p class="MsoNormal"strong7./strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"That night, Iris decided she emhad /em to make sure her father was safe and sound./p
p class="MsoNormal" "I'm going to go check on my dad," Iris said as the Smiths ate supper./p
p class="MsoNormal" "A-are you emsure/em about that, Iris? Are you emrEAAALLYly /emsure?" Rick glared./p
div style="border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;" "Yeah. I'm emreally /emsure," She retorted, glaring back. Her glare was as threatening as a six-year-old sticking her tongue out. Iris stood, placing her plate in the sink. She was expecting to come home to, at best, a passed out father. At worst, a dead one./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal"Iris began home, walking slowly. As she got closer to home, the faster she walked. Soon, she was sprinting down the sidewalk. She slammed open the door./p
p class="MsoNormal" "DA-AAAAAD! I'M HOOOO-OOOMME!" She yelled. No reply./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Dad?" She shouted. Iris wondered around the house, expecting to find her one and only father. She'd looked in every room, except his own. Usually, she would stay out of her father's room at all costs, but this was a huge exception. Iris cracked the door. Her father sat on his recliner, staring at the television. She sighed a sigh of relief./p
div style="border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;" "Hey, dad!" She greeted as she approached him. As she came closer, her heart sank. In the middle of his chest, there was a bloody, gory wound. On closer inspection, maggots and flies writhed in it, suggesting he had been dead for a few days. Iris felt nauseous. Sure, her dad never really loved her mom. Sure, he barely even knew he had a daughter, but he was her dad. Iris loved him more than she'd loved anyone. emAnyone./em Now, he was gone. Those words echoed in her brain, building up until they came out as tears and sobs./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" The door opened with no sound, though Summer felt Iris's presence./p
p class="MsoNormal" "So, my dad's dead," Iris nonchalantly stated, plopping down on the couch./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Are you alright?" Summer asked. She wondered why Iris wasn't heartbroken by this./p
p class="MsoNormal" "I… guess. I dunno where I'll live now, though," Iris sighed. It was like she was only barely affected by her own father's death. Maybe she wasn't expressive. Summer was deeply disturbed by how calm Iris acted. She expected this behavior from Rick, but Iris was his polar opposite./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Are you sure you're okay?" Summer asked. Iris nodded, eyeing the empty beer can on the coffee table. Iris's face was blank, as if she was in deep thought. Her head sagged a little. She snapped her head back. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"This cycle continued for a while, until she uttered, "I gotta go… uh… pee." Iris stood, stumbling to the bathroom./p
div style="border-top: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-right: none; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;" Iris emknew/em she fucked up when the headaches started. She knew she should have kept herself in check, but it's a lot harder when you have schoolwork and chores over your head. It was an easy fix, but there was emno way/em she could go downstairs and steal Rick's stuff. There were no other options, though, so she forced herself to venture to his workshop. It didn't seem like he was home. emGreat./em Iris looked through his tools and gadgets quickly yet thoroughly, finding what she needed and snatching it. She hadn't done anything like this in a long time. emOh, God, where did that chip go again?/em Iris touched her scar, this time pressing her thumb against it slightly./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" There was one of two ways you could surprise Rick; Have the balls to steal his shit, or ask to marry him. Rick walked through the portal to his workshop. He noticed Iris was in there, in the corner. Deciding to screw with her a bit, Rick walked as quietly as he could to the young girl. She was breathing heavily, as if whatever she was doing was hard. emWhat strongis/strong she doing, anyway?/em Rick looked down at the girl, realizing exactly what was going on. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before./p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"That night, Iris decided she emhad /em to make sure her father was safe and sound./p
p class="MsoNormal" "I'm going to go check on my dad," Iris said as the Smiths ate supper./p
p class="MsoNormal" "A-are you emsure/em about that, Iris? Are you emrEAAALLYly /emsure?" Rick glared./p
div style="border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;" "Yeah. I'm emreally /emsure," She retorted, glaring back. Her glare was as threatening as a six-year-old sticking her tongue out. Iris stood, placing her plate in the sink. She was expecting to come home to, at best, a passed out father. At worst, a dead one./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal"Iris began home, walking slowly. As she got closer to home, the faster she walked. Soon, she was sprinting down the sidewalk. She slammed open the door./p
p class="MsoNormal" "DA-AAAAAD! I'M HOOOO-OOOMME!" She yelled. No reply./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Dad?" She shouted. Iris wondered around the house, expecting to find her one and only father. She'd looked in every room, except his own. Usually, she would stay out of her father's room at all costs, but this was a huge exception. Iris cracked the door. Her father sat on his recliner, staring at the television. She sighed a sigh of relief./p
div style="border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;" "Hey, dad!" She greeted as she approached him. As she came closer, her heart sank. In the middle of his chest, there was a bloody, gory wound. On closer inspection, maggots and flies writhed in it, suggesting he had been dead for a few days. Iris felt nauseous. Sure, her dad never really loved her mom. Sure, he barely even knew he had a daughter, but he was her dad. Iris loved him more than she'd loved anyone. emAnyone./em Now, he was gone. Those words echoed in her brain, building up until they came out as tears and sobs./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" The door opened with no sound, though Summer felt Iris's presence./p
p class="MsoNormal" "So, my dad's dead," Iris nonchalantly stated, plopping down on the couch./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Are you alright?" Summer asked. She wondered why Iris wasn't heartbroken by this./p
p class="MsoNormal" "I… guess. I dunno where I'll live now, though," Iris sighed. It was like she was only barely affected by her own father's death. Maybe she wasn't expressive. Summer was deeply disturbed by how calm Iris acted. She expected this behavior from Rick, but Iris was his polar opposite./p
p class="MsoNormal" "Are you sure you're okay?" Summer asked. Iris nodded, eyeing the empty beer can on the coffee table. Iris's face was blank, as if she was in deep thought. Her head sagged a little. She snapped her head back. /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"This cycle continued for a while, until she uttered, "I gotta go… uh… pee." Iris stood, stumbling to the bathroom./p
div style="border-top: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-left: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.5pt; border-right: none; padding: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext 1.5pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0in 1.0pt 0in;" Iris emknew/em she fucked up when the headaches started. She knew she should have kept herself in check, but it's a lot harder when you have schoolwork and chores over your head. It was an easy fix, but there was emno way/em she could go downstairs and steal Rick's stuff. There were no other options, though, so she forced herself to venture to his workshop. It didn't seem like he was home. emGreat./em Iris looked through his tools and gadgets quickly yet thoroughly, finding what she needed and snatching it. She hadn't done anything like this in a long time. emOh, God, where did that chip go again?/em Iris touched her scar, this time pressing her thumb against it slightly./p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" There was one of two ways you could surprise Rick; Have the balls to steal his shit, or ask to marry him. Rick walked through the portal to his workshop. He noticed Iris was in there, in the corner. Deciding to screw with her a bit, Rick walked as quietly as he could to the young girl. She was breathing heavily, as if whatever she was doing was hard. emWhat strongis/strong she doing, anyway?/em Rick looked down at the girl, realizing exactly what was going on. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before./p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal"!- [if !supportEmptyParas]- !-[endif]-/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p