Idle Playthings: From The Devil's Mind
Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa sit at the kitchen table. She wouldn't call it happiness or even love, but what Maggie sees is comfort. Understanding.
She's grown used to living outside of their bubble, idling at the edge of their world. But she refuses to admit that she feels lost, like a baby without a soother.
The Simpsons. They aren't just a family, they are the family. A rumour, a memory, an entity, a unit. And Maggie is simply an afterthought, unable to breach their old, worn stories and inane inside jokes from a life she (fortunately) never remembers having lived.
They speak of words jumbled with no real meaning. Monorails, soapbox derbies, Whacking Days, Michael Jackson impersonators, plowing through snowstorms.
Once her brother had attempted to jump the Springfield Gorge on his skateboard. Half of Springfield Elementary had been there to watch him. But Homer and Marge hadn't wanted him to go...
Maggie never lingers long enough to hear how it ends.
"And then suddenly Santa's Little Helper remembered! He took on the other dogs for me and he was all badass. You should have seen Mr. Burns' face!" Bart grins as he finishes the story. "Isn't that so cool?"
Maggie gives a non-committal shrug. She doesn't remember Santa's Little Helper. She didn't know him. The family dog had died years ago.
Bart shrugs back in response. "I dunno sis, maybe you had to be there."
But she was there. She has been all along.
The door to Lisa's room never opens; she is far too accustomed to a life of solitude and genius. Her sister, her brilliant big sister. An ideal that she can never achieve, a standard set much too high for her to reach. Lisa is already mapping out which college classes she will be taking, which will be the best country for her to do her PhD in.
Marge never lets her feel it; of course she loves all of her children equally. But Maggie knows that Bart will always be her Special Little Guy, that Lisa is the apple of her eye.
Maggie is lucky if Homer even remembers he has three kids.
"Maggie, get the door!" Marge's voice calls out as Maggie moves off the couch to oblige.
"Hi Aunt Selma." Maggie greets. "Marge is in the backyard with Homer."
Selma crosses her arms, feigning sternness. She never truly got hang of the whole parenting business and it still shows, even after eight years of practice. "Maggie, when are you going to start calling them 'Mom and Dad'?"
Maggie ignores the remark, spotting Ling walk in behind her mother.
"Hey, Li! What's up?" Bart calls out to his cousin, making his way down the stairs.
"Not much, Bart." Ling smiles back, catching Maggie's eye and letting her grin grow even wider.
"Little Ling Ling!" Homer cheers. "How's my favouritest niece?"
"Good."
"Remember all the trouble you used to give me when you were just a teeny-tiny baby? With your poking and prodding and kicking. You should thank me for never kicking you back!" He guffaws, earning a snort of derision from Selma.
Maggie is impressed at Ling's willpower. She doesn't even roll her eyes.
"Thanks, Uncle Homer."
Homer pats both of their heads dismissively. "You two go play nicely."
As soon as everyone is out of earshot, Ling grabs Maggie's arm and pulls her into the foyer.
"Hey." Ling's face glows with mischief.
"Hey." Maggie grasps her cousin's hand and holds on tightly.
"I heard my mom saying that the Nahasapeemapetilons left for India this morning." Ling explains with no preamble. "This is totally our chance to find Mr. Apu's secret stash of illegal fireworks. Priya swears that there's a secret basement in the Kwik-E-Mart, we've gotta check it out!"
Maggie hesitates.
"And maybe while we're at it we can see if the legends about Syrup Super Squishees are true."
Maggie glances momentarily at her family settling peacefully around the ever-aging couch. By the time they realize she and Ling have left, it will be too late. It's now or never.
"Let's go."
The Kwik-E-Mart is all but abandoned. Maggie can't remember the last time the convenience store was deserted. Bart had once told her about a time Apu had been caught selling rancid food, yet the customers had just kept on coming.
"Guess everyone's shopping at Monstro Mart today." She mumbles.
Maggie had never indulged in breaking and entering. Okay, so it wasn't quite breaking and entering, since Poonam had given them a key before she'd left for India with her parents. But she certainly has never done anything like this before in her life. Maggie is glad that Ling is by her side, her confident and clever cousin. She wishes she too could always act so assured.
"You okay, Mags?" Ling asks, noting her slight discomfort. "Ready?"
Maggie takes a deep breath, swallows her fear and nods. It's time for her to have her own adventures.
Written for Lady Fest '10 over at Livejournal. Prompt was The Simpsons - Maggie Simpson, Ling Bouvier; watching you run into the high noon sun.