"Ahhhhhh!"
Belinda bounced up in shock, frightened at what she'd just seen. She darted to the light switch, flipped it up, and scanned her room. When she realized nothing was out of the ordinary, she almost fell over with relief.
"A bad dream. Just a bad dream," she thought to herself. She turned the light off and climbed back into her bed, but before she could fall asleep again, she heard her door knob turning. "Who's there?" she fearfully asked, pulling her comforter up to her eyeballs. Her feet quivered and her toes curled tightly, but she tried to mentally brace herself for what was on the other side of that door. A monster? A goblin? A witch?
"Your brother."
With those two words, all of Belinda's fear dissipated like it'd never appeared to begin with. She sat upright as Puck opened the door and entered her room.
"You woke me up when you screamed," he explained. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"No, I'm fine," she answered, fiddling with her teddy bear, not at all wondering how it got in her bed.
"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll go back to bed then." Yet, for some reason, he hesitated to close her door. He stood there for a full two minutes, seeming lost in his thoughts. He glanced at Belinda's face, which was finally looking in his direction, although she looked back down when she realized Puck noticed.
"Belinda...listen," Puck said slowly as he walked over to her and sat himself down. She moved an inch away from him, but didn't object to him joining her on the bed. Puck took a deep breath and started.
"Today's your birthday and you're going to grow up today."
"Yes..." Belinda eyed him suspiciously, but didn't interrupt.
"You're also going to be home alone for the first time and I wanted to talk to you about-"
"I don't want to hear this," Belinda interrupted. "Dad already told me. Leave me alone."
Puck ignored the rude comment and continued with what he had to say, but Belinda was no longer listening and had turned away from him.
"Belinda, don't ignore me! Just listen!"
"I said Dad told me already! I don't want to hear it!"
"Yes, but something has changed and-"
"Go away, Puck!" she demanded as she smacked him with her teddy.
"Stop it!" He snatched the bear away from her. "Why do you have to be like this, Bottom?"
"My name's Belinda!" she yelled.
"I don't care what your name is! You know why? Because no matter what your name is, you're nothing more than a spoiled, little brat!"
"I am not!"
"Yes, you are and you always have been! Take your silly bear!" He furiously shoved the toy back into her arms, but the force of his strength made him unintentionally shove Belinda as well, knocking her right off her bed and onto the floor with a hard thud to her bottom.
At that moment, it was difficult to guess who was more shocked. Belinda rubbed her sore rear end and gazed with tearful eyes at the person who'd hurt her for the first time. Those eyes broke his heart and in an instant, he was angry with himself when he realized what he'd just done.
"Bottom..." he said softly, not caring to correct himself. "I didn't mean-"
Belinda didn't wait for the rest. She ran off before he could finish and he chased after her. "Bottom, wait! Bottom!" Luckily, he was able to grab her a moment before she could get outside.
"Put me down! Put me down!" she fussed, but he ignored her and carried her over to the couch. He plopped her down, using only enough force this time to gain her attention. He said nothing and simply held her arms in front of her until she calmed down.
Finally realizing she was getting nowhere, Belinda stopped struggling and quieted down, but her eyes didn't clear. She looked directly at Puck while her breathing slowly became regular again. Puck released her arms and her gaze fell to the floor. He sat next to her, placing his arm around her as comfort and in case she tried to run off again.
"Don't you ever do that again!"
She didn't respond or give him so much as a glance.
Puck softened his tone before he spoke again. "I didn't mean to shove you, alright? I'm sorry for that. I was trying to say you won't be alone for only an hour anymore. You're going to be alone from the afternoon until evening. I hesitated to tell you before because you were so awful yesterday, I couldn't find a good time to tell you. Maybe our parents shouldn't leave you alone if you're going to be this way."
He looked for any indication she was listening and understood what he said, but he only saw her wiping her eyes. She'd started crying again.
"Oh, come on," Puck told her as he pulled her arms away from her face. "You can't still be hurting."
Still no response.
"Bottom, what are you so unhappy about? You've been begging to stay home alone for who knows how long and you finally got it, but you're not happy. Our parents love you to death. Mom and Dad get on my nerves sometimes too, but I don't act like you. You did nothing but be mean and rude yesterday. You can't even look at me now when I'm talking to you. What is the matter with you, Bottom? Why are you such a brat?"
Belinda still remained wordless, but Puck was able to see he struck a nerve somewhere. Was that the only way he could get his sister to listen to him? He hoped not. Were he not afraid of her trying to run off again, he would've gone back to bed by now.
Puck got a few tissues and wiped Belinda's nose, which started running due to her crying. He used some clean ones to dry her eyes and cheeks. He was surprised she hadn't yet said anything. Typically, she would've been arguing back by now.
"I guess you want a head start on being alone, huh?" Puck remarked. Again, no answer followed. "Fine. You can give me the silent treatment. Let's go. Back up to bed for the night."
He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. To his surprise, she finally obeyed and followed him back to her room, albeit still without a peep or single glance directed toward him. He began to wonder if he may have been too harsh with her. As annoying as she was, having her be quiet like this seemed too out of the ordinary to be a good thing.
He helped her into bed and tucked her in tightly. Without a sound, he left her room, being sure to switch off her light and close her door behind him. He returned to his own bed and fell asleep before he could think much more about everything that happened.
Belinda was silent in her own room, but she did not not fall asleep again.
