Great Family

“So how was your day Wiliam?” Mother spoke up above the silence as James passed the small steaming potatoes. William cleared his throat. “ Okay, the chickens got out at Mr. Adam’s farm again, so I had to chase them. Did you see Mr. Adam’s new snazzy contraption?” A whole new line of technology are coming out at rapid fire. “He released the buggy boys for the fields because he didn’t need them anymore.” Mother peered her head up in shock, and she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. “Mother, what’s the matter?” William and I looked at each other and then turned around. Father was standing there, dirty and sad with his tool box and a few papers in his clammy hands. “Dear, what's wrong? "Come sit and eat, how was your day?” Father did not look like he wanted food, or to talk about his day. His eyes welled with bent and agony. He looked at Mother and they went into the back room and whispered. Mother's eyes looked distressed, but her lips pierced and she looked gulled and intimidating. “Well what will we do then? "We shouldn’t have to pay for other people's debts!” She sounded like all her nerves were about to burst. We all ate slowly and silently. “Good night mother, good night father.” William and I both cleaned our plates and went to bed. “James, JAMES!” William whispered as I peered my head up. “What?” He looked at me surprised. “Don’t you know what’s happening? Didn’t you read the papers, or listen to the radio? Read the room. Dad got laid-off, let go, fired! His old job is history.” He could see the sharp glare I shot at him. “Yeah ya dip, I was with you at the sound box. "I heard the same thing you heard.” Then silence as we exchanged looks. “James shut it! Do you hear that?” Mumbling from Mother and Father’s room started. “I wasn’t talking!” He threw an old rolled-up paper at me. “Ouch!” He wrinkled his lips and looked at me with urgency. Weeping came from the room across the hall. A hand reached and attempted to close the door. The door was silenced when it opened up a c***k. Father’s voice spoke up. “ I know it's horrible to think about, but William is practically an adult! I did the math and if we keep spending money like this we won’t have enough for not more than two short weeks.” “Even if we stopped going out, or got rid of essentials?” Mother’s voice trembled. “No, we wouldn’t last. We couldn’t last!” Father’s voice dimmed. “What do we do Richard? We can’t give them up!” Dead silence seemed to dawn on the house for a lifetime. Father’s hand shut the door completely and they kept talking. That was 3 days ago.