Melting [Vance Hopper]

1

I wake up to Dusty, Cecily, and Bonnie at the edge of my bed, all wide-eyed and trembling but Bonnie who gurgles happily in Cecily's arms. Outside it thunders and the rain pours on the roof. The wind howls against the walls of the house. Dusty has his blanket wrapped all around himself and over his head like a hood.

"There's a monster outside," he whispers. "It wants to get in our room."

I grunt and check the time on my alarm.

1:52am.

Dusty is five. It's reasonable for him to believe that but Cecily is nearly eleven. She should know better and the fact that she's here in front of me, scared as hell, scares me a little, too. I keep myself calm so Dusty doesn't freak out and wake Mom.

I rub my eyes. Not that I was sleeping so good just now—who could, with a storm like that?—but I still don't wanna leave the warm cave that is my bed. I sigh and they follow me back to their bedroom. It's the biggest room in the house and it holds four kids: Bonnie (2), Dusty (6), Elise (7), and Cecily (10). Mom gave them the room after she realized Bonnie's crib wouldn't fit in the other. She took their old one, and I have the smallest room in the house. I used to share with my older sister before she went away to college.

Elise is deep asleep on the top bunk when I open the door. "Why didn't you guys wake her up?"

"Why should we have?" Cecily sets Bonnie on the floor.

"Where's this monster you guys are so afraid of?" I raise a brow at the kids.

They both point to the window and as if on cue, a loud thud and scratching noise make us all jump. Cecily picks Bonnie back up. I tell them to back up from the curtained window so I can further investigate, although I'm sure it's just some friends from school wanting to fuck with
me. Then again, my friends come over all the time, they know my room is the one on the corner. There's more scratching as I approach. Someone's trying to claw their way in.

What the hell?

Thunder booms and lightning cracks, letting light flood the room. The shadow of a long, bony, deformed hand lies beyond the curtain and we all see it. Dusty screams and starts crying. Bonnie starts fussing and Cecily tries shushing her. Elise is oblivious to all this happening, still deep asleep. I envy her.

I throw the curtains open to reveal A SCARY WITCH AND—it's a tree branch which continuously scrapes against the window, pushed and shoved by the wind. I turn to the kids. "See?" I yawn. "Go to sleep. You have school in the morning." And with that, I leave and climb back into my warm bed which is hardly warm anymore.

When my alarm goes off five hours later, I almost throw it across the room. I look outside. The rain hasn't let up, but it's no longer windy and the thunder's gone.

I sit up and rub my eyes, staring at the wall for a few minutes. Then, I pull myself away from my warm blanket to brush my teeth across the hall. I pass the kids' room and peek in. Bonnie's in her crib. Dusty's on the bottom bunk, one leg out from underneath the blanket, drooling on his pillow. Cecily's up, digging for her outfit in her dresser. I knock on the doorframe. "Morning."

She grunts in response and I continue to the bathroom. It's the only bathroom in the house. A woman, a half woman, one preteen girl, a little boy, a little girl, and a baby all in one bathroom might not seem ideal to anyone at all and that's because it's not. I rush in there, brushing hard, peeing quickly, splashing water on my face, and I leave as swiftly as I walked in.

When I pass the kids' room again, Cecily (fully dressed) has woken Elise and Dusty.

I close my bedroom door behind me and turn my radio on. I dress in jeans (flared) and a solid-white long sleeve, and then a pale green sweater over it. I sit on the floor in front of my body mirror and brush my brown hair. I shove last night's homework into my backpack and swing it over my shoulder. I go see if the kids are ready. They're all in the kitchen except Bonnie, who Mom takes to daycare when she leaves for work. I set my backpack near the door and check the time on the stove.