Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Strongest one there is
"Rarrggghhh!! Hulk is strongest one there is!"
Isaac bounded into the house, thrilled by his costume. Liesl rolled her eyes. She balanced the groceries on her arm to close the screen door, before Cody got out. She was annoyed that he got to go to a halloween party, but relieved for a night alone, no babysitting.
They found Cody lying in the kitchen, a pool of dark vomit drying around his tiny head. Isaac started crying. Liesl knelt down and touched the cold fur. She looked up at the table, saw on top of the comic books the half-eaten chocolate and chewed wrapper. Isaac saw her anger and started yelling, screamed that he didn't do it, and ran upstairs to his room.
Liesl took care of it. She always took care of things. Cleaned up the mess on the floor and the table. She wrapped Cody up into a trash bag, and went outside to bury him. The hole took longer than she thought, it had gotten dark. Returning the tools to the side of the house, she found Isaac's costume in the trash. He was still crying, upstairs. She could barely breathe in the mask, or see. But she thought it would make her feel strong again.
As she sank down onto the steps, Liesl could smell the chocolate on her breath, trapped in the closeness of the mask. Sobbing, burying her Hulk head into her Hulk hands, she wished she was. The strongest one there is.
