Ashley folded her arms across her chest pouting her lower lip out and furrowing her brows. She sat down cross-legged on the floor turning her head defiantly in the opposite direction of her father.
Upon watching his five-year-old daughter act this way, Max sighed scratching the top of his head. She had never acted this way before. What was he supposed to do?
He looked at the clock hanging on the wall and grunted. His wife wasn’t going to be home for another few hours. Why did she think it was a good idea to go out with her friends and leave him alone with their child? One would think he would know what he’s doing after five years, but he really didn’t. Ashley was their first and only child. Five-year-olds were new to him.
“Ashley, get up stairs and go to bed… Now.” Max tried to sound confident in his orders, but his voice cracked at the last second mocking his authority.
“No!” Ashley shouted, still not getting up off the floor. She didn’t dare to turn around and look at her father, either.
What was he supposed to do? Max took his cell phone out of his pocket. He thought about calling his wife for some advice. Ashley had never refused to go to bed before, so he wasn’t sure if she would even know how to handle the situation.
No, Max thought to himself. If I call her mother then Ashley is going to hear the conversation and she’ll know that I have no idea what I’m doing. Ashley is a lot smarter than I give her credit for….
“Ashley,” Max knelt down beside Ashley. “If you go to bed now, I’ll read you two bedtime stories.” He smiled knowing she would be getting a good deal out of it—reading an extra story would allow her to stay up for only an extra five minutes, but it would seem like a long time to her.
Then he frowned. Was that bribing?
He shrugged his shoulders. Oh, well. No one was here to witness this.
“Three.” Ashley turned her head slightly around and eyed her father.
Max bit his bottom lip as he tried to quickly on his feet. He stood up and smiled at his daughter.
“Deal!”
Ashley smirked. She stood up immediately and ran upstairs into her bedroom. Max smiled to himself proudly.
Just wait until he told his wife how well he did tonight!
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,...