Title: Every Girl For Herself
Rating: T
Characters: Artemis C., Jade N./Cheshire
Chapter I
Brothers and sisters are as close as hands and feet.
-Vietnamese Proverb
A gray smoke cloud drifted out of the chimney into the cool air of the night. The wind pushed it west where the sun was slowly being swallowed by the horizon.
The gray of the smoke from the chimney melted into the white clouds floating above it. Each one was carefully shaped to challenge the imaginations of children, especially the two girls lying on the freshly mowed grass outside the apartment building.
The apartment was rundown; it had been built years ago. Obviously one of the occupants with a fireplace included room was using it at the moment, although Jade couldn't deduce why anyone would be using a fireplace on such a beautiful day. Maybe they just thought the flames were beautiful to watch. She was suddenly afraid a pyromaniac lived in their apartment, but she decided to keep it to herself as she watched the white clouds float by over the sunset streaked sky.
"Look Jade! That one looks like a flower," Artemis exclaimed, pointing her small hand up into the sky. Jade examined the cloud her younger sister was pointing at and tilted her head, "It looks more like an arrow to me."
"You're no fun."
Jade shrugged. Her sister didn't understand. She would never understand. Artemis was only in fourth grade, and she did as she was told. As far as Jade could tell, Artemis didn't question any of it.
A woman walking her dog walked past the children, waving as she crossed the street. Jade only stared after her.
"Come on," she said, standing up and brushing the grass off of herself.
Artemis sat up, "Where?"
"Let's go back inside."
"Why?"
"It's getting dark Artemis. Mom and Dad would tell us to come inside already."
Artemis sighed and stood up, picking up her teddybear from his spot on the grass and brushing him off. She followed her sister up the steps to their apartment, and Jade unearthed a key from a pocket in her jeans.
She unlocked the apartment room and Artemis went inside and turned on the lights.
The apartment was almost dolefully empty.
Pictures were hung on the walls in decorative frames, filled with pictures of smiling people. Artemis never remembered a time like that, when her dad smiled. When her mom smiled. When any of them smiled.
She walked down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen, opening up a cupboard to look for something to eat. She found a box of Easy Mac and put it on the counter. She was still too short to reach the microwave, so she waited for Jade.
Jade turned on the TV and entered the kitchen, noticing the Easy Mac. Without a word she put it in the microwave and punched in the time. She had memorized it after doing it so many times.
"When do you think they'll be back?" Artemis asked.
Jade knew Artemis was asking this not because she missed her parents. Maybe she missed her mom, but definitely not her dad. The two girls always looked forward to the days when they got to stay home alone. Jade had been doing this since she was only eight, younger than Artemis. Now she was thirteen.
"I don't know. Whenever they're done with the mission," she replied, settling down in front of the TV to watch a cartoon.
It was silent for a moment, besides the soft blare of the TV. Then the microwave beeped. Jade sighed and got up, opening up the microwave as Artemis grabbed a fork. She opened up the lid and threw it away, carefully pushing the hot plastic bowl across the table. Then she put an Easy Mac in the microwave for herself.
"Don't forget your homework," Jade said, shutting the microwave door.
Artemis nodded as she ravenously devoured her meal. She looked up at her sister and asked, "Can you do my hair in that pretty braid you know?"
Jade left and returned with a brush. She pulled up a barstool behind Artemis and undid her ponytail, brushing out her blonde hair.
It fell down over her back, shining softly with the glow that meant it was soft and silky. Jade ran the brush through it until every tangle was out. She put the brush down and her fingers worked through the smooth hair, tightening each strand of it together; weaving it into a French braid.
Jade grabbed the elastic she had just taken out of Artemis's hair and used it to secure the end of the braid. "There. Now go do your homework," she smiled. Artemis grinned back, "Thank you Jade!" Then she scurried off.
The apartment was quiet and empty except for the two girls. There wasn't a mom home to cook a dinner, or a dad to make sure the kids ate all their vegetables before leaving the table. There wasn't a mom to tell the kids to do their homework, or a dad to watch the evening news and shout at the TV. There weren't parents to tuck the young children into bed.
Jade thought back to the smoke she'd seen drifting out of the chimney. Maybe the fireplace was on because their family was sitting around it drinking hot chocolate and pretending everyday was Christmas. Maybe the fireplace was on because a happy family lived there. Maybe they didn't have much, but they had each other. And that was all they needed.
Jade was fast asleep in bed when Artemis heard the door open. She pulled her purple blanket closer to herself, so she could pretend to be asleep if her parents walked into the room.
She heard the jingle of the keys as they were set down on the counter, and the creak of the door as it opened. The light from the hallway streamed into the room, right over her face. She kept her eyes squeezed shut.
"Jade? Artemis?"
It was her dad. Artemis carefully peeked and saw that her mom wasn't there. She quickly shut her eyes all the way when she noticed her dad walking towards her bed.
Each of his footsteps resounded around the tiny room. She could sense him hovering over her.
And then he turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
She didn't hear him talking to anyone in the hallway.
Mom wasn't home.
(A/N): This story has kinda been in my head for a while now. I don't expect it to be that long, but whenever I say that it usually ends up going over how many chapters I estimate it's going to be :P. Anyway here it is!
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Corrections? Leave it in a review :)
Love, Safirel
