Reality

Chapter 8

Ethan Chase

I drove back to my house, Mel already in the backseat.

"So what did you do today?" Asks Mel.

"I went to a friend's house to finish homework," I tell her.

"Why didn't you just do it at home?" She asks. "It's called homework, right? So you do it at home."

"Yeah, but it's because this is a project and I had to write down the times the baby cried-"

"YOU HAVE A BABY? What's it's name? Can it play soccer like you? Is it a girl? Let's make it a girl! Can I dress her up in dresses and make her attend tea parties!?" Melanie shrieks.

"Woah, calm down little one, don't want to burst a lung there. And it's a doll, Mel. Not an actual kid."

"Oh I have dolls. Is it a Barbie? I like Barbies. I didn't know you played with Barbies, Ethan." Melanie giggles into her tiny hand.

I'm about to explain to her that it's not a Barbie, when I decide that telling her it's a Barbie is much easier than getting the idea out of her head.

"I love playing with Barbies," I told her.

"Can you play with me at home? I was playing with Aunt Esmeralda but then she started talking about mommy being irre... Illis...."

"Irresponsible?" I ask.

"Yeah!" She shrieks.

Oh no.

"What else did she say?"

"She said that mommy was going to have to leave. That we would have to stay with her. Will we? I don't want mommy to leave."

I don't respond her question.

If this means what I think it does, then maybe Mel can finally be happy. And so can I.

"I think mommy will leave, but only for a little bit. Mommy will have to go to the convention of unicorns and....uh... learn about unicorns."

Melanie's eyes widened so much I thought they would pop.

"I wanna go to the unicorn con... com... tent.." Melanie struggled to say the word.

I laugh. "Convention."

"Yeah that," she nods a little too enthusiastic.

"It's only for women though," I tell her, with fake disappointment. "You can't go."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Melanie says, puffing out her chest. "I'm a full grown wow man."

"Woman," I correct her.

"Yeah that too."

"Well there are boys at this convention too," I tell her. Even though there is no convention, and no boys.

"Ewwwww," she says, wrinkling her nose. "I think I'll not go then."

I smile triumphantly and keep driving. We should be home in a few minutes.

Then Melanie breaks the silence again.

She screams.

"Ethan there's something back there!!!"

"Mel don't joke like that," I chide.

"No Ethan really, look!!!"

Melanie kept saying "look, look, look" for five minutes.

And so I pulled over, I got off the car and went to the trunk.

I opened it and there lay the devil child, crying it's lungs out.