ADYNATON

The birds were chirping all around. The sky was clear, and the sun was shining brightly, making the temperature feel warmer than it actually was. My daughters, Ally and Gia, and I were walking around the neighborhood, taking in the beautiful fresh weather.

 

Each of my daughters was holding my hand, but not tightly enough, so I gripped their hands just a little tighter. As we were walking, a dog started barking in the distance and I jumped at the noise. I furrowed my eyebrows at the disgusting filth that was making its way near us. About twenty feet away from us, the dog started to do its business near one of the miniature trees that was living along the sidewalk. I scrunched my face in disgust when suddenly, Gia startsd to skip and swing her hands around. She was bouncing from one foot onto another, creating a little rhythm. I tugged at her hand and crouched down to her. 

 

“Gia, stop skipping and walk normally,” I scolded her. I rose and shook my head. A middle aged woman passed us, giving me a look of astonishment, as I was scolding Gia. That old hag, she must know nothing about raising children. How dare she give me that look? I'm just keeping my kids safe and away from danger, I thought. After twenty minutes of walking around, we finally arrived at our one story home. I unlocked the door and we walked in, the cool air of the air conditioning hitting our skin, cooling us down immediately from the warmth that was outside. The girls walked to the living room as I made my way to the kitchen to make us lunch. I started cutting up some fruit and made a small salad with mangos, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, watermelon, and bananas. I also made little turkey, cheese, and mayonnaise sandwiches.

 

As I was about to place the food on the table, I thought to myself, what if the girls choke on the food and die? I hurriedly took out the blender and blended all of the fruits, turning it into a fruit smoothie. Then I cut up the bread, cheese, and turkey from the sandwiches, and put it all in separate bowls. I placed the smoothie and bowls at the table and went to fetch the girls. The sight of Ally and Gia watching television made my heart race faster, and my palms were already beginning to sweat. “Didn’t I already tell you two that watching television is bad for your eyes? You’ll go blind!” I screamed at Ally and Gia. I expected more from Ally, considering she's nine years old, five years older than Gia. Tears were forming in my eyes, but I refused to cry in front of the girls. I shook my head, and we all walked to the table, and sat on top of the cushions that were on the chairs. The table was circular so that there were no edges that the girls could run into or gouge out an eye out. 

 

 “Remember, chew your food forty­-five times and then swallow,” I reminded Ally and Gia. They nodded their heads up and down, picked up their spoons, and started to chew their food. Forty­-five chews was just enough to make the food safe to swallow. 1,035 chews later, we were finished, and Ally spoke up. 

 

“Can we please play Monopoly? We havent played it in such a long time,” asked Ally in a soft voice with eager eyes. I had cut the edges off the cards and curved them so that the girls wouldn't prick themselves with the cards, so what’s the harm in playing, I thought. 

 

“Of course we can,” I told them. Ally smiled and Gia squealed happily. When will that child learn that squealing and yelling hurts their vocal cords? I thought to myself again. Gia got off her chair and ran to get the board box in excitement. Her feet made a little slap on the wooden floor every time she stepped. “Gia!” I screamed, "learn not to run. You could've tripped and fallen, bumped your head on the floor, torn your skin open, cracked your skull, and damaged the brain! Your blood would be all over the floor, which could've made Ally slip on it, if she were to step in it, causing both of you to get hurt, and be in danger’s hands. Start being more careful!” I was panting by the time I finished yelling at her. My chest was rising and falling as I glared down at my four year old child. Gia had her head bowed down, ashamed of being yelled at. Ally, on the other hand, was sitting silently on the living room floor, setting out the game board and cards.

     

“Lets play now, Mommy,” spoke Ally. She had an odd look in her eye, but I simply ignored it. Gia walked slowly to the living room with her head bowed down, but raised her head and smiled once she saw the game board all set. It’s for your own good, my darlings. You will understand once you're older, I thought. We all sat down on the floor and started to play. We were playing for more than half an hour. I was reaching for the dice when I noticed a small wince. Ally was holding her finger close to her face. My eyes widened in fear and my breathing became heavier. I snatched her finger away from her face and started to inspect it. She had a perfectly clean cut across her finger, blood slowly dripping from it. The monopoly card had torn her skin apart, putting my dear baby in danger. 

 

“You are cut, you have a cut. You're going to die from infection; no, you're going to die from blood loss.” I was panting. My chest was rising faster and my throat clogged. Suddenly there was an unbearable pain in my chest, deep in my heart. I raised my hands to my chest and put pressure on it, but the pain only increased. My head felt lighter and lighter. I rose up to get my phone, but got dizzy and wobbled around the room, knocking a book down from the coffee table. The girls had worried looks on their faces as I fell to the ground, hitting my head on the floor. The girls ran to me, tears streaming down their faces. Don’t run girls, it’s very dangerous, was my last thought until darkness 

consumed me.