((Prompt: "Write a non-holiday themed story using all 3 of these words: Holly, Winter, Carol"))
It was a particularly rigid night, sometime in mid-December. The winter had always been unforgiving in the McCormick household, but that night the temperatures had reached record lows, and the cracks in the walls seemed unwilling to retain any heat at all.
Kenny had been curled up under his threadbare excuse of a blanket, parka on and zipped all the way up. He had been trying desperately to ignore the heavy shivering in his shoulders as well as the screaming coming from the living room.
Stuart and Carol had been passed out all day, but boy were they punctual about their routine nightly scrabbles. Rolling his eyes, Kenny huffed and shifted on his mattress. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.
After 5 minutes, the voices grew exceptionally loud before their front door slammed shut. Kenny counted how many times it took for his dad's shitty pickup truck to finally start before noisily setting off to who-knows-where. Kenny sighed and closed his eyes, hoping to take advantage of the new-found silence in the house. Not a minute later, however, his door creaked open and a little voice floated through the darkness.
"Kenny...?" Karen shyly peeked around her big brother's door, whispering. Kenny refrained from groaning tiredly and leaned up enough to show her he was awake.
"What, Kare?" He whispered back, already lifting his blanket and making space for her to lay with him. Karen quickly shut his door again and scurried over, climbing up and settling against him. Kenny replaced the blanket over them both before laying back down. Karen didn't like sleeping alone sometimes - late night visits like these were not uncommon. He never minded though; as long as she felt safe, he was happy. And on nights like these, the shared body warmth didn't hurt either. Kenny closed his eyes again and tried to fall back asleep.
Karen shifted beside him. And then heaved a sigh. And then turned around. Kenny sighed.
"What is it Kare?" He asked again, eyes still closed and voice soft. Karen frowned and sat up a bit to look at Kenny. There was worry in her small, chocolate eyes. She held her dolly close to her chest.
"I..." Karen paused, like she was worried she'd get caught doing something wrong. "I think daddy has a grilfriend." The words came out of the little girl nervously, as if she were asserting there were monsters under her bed. Her statement threw Kenny for a loop. He couldnt help but scoff and sit up, blinking tiredly at her.
"What...?" His brain had been too cold to come up with any other response but Karen seemed awake enough to continue the conversation, brows furrowed with concern.
"Who's Holly?" She asked impatiently, anxiously pressing her doll closer to her tummy as she looked up at Kenny. The boy drew a blank. He didn't know any Holly.
"Holly...?" Karen grumbled indignantly at her brother, annoyed that he wasnt keeping up with her speed.
"Holly!" She repeated, as loudly as she could while whispering. Kenny simply lifted a single confused brow. Karen rolled her eyes and quickly continued. "Holly! Daddy and Momma talk about her a lot!" Karen looked upset and Kenny felt even more confused. "Daddy always says he has to pick her up and Momma always gets mad cuz Daddy won't let Momma come with him." Karen slowly leaned into Kenny then, getting low. "I think Daddy goes out to eat with her." She whispered gravely, like she was revealing a deep dark secret.
It took Kenny a few seconds to process her words before the lightbulb turned on in his head. Considering what he could hear of the argument they'd been having earlier, it suddenly all made sense to him. He would have laughed at his sister's misunderstanding a lot harder had it been daytime and warmer out, but a tiny chuckle still made it's way past his lips. Karen frowned heavily and felt betrayed that Kenny wasn't taking her seriously but before she could say anything, Kenny's hand was already on her shoulder, leading her back down onto the bed.
"There's no girlfriend, Kare." He murmured, an amused grin on Kenny's lips as he tucked them back in for sleep. Karen opened her mouth to protest but Kenny shook his head and beat her to it. "Trust me. Don't worry about it, okay? Sleep." Karen took her brother's word after a moment and snuggled down under the blanket. Soon enough, the siblings were fast asleep.
It was a night Kenny would snicker and tease Karen about years later.