Paula

Paula woke up one Sunday morning because the sun was shining brightly through her window. She didn’t want to see the sun. She did not even want to get up that morning. Paula didn’t care if she ever woke up again.

Paula got up and closed the curtains. She crawled right back into bed and tried to go back to sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t sleep.

Paula’s mind kept racing back through the events from the night before. Her father hard come home from work and Paula had not done the laundry or the dishes or any of her chores. She had forgotten. Her father became very angry, yelling at her.

“I worked hard all day long and you made no effort to do anything at all!” yelled her father.

“I just forgot,” cried Paula.

“I thought we could count on you to help us out while your mother is in the hospital,” her father continued yelling.

“I’m sorry,” said Paula.

Father slammed Paula’s bedroom door. He went to the fridge and got himself a beer. He soon grabbed another and then another.

Father did up the dishes and threw a load of laundry into the washing machine.

“I don’t know why that kid couldn’t have done that,” he said to himself, half drunk. “It only took me a half and hour. I don’t get it.”

A couple of hours later, Paula was getting hungry. She tip-toed into the kitchen. Her father was sleeping at the kitchen table. He was still drunk.

“I suppose you want to eat something,” said Father, half waking up.

“Well yeah,” said Paula. “I’m starved.

“Here,” said Father. “Eat this.”

Father threw a half empty beer bottle that was sitting on the table beside him. He wasn’t aiming for anything in particular. He just threw it. It missed Paula completely. Paula ran screaming out of the kitchen and then she heard a large thump on the floor.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Paula. “Daddy, are you alright!”

Paula went rushing back into the kitchen. She saw her father sitting in a heap on the kitchen floor crying his eyes out.

“Oh Paula!” he cried. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I didn’t mean to throw that bottle. I just got so frustrated.”

Paula was down on the floor beside her father. She put her arms around him and cried with him. Paula knew that her father has been under a lot of stress with mother being in the hospital. She knew she should have done the things her father asked. However, she knew her father shouldn’t have thrown the beer bottle.

Father knocked on Paula’s bedroom door before going to work that next morning.

“I’m truly very sorry,” Father said to her, a tear rolling down his cheek. “I never meant to throw that bottle.”

Paula looked over at her Father standing in the doorway.

“I know Daddy,” said Paula. “I know you didn’t.”

Father went to work and Paula got up. She had a quick shower and right afterwards got dressed and started a load of laundry. She then made herself some breakfast. After that she did the dishes and cleaned up around the house.

Father came home from work early that day because he just felt so bad about what happened the night before. He saw what Paula had done that morning. It made him feel even worse. He went over to the fridge and he took the beer bottles out of there, opened each one up and poured them down the drain.

“Hi Daddy,” said Paula, coming into the kitchen with a basket of folded clothes in her arms. “What are you doing?”

“Not drinking anymore,” said Father.

“Really!” exclaimed Paula.

“Really,” said Father. ”There will be no more repeats of last night ever. I want to thank you for all you did around here today.”

“You are welcome,” said Paula, dropping the basket and giving her Father a big hug.