I confess sci-fi is not me. No way am I up for this week’s #BlogBattle prompt. Instead, I offer this short story for your weekly entertainment.
Heart Burn
I never understood her—my mother: blonde, a goddess, svelte and self-assured like my older sister. I was the dark one, the disappointment. How had that happened? I could not be more different from them: neither as smart nor as trim. They chummed together like girlfriends, leaving me out in the cold.
***
She promised to meet me at Starbuck’s Saturday morning. I arrived early. My heart pounded and the acid in my stomach burned like the searing edge of a hot knife churning pirouettes. She breezed in like she owned the place. The shop almost empty, I was easy to find.
“Mother,” I said, “new suit?” She always dressed well. She had the figure for it, of course.
“Are you all right dear? You appear flushed.” She reached across the table and checked my forehead with a cool hand as if I were a child. “I’ll get the coffee.” A pat on my shoulder and I watched her heels clickety-clacked across the stone tile floor.
I gulped air in hopes of calming down, but she returned too soon.
“Still black, I take it. Thought we’d splurge with a couple brownies.”
Brownies. One minute she told me to lay off the sweets and the next she offered them. Either I was losing my mind, or she was. I took the lid off my coffee cup to cool it quicker.
“It’s clear to me, dear, you’re upset about something. Man troubles? School?” Flawless, penciled brown brows rose to perfect peaks.
“You came.” The words popped out before I realized I’d said them aloud. I clamped hands to my mouth.
“Yes. You invited me. Remember?”
“I’m surprised you made it—so busy with all your clubs—and Melissa.” I watched her face. None of her thoughts showed.
She had the decency to blink, false lashes aflutter. Her flaming pink mouth worked like a fish out of water. “What is wrong with you? I love you both the same.”
The audacity of the lie. “I’m not in the least like you or Melissa. I don’t match—don’t fit.”
“How old are you?”
“You don’t know?”
“I mean at 21 you’re acting like a six-year-old.”
“You and Melissa—always together, joining clubs, chapters this and that, whispering, laughing.”
“Do you like or enjoy these groups and societies?”
“Well, no—but you never have time for me.” Bile fought to strangle me, but I fought back. “Then you send me away to school. I wanted to attend college in our hometown but no, it had to be university.”
“Lily, dear, what’s this about? You’re fifty miles from home and in your last year. Are you taking your medication? You’re not yourself.”
“How would you know? Here’s the other thing, my coloring is so much darker than anyone else in the family. Melissa is like you. I’m nothing like you two, I’m loose fat…” I swallowed the howl threatening to undo me. I will not cry. I will not!
“You take after your grandmother, Esther Maria, on your father’s side. You know this. What a Spanish beauty—you look exactly like her, same thick hair and smoky eyes.”
“Right. A fat beauty with fat hair. Am I adopted?”
“Nothing about this conversation makes sense.” Mother picked up a napkin and fanned herself. She scanned the half-empty coffee shop with ice blue eyes.
I almost heard the gears in her head grinding, devising lies. “Easy to tell me whatever you want. How did you find time to visit me at last?”
Her look made me squirm. “I told you about the obligations I couldn’t break. I’m here now. Look, sweetie, your grandmother died before you were born. You’ve seen her pictures and heard the stories. This is crazy. ”
“So now I’m crazy?” I wanted the talking to stop. I didn’t like it anymore.
“Have you had headaches lately, or trouble sleeping?”
I shrugged. What had that to do with anything? “You love Melissa better, don’t you?”
“Take my hand. I have five fingers. Which one shall I cut off because I don’t need or want it?”
“What?”
“Which daughter means less to me than the other?”
“You’re always talking in riddles.”
“Tell me which one and I’ll chop it off.”
“No. you won’t. You’re just saying that.” I slouched in my chair but did not break eye contact.
She stared me down. I flinched. Her chair scraped the floor. An iron grip clutched my arm. “Let’s go.”
The End
Images courtesy Pixabay
© 2017 Tess @ How the Cookie Crumbles
March 7, 2017 at 7:43 pm
At 21 you’re acting like a six year old = good description. Again, another good one Tess.
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March 10, 2017 at 7:41 pm
Thank you, Paulette. Pleased you enjoyed.<3
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March 7, 2017 at 8:56 pm
I’m glad the daughter is only 21. She has lots of time to recover.
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March 10, 2017 at 7:52 pm
Ha ha. Indeed. I’ve heard of kids not eating right nor sleeping proper hours screwing up their systems causing some kind of imbalance. I don’t know much about it. Add this girls insecurity and you have a BIG problem. It might be insecurity alone, maybe add lack of friends. Anyway the seed which started this story.:-) I wanted to put her over my knee, actually. 😀
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March 7, 2017 at 9:01 pm
How about a nice smack. This tension was killing me. I have had conversations like this with my kids and instinct says to get up and leave.
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March 10, 2017 at 7:53 pm
I have no patience. I’d have had to leave because the urge to smack her was strong. Whine. Whine. Whine. Still she may be paranoid for any number of reasons. Might be real.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:18 pm
😀
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March 7, 2017 at 9:14 pm
I felt like squirming in my seat the tension was so great Tess.
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March 10, 2017 at 7:54 pm
I love you got the tension. Yay. I really wanted to smack her but wondered if she didn’t some health issues causing her paranoia.
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March 8, 2017 at 12:40 am
Wow, Tess–that really packed a punch. I think we all have feelings like this at times, which is what made this brilliant. It’s something so many people can relate to. 🙂
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March 10, 2017 at 7:58 pm
Thanks so much, Cathleen. You’ve made my day. ❤ ❤ 😀
When I was 12, I asked my parents if I was adopted. Why? My birthday was on the first of the month they were married and their anniversary was on the 25th. Yeah. I was a c.o.n.f.u.s.e.d. kid. I couldn't be theirs. 😀 😀 What was I thinking? But I was 12 not 21. I wondered if poor eating and bad sleep habits might have screwed her up. As well, I believe she was on meds–maybe not taking them?
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March 8, 2017 at 2:17 am
A difficult conversation – I can relate.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:00 pm
Thank you, Sharon. Yeah, I wanted to smack her. I have little patience but thought to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she wasn’t taking her meds after all.
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March 8, 2017 at 5:44 am
I think this is a perfect place to end this, so that the next installment of what is SURELY a serial can start with us waiting for the next piece.
At once I felt for the 21/6 year old, then the mother. She needs answers, or love. Or both.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:03 pm
Thanks, Collen. Maybe she should take her meds, not yo-yo diet, get proper sleep etc. Then again, she may have had a health issue or real worries about her beginnings. ❤
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March 11, 2017 at 8:35 am
I know, it leaves you (me) believing it could be either end of that spectrum, or a mixture of both.
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March 11, 2017 at 1:22 pm
Bad of me to leave it open ended for the reader to decide?
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March 8, 2017 at 7:06 am
Like Chatter Master I want more! The tension was starting to really build and then… no, no, no. What do you mean ‘The End’!??! Surely not.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:05 pm
Do you think the mother is going to cut off her finger? I’m done with this whiner, but then her mother has been distant. Maybe she was the mistake since her sister sounds much older… Sigh.
Thanks so much for your comment. This from you, gives me hope I’m learning more about this writing gig. ❤ ❤
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March 11, 2017 at 9:40 am
That’s so sweet of you to say, Tess. But, trust me, you definitely know how to pen a tale.
I don’t think the mother is going to cut off her finger, but I am concerned with what she’s going to do to her daughter. Mother strikes me as a Cruella DeVille type.
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March 11, 2017 at 1:28 pm
I agree. Ice blue eyes and all. She is not fuzzy mother material especially to her second daughter. 😛
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March 8, 2017 at 7:31 am
Well done, Tess. You had me in a strangle hold.
I’ve known several women (with sisters) who felt shunned and left out, the way your character did. So I’m sure this struck a chord with many. (Me? I would have been lucky if mine had paid for the coffee — on my birthday. The old “Oh, I misplaced my wallet” got old pretty quick!)
Much better than sci-fy. Hugs.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:17 pm
Thanks so much, Teagan. I’m always uplifted when you like my scribbles. ❤ ❤ ❤
I was first born. My next sister came five years later. She said she's always been jealous of me but I don't understand it. This 21-year-old might have health issues or she'd always been insecure or more insecure due to lack of friends, her shape compared to her mother and sister, yo-yo dieting, improper sleep…
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March 8, 2017 at 10:41 am
Good, good writing Tess. I really enjoyed this story. Well done!
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March 10, 2017 at 8:20 pm
Thank YOU for the visit and your kind words. You’ve made my day. How are you keeping? It’s been a long time. 😀
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March 11, 2017 at 5:02 am
It has been a LONG time, Tess. I’ve missed you. Been doing okay. And you?
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March 11, 2017 at 1:17 pm
Hanging in Susan. ❤ 🙂
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March 8, 2017 at 11:48 am
As someone who never quite belonged, I have total empathy with her!
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March 10, 2017 at 8:23 pm
Sorry to hear that, Gilly. Seems families are made of all sorts. I still wonder what was the real reason for the girl’s questions: irregular meds, insecurity, dieting, lack of sleep or friends. Her insecurity feels deep, though.
Thank you for reading. Mwah. ❤
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March 8, 2017 at 1:44 pm
Boy! This one runs deep, Tess. Lily needs to like herself more.
Intriguing story!
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March 10, 2017 at 8:27 pm
Thanks so much for reading, Glynis.
I suppose some people never get over their place in the family. Maybe there’s a family secret she found out about or health issues or the mother really didn’t have time for her. Maybe she was an oopsie and her sister much older, which change the dynamics in a family.
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March 8, 2017 at 7:59 pm
What do you mean The End ?! Is there another chapter coming? Where is she taking her? So many unanswered questions! A great read 🙂
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March 10, 2017 at 8:33 pm
Thank YOU. I’m tickled you liked this. ❤
I'm not sure. I don't think she'll cut off a finger. Maybe she'll pull her out of school? What a pity, she in her last year. I did want to leave the reader wondering where they're going.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:51 pm
Well you certainly achieved that !
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March 8, 2017 at 11:23 pm
Nicely done, Miss Tess, and borders on paranormal, only because she had to bite back a howl and is darker…I’m sensing a dark family secret that involves werewolves…hmmm?
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March 10, 2017 at 8:36 pm
Glad you like it, Terri. Means a lot if a reader ‘feels’ something. ❤
No, I know next to nothing about paranormal or sci-fi genres. The howl is pure frustration and maybe she's off her meds and there's an imbalance in her system. Anyway, I wanted to walk away. I had a whining sister who said she was jealous of me and still is. We're good friends now, though.
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March 9, 2017 at 12:56 am
Loved this! I wonder how many blacksheep children have posed that question to their parents, ‘Am I adopted?” Great tension, grilling, avoidance, and curiosity. 🙂 ❤
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March 10, 2017 at 8:40 pm
Thank YOU, Debby. Glad you enjoyed the read. <3<3
At twelve, I asked the question but for all the wrong reasons. My birthday and my parents' wedding were 24 days apart in the same month. When they couldn't explain the year's difference, I asked if I was adopted. Yeah. I was a confused kid. 😀
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March 10, 2017 at 10:46 pm
🙂 🙂
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March 9, 2017 at 4:56 am
Ooooh, I want more of this story Tess! It is something that I can relate to, as I am sure, can many others too! 🙂
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March 10, 2017 at 8:43 pm
Thank you, Judy, but sorry to hear you can relate. ❤ I had no idea so many readers would say the same thing. Wow. I was confused about where I belonged and where I came from but I was 12 not 21.
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March 11, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Life has dealt so many of us an unpleasant hand at times, but, with a bit of a re-shuffle, it can change for the better 🙂
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March 9, 2017 at 7:38 am
Great tension, Tess! I loved your story and can’t help but wonder how often this plays out in real life.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:52 pm
Thank YOU, macjam47. ❤ I'm tickled the tension worked for you. 🙂
Through writing this story, I'm heard lots of readers relate. Wow. You even hear older kids say, "Mom/Dad loves me more than you." How hurtful. Kids can be as cutting to each other as adults to each other or even to their own children. 😦 What a world.
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March 9, 2017 at 8:05 pm
Good dialogue, Tess, and the story held me. Must confess, I wanted to smack the daughter.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:56 pm
Nice to see you again. Thanks for reading and your positive comment. Glad the story got a ‘feeling’ from you. ❤ ❤
Me too. I don't have patience with whiners but some need help. I'm surprised at the responses from readers who relate to Lily. Ouch. That must be heartbreaking.
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March 10, 2017 at 6:30 am
You got right to the guts of the story as soon as you started. Excellent. And yes, I remember those times wanting to ask my mom if I was adopted. By the time I was 10 I didn’t want to ask anymore, I was so positive! But in your story’s case, Tess, I’m thinking the mom had a secret love affair – fergget about the black-haired grandmother! 🙂
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March 10, 2017 at 9:00 pm
Thank you, Pam. You’ve made my day. ❤ ❤ 🙂
Your secret affair reaction didn't come up from anyone else, although not only valid, hugely possible. I'm surprised at the number of readers who said they can relate. Wow.
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March 10, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Good writing. I wonder if anyone is ever loved by their mothers the way they want to be loved.
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March 10, 2017 at 9:05 pm
That’s a great point. There are always other children (sometimes many), mother’s health issues, mothers’ other interests or obligations, a child might be an oopsie many years after the first or previous one. Sure I can see it. As the oldest in my family, I felt left out because Mom had her hands full with four younger ones, but I got over it. And then there’s the thing with mothers and daughters, anyway. Sheesh. Thanks for shaking up the thinking tree, Bernadette. 😀
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March 11, 2017 at 7:33 am
Thank you for your thoughtful responses. Have a wonderful weekend.
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March 10, 2017 at 8:38 pm
something very different with great practice to stay focused and balanced
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March 10, 2017 at 9:07 pm
Thanks so much for the visit and for reading and joining in the conversation, Mihrank. 🙂
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March 11, 2017 at 8:37 pm
Hey, where are they going?! Talk about cliffhangers…
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March 12, 2017 at 8:44 am
I wanted to tell her to shut up moaning and on the hand I wanted to know what made her feel that way. The tension between the two was palpable. Nice one, Tess 🙂
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March 12, 2017 at 4:17 pm
I think siblings often wonder which one is the favourite. At twenty-one this girl is wants her mother’s approval. I think that goes for many of us no matter how old we are.
So, do you think she’s going to cut off her finger?
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