Evening with a teen
by Carrie Harris

"What would you know?" I shouted, and slammed the door of my bedroom to block out Mum's voice. I felt very angry as I pulled out my diary and began to write ...

"Dear Diary,
Mum is hassling me again today. I think she's on a power trip or something. I just can't figure her out! Dad's no help. Every time we fight, he just sits in his dumb old chair and reads his newspaper. Bradley started it again, but I never see HIM get in trouble!"

I felt better for writing that down. I locked my diary and put it away, then slowly opened my bedroom door to look out. Kate was crawling clumsily down the hallway towards me, gurgling her gorgeous baby talk at me.

My heart softened, and I decided that what I needed was a nice walk to the park. I picked Kate up and carried her back to the nursery to fetch her pram, then headed through the loungeroom to go out the front door.

"Just taking Kate for a walk, Dad. I'll be back soon," I said and, sure enough, Bradley looked up from the telly. He was laying on his belly on the floor, watching the muppets.

"Can I come?" he asked eagerly, and I shook my head.

"You have to be older than ten to walk with me," I said, and smiled at him smugly.

"Kate's not even one, and you're taking her!"

"Kate's not going to be walking." I poked my tongue out at him, and he turned to Dad.

"Daaaaad, Jessie's being mean to me!" he whined. "Tell her to let me come!"

Dad didn't even bother looking up from his newspaper. "Okay mate, you can go ..." Bradley poked his tongue out at me, and started to get up. "... but it means you'll miss the muppets," he continued, and Bradley hesitated for a second before turning his attention back to the telly. I quickly left the house before Bradley had a chance to change his mind.

Kate giggled and gurgled sleepily at the sights around her, and I remembered with a pang of guilt that she was supposed to have a nap now. I'd be in trouble with Mum when I got home.

I decided not to dwell on this fact, and set about enjoying the walk. A few minutes later I reached the park, where I sat on the bench and took Kate out of her pram. It was a cold winter's day and I had forgotten to bring her blanket, so I cuddled her close and pulled my jacket around her.

A few minutes later, a strange lady sat on the bench beside me. "Aren't you a little young to have a baby?" she asked, and I explained that Kate was my baby sister. The lady nodded and smiled.

"So good of you to take care of your sister. You know, you remind me of my niece. Yes, you two could be twins ..." I felt a shiver down my spine, and I wasn't altogether sure that it was from the cold wind.

"Um, I have to go," I said quickly, and buckled Kate back into her pram. She was starting to look very sleepy. The lady stood up as well.

"Gladys," she said, and reached out her hand.

"Pardon?"

"My name is Gladys. Maybe we'll meet again?" I nodded, and quickly headed for home.

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By the time I got home, it had started to drizzle, so I darted inside and headed straight for the nursery. After putting Kate down for her nap, and checking she had enough blankets, I went into the kitchen to face the music.

"I'm sorry Mum. I forgot it was Kate's nap time," I said quietly. Mum turned from whatever it was she was doing, and looked straight at me.

"Where is she now?" Mum asked, and I pointed to the nursery.

"I put her down for a nap. She has plenty of blankets, and she went to sleep pretty much straight away." Mum nodded, and turned around again. I went over to her, and saw that she was peeling potatoes for dinner.

"Can I help?" I asked, and she handed me the peeler and a handful of potatoes. I peeled in silence for a few minutes, then decided to broach a subject that had been bothering me.

"Did you and Nanna fight like we do?" I asked, and Mum chuckled.

"Yes. When I was your age, we fought all the time. Usually it was because she didn't like my taste in music. She was always on at me to turn it down or off ... Mind you, in those days I played my music on a record player."

"You are definitely ready for the museum," I laughed. I was relieved to know that Mum knew what I felt. Just then, Bradley came running in all excited.

"We're going to have snow!" he announced. Disappointed by our lack of response, he repeated himself. "I SAID, we're going to have SNOW!" Mum turned around.

"How do you know we're going to have snow?" she asked, and he put his hands in his pockets.

"'Cause I was watching the weatherman, and the telly went all wrinkly, and Dad said not to worry, it's just snow. Wow, we're going to have snow!" he yelled, as he turned and ran from the room. Mum and I looked at each other for a second, then we both laughed.

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After dinner, I decided to sit down and work on my homework. I planned to be a great writer one day, but for now I had a 500 word story to write for English. I wasn't quite sure where to begin, so I stared at the blank page and chewed my pencil.

A few minutes later, Mum came in with a mug of hot milk.

"You look bored," she observed, and put the mug down on the table beside me.

"I can't think of an idea for a story," I growled in frustration, and grabbed the mug. Mum pulled up a chair, and looked at my blank page.

"You could re-write the story of David and Goliath," she suggested, and I glared at her.

"Muuuu-ummmm!"

"Okay, but have you got a better idea?" She got up quietly and left the room.

I thought hard for a while, but couldn't come up with anything better. David and Goliath it was, then ...

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An hour later, I gave Mum the story I had written.

"Can you check this for me?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Okay. You go and get ready for bed while I read it. Don't forget to put an extra blanket on your bed tonight." I smiled at her, then headed for my room. On the way, I passed Bradley's room. Although he had only been put to bed half an hour before, his snores were already shaking the walls.

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Ten minutes later Mum came in while I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom.

"Great story Jess, but where does the Bible say that Goliath had a rocket launcher?" I grinned at her through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Okay, so he didn't have a rocket launcher, and David didn't have a BB gun," I said, and spat out the toothpaste. "I was just trying to modernise the story a bit." Mum came in and gave me a hug as I wiped my mouth.

"You'll get an A for sure," she encouraged me, and gave me the story. I put it in my backpack and jumped into bed. Mum was right ... I would need an extra blanket tonight. I climbed out of bed and fetched a thick blanket from the hall closet, then curled up in bed to get warm ...