Dinnertime at Our House is Like a Circus
Dinnertime at Our House is Like a Circus
A Micro Fiction by Lorna Stewart
Mum juggles plates while Dad clowns around. The air is thick with delicious smells and tension as Danny, my older brother, slides into a seat.
“Hey Dump….” Dad stops as Mum throws daggers from her eyes at him, as sharp as Danny’s cheekbones. Dad turns to me instead.
“How was school?”
I take a deep breath preparing to walk the tightrope of dinnertime questions just as Mum places a dish on the table with a magician's flourish.
“Roasties!” I exhale relieved and start loading my plate. I can’t lie if my mouth is full.
“Danny,” Mum’s voice is gentle. “Won’t you try some? They used to be your favourite.”
I look at Danny’s almost empty plate. A tiny piece of chicken sits on it as white as his face.
“Not hungry. I ate at school today.”
The tightrope wobbles as Mum's eyes slide to me. I shovel food into my mouth praying, don’t ask, snitches get stitches.
Under the table the dog's tail brushes my leg. He has gotten used to food being surreptitiously dropped for him. I think of the row I overheard last night.
“He is just growing.” Dad’s aggravated voice wafted up to where I sat on the stairs. “I was skinny too at his age.”
I leaned further into the banister rails straining to hear Mum's reply.
“He’s been throwing his sandwiches in a bin.”
“Maybe he didn’t like them.”
Mum murmured something.
“But that’s a girl's disease. Danny’s a boy!”
As I moved closer the stairs creaked. I bolted up to my bedroom and shut the door just as the living room door opened.
Now watching Danny toy with the food on his plate I can see how his hoody hangs on his skinny frame. Gone is his dimpled smile and sparkling eyes. The tightrope wobbles again.
Snitches get stitches is what the bullies say. They also snigger, “Danny Dumpling.”
Dinnertime in our house is like a circus and slowly pound by pound Danny is doing a disappearing act.
I look up and swallow.
Time to bring the big top down.
Author: Lorna Stewart lives on a narrowboat in the UK and enjoys writing. She has been published in The Drabble and 81 Words anthology. She has been highly commended and shortlisted in Writers Forum, Flash 500, Retreat West, Southam 100 Words.