The first draft of this story was written back in February. I have no recollection of the prompt used, but I do remember having fun writing this one. The first draft was focused mostly on the daughter in the story, in revision I gave mom a little more “page time.” Enjoy!
This story is a 4 minute read.
Kelly’s Unwatched Pot
Kelly stood over a pot of sauce, stirring through her frustration.
“Ma, no, you don’t understand. They said I’d have to do the dishes. They didn’t have a dishwasher, even,” Madison flipped her hair over her shoulder then looked at her nails. “I mean, what would be the point of even working if I had to pay for touch ups every other day?”
Kelly caught a glimpse of her own nails that hadn’t been professionally manicured since her cousin Leslie got married back in the Spring. “Let me get this straight – you said no to a paying babysitting gig because someone asked you to clean up after yourself?”
“I didn’t say no,” Madison batted her new lashes. “They didn’t want me.”
The sauce began to boil, in sync with Kelly’s blood. “Why not, Madison? What did you do?”
“Ma! Nothing! Gawd why you always have to be that way anyways?” Madison rolled her eyes and started to leave the kitchen.
“Madison Lynne, you stop in your tracks right now.” Kelly dropped her wooden spoon on the sink’s edge sending splashes of tomato sauce droplets in more directions than Kelly could track. One mess always leads to another, doesn’t it?
“Ma, don’t worry about it.” Madison’s hands flailed like one of the privileged women she watched on those reality shows. “I figured it out. I’m gonna to prove to them how I can take care of their baby so they won’t doubt me anymore.”
Kelly was momentarily blinded by the sun reflecting off the ring Madison’s father got her for sweet sixteen. The momentary glint shocked her out of falling into the abyss created by her sinking heart. Madison’s misconception of her place in the world was becoming more unwieldy by the day. “Prove to them? How?”
Madison grabbed her over-sized Louis Vitton bag (another gift from Madison’s daddy) off the dining room table and carried back to the kitchen. “Easy,” she said, leaning into the bag with both hands
Kelly held her breath. Praying with all her might that the unthinkable thing she thought she might be witnessing was an over exaggeration of a disappointed mother no longer capable of thinking the best of her daughter. Then Madison pulled out a large swaddle.
“Madison! No!” Kelly screeched.
Madison’s hot pink nails looked like freakish jaws plunging into the cotton swaddle around the squirming baby bundle she held forward. “It’s simple, Ma. I’m gonna prove I can take care of their baby by taking care of their baby!”
Kelly was only two steps away from her pot on the stove, but it was already too late. The sauce was burning.
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