Author Information
Flas Fiction
A year has passed by but you could feel it as if it was yesterday. Something like that can’t be forgotten that easily. Standing in the big white porch Mary Alice stared into the open dessert, sweat drops began to roll down her forehead making her eyes squint just a little bit. She had never felt her skin that sticky, but then again it was the middle of the afternoon in Carefree, Arizona. She knew that standing there wouldn’t bring him back but still she had hope that someday he’ll return and everything would be back to normal. Her parents wouldn’t be so proud of her. She had one job, to look after her brother and sister and she had failed miserably.
Mary Alice entered her house, it was small and kind of dirty, all the sand from the dessert didn´t make it any easier for her to keep the house clean, specially with that broken window in the bedroom. The house was a two-bedroom trailer, one of the rooms had only a bed and with a small closet, the other room had a small kitchen, a table and the couch that used to be her brother’s bed.
She began preparing lunch for her little sister. After waking up from her long nap, Susie sat at the table stared at her green chili and looked back at her sister.
“Not again”- she said
“I’m sorry,” said Mary Alice with a tired and irritated tone “You know if we could have anything else we would.”
Susie finished her chili, stood up from the table and went outside to the porch. She could swear she saw her bother, but it was impossible, after what he said when he left it was sure that he would never return. Susie came back in and sat with her sister at the couch, they both laid back and listened to the radio for a while trying not to think about how hot it was outside. Those were their afternoons, when it wasn´t too hot they could actually go out and play, but the sun was really hot that it wouldn’t be healthy for them to go out.
The afternoon went by and Mary Alice stood up to clean up a little bit, in the rare distance through the window she saw a figure moving, it was probably her imagination no one ever went to that area, they were basically alone.
That night they had the left over chili and went to sleep. It was around two a.m. when they heard some noises, Mary Alice went to the kitchen and there he was, her brother standing besides the couch all beaten up and with dry blood beneath his nose, she didn’t know how to react so she stood there just staring at him. He began talking and explaining to her that the only reason he had left was to find the man that had threaten all her family and that had led them to that life, and that everything was taken care of.
“We are safe now,” said her brother, he looked different, in a good way. The two brothers hugged. Mary Alice thought finally everything was going to go back to normal but the truth was everything was going to be better.
