by Sandra Daum
My father, Will, and my nine-years older twin sisters, Iva and Liah, are already waiting. The two of them are absolutely inseparable. How close they are, becomes especially apparent in their conversations. Then, they sometimes talk so fast that you don´t have a chance to get a word in. Apart from the fact, that it sometimes seems to me as if they were speaking a foreign language. They both have greenish blue eyes and blonde hair and are almost impossible to tell apart. Lucky me, I´m able to do so. Archery is their favorite sport. Nobody can beat them at it.
“Good morning, sleepyhead. Have you been lost in your dream world again?” Liah asks with a mischievous smile.
I draw a face. If she only knew! But I´m not in the mood to explain my stupid nightmare again, especially not, as she´s making fun of me. Thus, my annoyed answer: “So what? You could have woken me up a little earlier!”
“Someone seems to be in a bad mood here,” Iva says and hugs me. I calm down a bit and embrace my father Will.
“Have you really been waiting that long for me?” I ask, while lacking the patience to wait for their answer. “Will we go to Tilla in the palm house right now? Are mom and Belle already with her?”
“First things first. We have been waiting for you for 45 minutes already and would have woken you, if mom hadn´t wanted you to get some proper sleep for once. And now we´ll all go to have breakfast together.” When I want to protest, Liah puts her foot down. “Don´t worry. I have taken a look at Tilla just 30 minutes ago. There´s still some time left, and as soon as it starts, mom or Isabelle will notify us. Okay?”
I just let my shoulders sag. Okay? No, that´s definitely not the case! Frustration would be more to the point. I´m just not in the mood to go for breakfast! With gorillas childbirth can go very fast, once it has started.
“30 minutes!! That´s an eternity. The baby could be already born. I want to go there now!” I protest.
“First he doesn´t get out of bed and now he´s rushing everyone,” Liah replies, shaking her head. I glare at her.
“Sebastian, it won´t work like this,” my father finally says. “Your mother and Isabelle won´t be able to have breakfast with us, if you´ll be missing as well it will attract attention. I´m really not in the mood to engage into a useless discussion with our revered mayor. I´m sick and tired of hearing the phrase ´We´ll all have to stick together´. As appealing as it might sound, it starts getting old like any other word that´s constantly drummed into your head. When Tilla is ready, we´ll go see her at once, that´s a promise!” he adds soothingly.
“This simply can´t be true! What, if we skipped breakfast with everyone else for one morning,” I protest and angrily stamp my feet. “And I´m not hungry anyway,” I stubbornly add.
© Sandra Daum 2024-02-01