them in the wash for you.” Owen offered.
Sienna smiled and gave him another hug squeezing tight. “You’re the best brother in the world and you have no idea how glad I am that you have a good head on your shoulders.”
“I learned from the best.”
Words: 466
Short Story Sunday: “Fork” [327]
“Stick a fork in me… I’m done,” Harry said, leaning back in his lawn chair. He put his hands on his belly and closed his eyes. Angela picked up his paper plate and tossed it into the trash. She...
