Snowflakes Challenge - Mad and Sad

Snowflake's Challenge is a monthly writing challenge hosted by R.B. McConnell. Every month a picture is provided to write a piece of Flash Fiction. Here's mine for prompt No.4.

Mad and Sad

Nadia stood trembling in the bushes watching the door & waiting. She could hear the noise, as could all the neighbours. People were starting to come to their front doors and look, standing out on their front steps and gossiping. Nadia pushed herself further into the shrubbery so they wouldn’t see her; she worried they might take her.

She’d heard about that happening at school. If people found out things weren’t right at home, they took you away to live with another family. She didn’t want that to happen. If they did that how would she protect her mother? If they took her too maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but where would they go? And what would happen to her brother? She could feel her breath getting short and her limbs feeling twitchy as the sick feeling in her stomach spread.

There was a big crash inside and Nadia felt her belly jump. What was he doing in there to her mum? She heard her mother cry out. She was torn between rushing in and staying put. She stayed put. Mum always said, stay put, it’s not safe when your brother gets in one of his rages.

She stuck her fingers in her mouth. It helped sooth her. She started to hear crying. It was loud crying – not her mother’s. She felt her stomach loosen. When he did that, it meant the end. It meant things would calm down now. Whatever had upset him was now making him sad, not angry anymore.

She took in a sudden breath and it helped. Things were different for her brother, people didn’t understand that. He felt things too much. He couldn’t stop it and it made him mad. He’d let her hug him now. And her mum too.