Hey! I actually updated! I can't believe it!
Wally bit his lip. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought it would. He just couldn't make himself knock on the oak door. So for a second, to delay the inevitable, he studied said door. It had quite an intricate twisting pattern. He'd never noticed before...
Aunt Iris waved cheerfully from the curb, and Wally nodded in thanks, but it wasn't helping. He stared at the exact place he'd knock-just put his knuckles to the wood-but he couldn't do it. He listened to the cheerful sound of birds chirping and the far-off, faint sound of dogs barking, and looked straight up in attempt to steady himself.
Finally, Wally took a deep breath, sighed, and closed his eyes. He moved his hand up to the door and rapped sharply, twice.
Immediately he forgot why he had been so nervous. Inside, there was a clatter and the sound of various things being dropped before his little sister came charging at him. She threw open the door and then her arms were out for a hug. Wally obliged with a smile, catching her and squeezing. He was happy to see her, too. "WALLY!" She yelled. "WALLYWALLYWALLYWALLYWALLY!"
Wally smiled a little at her. Susan always did tend to get a little overexcited about...well, everything. "Hi Susan! Did'ja miss me?" Susan had stayed with their grandparents while their parents went off and did one thing or another. Wally had had to beg to stay with his Aunt and Uncle, although he would have preferred Susan had come too, but his parents drew the line at him.
Susan nodded enthusiastically, looking like a bobblehead figure. "Uh huh! I missed you SO-O-O-O-O much!" Wally grinned, feeling better already. Susan usually had that effect on him. He smiled and walked into the house. "Where're Mom and Dad, Suzy?" Susan's smile practically dropped off her face at that, although he had used her preferred nickname. "Work." Her voice was suddenly small and sad.
Wally patted her shoulder, looking around at the dim room. He walked over to a shade and opened it, with Susan following right behind. Wally smiled and patted her shoulder, though he didn't like the situation any better than she did. "Hey, Suzie, it's okay. You wanna make dinner?" Suzie, who loved cooking, brightened at the idea. "Okay! I was just messing with the pots cause Mommy and Daddy didn't want me to cook alone." Despite being very matures for an seven year old, it was probably a good idea.
Wally smiled and walked with her to the kitchen, the whole house having brightened considerably with even the few shades he'd opened. He wished he could just speed around the entire house and throw open all the shades, getting done ten times faster, but that probably would NOT go down well if Uncle Barry found out. Finally, after an eternity of walking, they reached the small, dreary kitchen. Wally walked to the fridge and grabbed an apple. It wouldn't help much with his now-constant appetite, but anything else would be suspicious. That was going to be very hard to hide.
Suzie had already placed several pans on the stove and turned up the various burners. "What should we make, Wally?" Wally grinned and asked his own question-"What do we have?" He answered his own question by checking the freezer and opening the fridge again. "Hmm..." He looked carefully through the freezer and decided, "How about hamburgers?" Suzie nodded enthusiastically. "And we need some other stuff too... Like vegetables o something." Wally nodded and quickly produced a head of broccoli and some carrots.
Susan grinned, hopped down from the stool that was ever-present by the stove, as since she was the only one in the family who actually cooked on a regular basis and she could not reach it easily otherwise. Well, Wally usually helped her cook, but he didn't ever actually prepare any food except when Susan was sick or otherwise unable to cook.
She walked carefully over to the refrigerator and grabbed the items proffered by her brother. "Thanks!" She walked around, getting ingredients from various places in the small kitchen, before heading back to the stove. Within minutes, delicious smells were wafting from the stove and Wally's stomach was grumbling.
Just as Suzie was about to declare dinner ready after almost thirty minutes of pleasant chatting with her brother, there was a grinding sound and the front door opened. Wally and Susan glanced at each other with identical expressions of misery-they'd been having such a good time! Before Wally walked slowly down the hallway to greet his late parents.
His mother barely said "Hi" before starting to criticize. "It's too bright in here! Why are all the shades opened? And didn't we tell Susan not to cook?" Wally tuned out of the rest of his parents' rant while his father hastily pulled down the blinds, shutting off the house from the bright sunlight and making everything extremely dull and dim before walking back to the kitchen, grabbing two hamburgers and a healthy portion of vegetables before heading upstairs to his room. He smiled at his sister and offered a a thanks, not wanting to be ungrateful, as his parents often were.
Once there, he walked outside to his balcony. Susan was not long in joining him. They watched the declining sunlight and listening to the quiet twittering of birds, eating the delicious meal. Wally was done minutes before Susan, after finishing simply watching his sister. Her face, covered with freckles, was sad, and Wally thought he could detect a tear in one blue eye.
"Sucks, doesn't it?" He offered. Susan nodded. Her voice was quiet and unsteady when she finally spoke. "I just wish they'd appreciate us more." Wally agreed silently, and they stayed there, watching the sun set in peaceful contentment, for almost an hour, food long since eaten, before Susan left, saying, "Goodbye." There was still undeniable sadness in he voice. Wally watched her go from the corner of his eye.
He wished he could help somehow. Wasn't that his job, to help people? But how did you help someone who was not really in danger, just sad? He couldn't exactly beat up his own parents, could he?
Wally stared at the meadow of wildflowers spread out behind the house and suddenly he had an idea. He sped out of the room, probably causing several important papers of his parents to fly up-serves them right-and grabbed a vase from the seldom visited, thus slightly dusty, cellar on his way out. He shot out of the house and picked a bundle of black-eyed susans. They'd always been his little sister's favorite flower, and he felt sure that they would at least help cheer her up.
Within seconds of departing from his room, a vase of black eyed susans stood outside his sister's door. His parents remarked upon the sudden wind that had caused several very important papers to fly up in a whirlwind-Huh? What happened?-Susan was suddenly greeted by a very nice bouquet of her favorite flower, and Wally was back on the balcony, a satisfied smile on his face.
Super speed had its perks after all.
Okay, I wasn't really paying attention to what I was writing while I wrote this, so please don't kill me if it doesn't make any sense. Yes, it's chronically short, that's a problem of mine.