After the Storm (Norman Ray Emma)

Lethabo

 Lethabo woke me up even though I wanted it to be his mother. 

"Get up! Come on stupid Mercy wake up!" he yanked the blanket off me and pulled on my arms. My skin still feeling sensitive, I do not enjoy waking up like this. I don't enjoy any of this. 

"Mama made you tomatoes so get up or else you'll starve!" 

"Okay, okay,"

When I did get up, once again my head felt fuzzy and hot. Not a good feeling. He shoved me along outside. The fog cleared up, the sunrise lighting the sky. 

 I did feel completely starved nonetheless. That and my body ached from the horrible sleeping arrangements.

I made my way back into their warm house. It was nice once again, a warm and cozy feeling. Lethabo pulled me along to the dining room/kitchen and sat me down. I saw the woman again, she placed a whole of warm cut-up tomatoes seasoned with what looked like salt, chives, and brown rice at the bottom. 

This isn't the type of meal I would call breakfast yet it still smells good. I didn't hear Lethabo doing anything but he placed a small cup of water next to the tomatoes. 

"Hurry and eat so we can play! And you better eat the whole thing, no leftovers got it?"

"Yeah, thank you." I thanked him, then looked to his mother. Hesitantly I began,

"And, that you too," She looked at me, and hummed as if saying 'Sure, you're welcome.'

The father wasn't out yet, I think he's still asleep. I begin eating my food. It's truthfully one of the better meals I've eaten in my life. 

-

By the time I finished, Lethabo left the dishes on the table instead of washing them and dragged me outside again. This time my back hurt, and it wasn't very fun to walk. 

He scooped up a small pile of snow and patted it down into a ball. Oh, now I see what's coming. 

I had a warning, but it still shocked me the moment the snowball hit my tummy. I couldn't back down now, I forced myself to forget the pain as best I could and threw a ball right back at him. 

He was a demon. He told me he wanted to eat me. He's a bit of a brat. All that, yet he acts and sounds like a human child. He isn't calling me names right now, he's playing with me. If I were like him then maybe I would be lonely if my parents were busy all day and had no siblings to play with. So this can't be so bad, right? If he likes me enough, I might not get eaten as quickly as I thought. 

I want to look around for a way out of here, but the adults would catch on to me. 

I was fully exhausted an hour later. I couldn't take running around and throwing snow. My knees gave out and I fell into the snow. 

That's when I noticed a demon's footprints heading east. It must be the pigs. 

"Mercy, get up!"

I ignored him, heavily breathing. 

"Are you tired already? You're so lame!"

"Sorry, my back hurts too much,"

"You sound old like my papa!" he ran next to me and got on his knees. He brought his face close to mine,

"Do you want to make a snow person? We can make it a human if you want!"

Okay, that's kind of sweet.

"That sounds fun,"

"Or we can make a house out of the snow!"

"Isn't that a lot of work?"