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FROOT LOOPS
The thunder crashed outside, waking the small boy who slept in the master bedroom. He sat up and turned on the light. "Daddy?" he whispered. He looked around the room cautiously. "Hello?"
Again, the thunder crashed and the boy screamed in terror, pulling the bedspread over his head. He took the flashlight from under his pillow, turned it on and shone it upward. His breathing was raspy and fearful.
"William!" yelled the familiar voice of his mother.
"Mummy?" he answered, pulling off the blankets.
"Honey, are you ok?" the woman asked, cuddling her only son.
He nodded.
"Did the thunder scare you?"
The kid nodded again and buried his head in his mother's chest.
His father slowly entered the room. "Everything okay, Dana?"
The mother nodded.
"Mummy, I thought we were supposed to leave last night," the boy said.
Dana looked sadly at her beau.
"It was too stormy last night," Fox told his son, "We're leaving this afternoon."
The boy smiled at his father. He knew that whatever knowledge he couldn't achieve from the maternal side, 'Daddy' would be willing to share.
"C'mon, Will, let's go get some breakfast," Dana suggested. So they ventured into the kitchen.
William sat in his usual spot, staring at one of the open cupboard doors. "Look!" he exclaimed, pointing to a rat.
The mother gasped, dropping both porcelain bowls that she was carrying.
"It's Gary!" William exclaimed, running over to the possibly rabid rodent. "Hi, Gary!" Will reached down to touch the rat.
"No, sweetie, don't touch him!" Dana warned, grabbing her son by the shoulder.
His questioning blue eyes looked up at her, "Why?"
"Because sometimes they've got diseases from eating garbage."
"Oh! You mean like the alien virus, Mummy?" the child asked excitedly, "Like when Daddy had to save you from the aliens cause they put you in a test tube? And then an alien came after you, and then... and then..."
"Fox! Have you been telling him stories again?" she asked sarcastically.
"Aww, come on, Dana! He's not scared of anything, are ya, Will?"
"No!"
"Well, that settles it, doesn't it, Scul- I mean..." Fox muttered.
The ridiculous smile on Dana's face vanished, and she turned away from her husband.
"Daddy, can I have some cereal?" Will whispered. He was afraid to ask his mother at this point.
Fox nodded, poured some Froot Loops into a green plastic bowl, and handed it to his son.
"Thanks," Will said.
"Hey, buddy! Aren't you going to put on some milk?"
"Nope! I like it this way!"
"But it tastes better with the milk. And it makes you grow up big and strong..."
"I like it this way!"
"Fox! Don't push him!" Dana yelled.
And no one said anymore.