Chapter 12: The Bad Day
336 Words
The morning light seeped weakly through the curtains, barely stirring Tahlia from her restless sleep. Her body ached all over, and the familiar pounding headache made her stomach twist in knots. She had woken up on the wrong side of the world.
The kids were already loud—Jasper pounding on the door, Damon arguing over a video game, Dylan loudly demanding breakfast. Cleo was fussing, teething again, her tiny fists waving in the air. Tahlia’s head throbbed harder with every noise, every shout, every demand.
She tried to steady her breath as she got out of bed. There was no time for breaks. School lunches needed packing, clothes needed finding, the house needed ordering, bills needed paying. And Marcus was late for work again.
Her body felt heavy, as if the weight of all her responsibilities was pressing down, pinning her to the floor.
By midmorning, she was sitting on the kitchen floor, tears streaming silently down her face, cheeks wet and makeup smeared. Cleo’s cries filled the room as she struggled to feed her, her hands trembling.
The chaos was overwhelming, too much for her to handle.
“I need to be little now,” she whispered to herself, voice cracking.
She closed the kitchen door softly behind her and stumbled into their bedroom, collapsing onto the rug in her pajamas. Her blanket was already folded neatly nearby. She pulled it close and hugged her stuffed bear tightly.
No words. No movement. Just silence.
The world outside the door faded away.
Marcus came home later that day, tired and worried. He found her curled up, eyes red-rimmed, cheeks flushed.
He knelt beside her, voice soft and steady. “Hey. I’m here.”
Tahlia didn’t answer.
He reached out and wiped a tear from her cheek.
“No more doing it all alone,” he promised. “Even on the hard days.”
Tahlia finally leaned into him, her tears soaking his shirt.
It was a bad day. But it was also a turning point.
- Writer
