Morning Glory

Eric goes to camp

Accidents happen. No matter how hard we try to avoid them. Sometimes things are just out of our control.

We can spend weeks planning and preparing for the perfect vacation; your mother may throw something unexpected in your suitcase at the last minute. Like your little brother Eric.

-Don’t take your eyes off of him, not even for a second.

Lovely. Felix’s perfect week away turned into a week of babysitting.

As soon as they got on the bus, Eric sat down right at the front with the other younger kids. Felix looked at the back of the bus where his friends were laughing around.

“Don’t take your eyes off of him, not even for a second.”

He heard his mother’s voice at the back of his mind.

“Ehh, I’ll just pay attention to him once we get there.” -argued back Felix in his imagination and headed over to the back before the Rosa Zevean in him could think of a comeback.

The biggest accident in the Rosso house happened when Aurelia, for the first time and for the last, invited her friend over for dinner from the brick factory. She woke up early in the morning, scrubbed the entire house clean, cooked up her most delicious meal yet and got her family in order. Most of them weren’t too thrilled about strangers at the dinner table, uncomfortable fancy clothes or the soldier-like precision that went into the planning. Except Veronika. She was excited to get to know her mother’s friend and spent the whole day thinking about what to ask her.

-She is not coming here for you, Veronika.-Rudy said mockingly.

-She is coming to meet Dear Ma's family, which I am a part of-fired back Veronika.

-Oh no! Did Mom not tell you yet that you’re adopted?-he gasped dramatically.

-That’s not trueee!

-Poor woman, she comes here for a nice family dinner and she finds hurricane Veronika.

-Alright Rudy that is enough.-stepped in Aurelia.-I don't want her arriving to you pestering your sister.

-And I am a delightful dinner partner.-concluded Veronika.

-Yes you are, darling. Just maybe try not to get too excited and ground yourself a bit.

Knock on the door. Aurelia looked back to make sure everything was looking tidy. The table is set, the food is ready, and the kids are sitting at the table quietly smiling. “What could go wrong?” She thought and opened the door.

BANG!

Screams.

Felix turned his head towards the source of the noise. It was coming from his little brother, who was standing between a group of gasping kids and had blood dripping from his head. Felix remembered the last time he thought about his mother’s words and wondered why his mother’s voice that she implemented at the back of his mind decided not to remind him of his brother in time and then realised that the ghost version of her mother most likely just wanted to teach him a lesson.

As Felix was sitting in the hospital lobby waiting for his brother, he kept thinking if there was any possible way he could bribe his brother into keeping this from their mother. Eric walked out with a thick white bandage wrapped around his head. No point in bribing.

Felix sighed, stood up from his chair and followed his little brother out from the hospital.

-I’m sorry bro, I probably should have paid more attention to you on the trip.’

-Ahh, it’s okay. I was having fun.-smiled Eric.

-Yeah you were-Felix patted him on the back.-Plus girls love a bad boy with wounds.

-Do they?

-Yea they do.

-Nice!

The brothers walked back towards the campsite, and Felix decided that he was going to make it up for his brother somehow.

-Look a playground! Can we go?-asked Eric, to which Felix responded with a laugh.

-Sure we can, buddy.

Just like Aurelia, her colleague Moira was looking forward to dinner night just as much and put in a lot of effort to make a good impression. She wore her hair in a nice bun, put her most elegant white dress on, and chose a gift for the host with careful consideration.

As she walked in through the front door, it was as if she stepped into the most perfectly organised play. A warm hug and a smile, food that melts the flavours into her mouth, and lovely children politely chatting with her. She especially enjoyed watching the little redhead jumping around her, looking out for her every wish with exceptional delight.

-Would the madam like some tomato sauce with that, perhaps?

-Well thank you very much, Veronika. I would.

Veronika laughed and reached for the bottle. She grabbed it with big confidence and started shaking it passionately, waiting for the sauce to blend in perfectly. The only thing she failed to notice is that the bottle had been opened already. At least until she looked over to their shocked guest, whose beautiful white dress had been covered with thick red tomato sauce.

Felix, still feeling guilty, tried to think of something to put a smile on his brother’s face. With his given resources, all he could come up with was to sit on a seesaw with him. Eric was indeed happy with that. His brother was cool and funny and much more fun on the playground than their parents. Sitting on the seesaw, Felix pushed his weight down to see his brother laughing as he flew up in the air on the other side.

-Again! Again!

Felix pushed down again, making Eric fly higher and higher. In the big laugh and an unexpected moment, Eric closed his mouth, with his tongue getting trapped between his teeth. Ouch.

The ride back home went awkwardly. The kids got some snacks for the way, but due to his swollen tongue, Eric could only eat the small block of cheese from the bag. The boys, to make him feel better, each gave their own pieces of cheese to him. But even that didn’t help Felix, because he knew the trouble he would be in when they arrived.

As Rosa took one look at her son’s bandaged head, she let out a loud gasp.

-What the hell happened to you, my son?

Eric, to give her mother an explanation, started mumbling.

- hmnumhmmnamn

Rosa’s eyes widened in shock.

If Eric could have been understood properly, he would have told her mother how nice all the boys were to him and how excited he was about showing off his scar to girls.

Accidents are not planned. Actually, they more often than not happen when we try to avoid them the most. But when was the last time someone told you a good story about a vacation or a dinner where everything went perfectly according to plan?