Chapter 10. Pooling Thoughts..
Elizabeth finished cleaning up herself and the drips all over the floor. She hung her clothes over the shower curtain to dry along with the wet towel she used first for her hair, and then for the floor. Dinner wasn't going to make itself, so she headed to the kitchen. Since time was ticking away quickly, she needed to snap to it. She had thawed some burger for the spaghetti she had planned for supper. It was a perfect choice, simple to prepare, not time-consuming, and everyone loved it. Besides, choosing something that made everyone happy would be a good thing tonight. Tensions had been high as of late. With everyone.
The teens weren't happy with the living situation. They were thankful to have a bed, but not happy to have lost their home and most all of their belongings. Each dealt with their emotions differently. Most often Samantha hid her emotions behind an attitude of indifference. "It doesn't Matter.. They are just Things.. Whatever.. I'm Fine.." were often her responses to what she had gone through and lost. Numb on the outside, turbulent on the inside. All Bottled Up yet pretending she was Okay.. Rarely letting her true self out to express how she felt.
Wayne on the other hand was a ball of fury. Little made him happy and he was the first to tell you. He would slam doors, yell and tease his younger siblings (and his older sister) mercilessly to the point of making them either yell or cry. He had no issue saying he hated what had happened. Wished he was in Owego. Was disrespectful often and always wanting to pick a fight. He didn't handle his stress well at all and it was difficult for Elizabeth to know what to do or what to say to make it better. He always thought she was against him. But she just was a different person, with a completely different personality so they often were like sandpaper together, never going with the same grain, always brushing each other wrong.
And then there was her husband. Bob and her had really had their share of mountains to climb through their short marriage already. Ghosts of past relationships and terrible hurt some of which that would leave large scars. Heavy baggage that comes with children of divorced parents. The loss of babies, not just one but many. Not just miscarriage, but even a child born too soon, her life flickered out like a gentle breeze extinguishing a delicate taper candle. Money Troubles, Job Losses, and Now A Flood trying to wash away their life. Not fresh clear water to cleanse the soul. Thick muddy sludge covering everything. It wasn't easy at times at all, in fact it was Terribly Hard. There were times when she just didn't know how they were going to make it through. And now this flood; It was tearing them apart. The stress of all they had endured, how were they going to make it?? She often wondered...
The littles weren't excluded from the stress.. They were small but not completely ignorant. They felt the brunt of their big brother's frustration and anger. They saw their big sister become more and more reserved. Not really being there even when she was there. They saw and heard their parents arguing, even though Bob and Elizabeth tried not to argue in front of the children, it would happen sometimes in the heat of the moment. And when the arguing had subsided, trying to "be normal" in such an abnormal state of life was difficult. They tended to not play as well together. Little things became big things quickly. Christiana was still needing her mama to lay with her every single night to put her to sleep. Ever since they were stranded in the pitch black gym on the floor at the shelter sleeping there for days with rows and rows of other people, she had been terrified of sleeping alone. Who could blame her... Poor baby girl was so scared, and the never-ending rain didn't help. It brought thoughts, even to a three year wee tyke of what had happened, and the fear of it happening again..
Elizabeth's thoughts pooled about her, looking out the window at the steel gray sky.. There was a brief respite from the rain, but everything was saturated with water, and the looming dark clouds threatening above, along with the forecast made more rain inevitable. All of a sudden she was back in her home on West Ave the morning of the flood... All of her memories came flooding in and she remembered it like it was happening right then and there...
