short+story+responsibility

It had rained every day since grandma arrived in London. Every single day. Grandma sighed deeply as she gazed out of the window. The children were restless. They wanted to go outside and paly. Sigh. The children. Her burden since Saturday. She would always remember that Saturday of her life. She had been enjoying a peaceful day at the fire when the phone call had come. The people had said that her daughter was dead. Grandma had been angry. She had told them- “Grandma!” Sigh. The children. “I’m coming!” They were hungry. They were always hungry. Especially on rainy days. Sigh. The rain. Her back ached as she got up and closed the curtains. She trundled down the stairs. “I want spaghetti!” “I want // rice //!” “I want // chicken //!” Sigh. The children. There were five of them. And one of her. “You’re having porridge.” she told them. “It’s Sammy’s day.” Sammy was the oldest one. Eleven years. As she got the pots out and the children quieted down over a board game, the unpleasant thoughts returned. She had told the people on the phone to be quiet because she did not appreciate prank calls. They had assured her that it was true. After a while she believed them. She had asked what had happened and they had said- “Grandma, Julies home!” “Open the door, sweetie.” Grandma told Zeta. She was six. Only six. And she had already lost her mother. Zeta hurried away to do as she had been told. Zeta loved Julie. And she relied on her. Julie was 10. And she was the only one who could make Zeta laugh. Granma returned her attention to the porridge, which was done by then. “Sara is staying at Lisa’s tonight. I hope you don’t mind” Julie told Grandma. Sara was seven and Lisa was her best friend from school. “That’s okay. Dinner is done now.” Sammy, Julie, Zeta, and Paul sat down at the table. “Behave yourself” grandma told the children. “I’m not hungry and am going to bed.” She needed to think. And have time to herself. As she lay on her bed she thought of how the people on the phone had told her that her daughter had died in a car crash and how they wanted her to take care of her children. Grandma had been exhausted and drained by the time she had visited her daughter’s body, organized everything with the officials, and moved in with her grandchildren. Now she would have to see how she could handle these time taking children, and their financial needs. Sammy and Julia understood and were distraught, but had recognized their new responsibility and took care of their brothers and sisters as if they were already twenty. Their childhood was spoiled. Zeta and Paul still had difficulties grasping what had happened and sometimes were found staring at the door as if waiting for their mother to come home. Sara was usually away with her friends and grandma thought that this was to hide how sad she was and that she was innerly falling apart. Sara had been especially close to her mom. As she was thinking of all her worries Grandma fell asleep to dream troubled dreams. The children had noticed that she was thoughtful and tired so they finished eating and went to bed quietly. The next morning, after she had brought all the children to school or kindergarten, Granma set out to find a job. When she had been living alone her rent had been enough but now that she needed to support five more children she desperately needed a job. She searched the entire city but all the jobs she found didn’t want a grandma doing it. And it was still raining. She visited the grocery store next to the house and she luckily got a job for two weeks, to see if she was fit enough to do it. That night when she came home grandma did some math and thought that the money she was making would be enough to support her and the children, and if she needed it she could use some of her daughter’s bank savings. The next day the sun was shining and it was Saturday. The children were all really happy. Even though Sammy had a lot of homework he did it outside and so was happy. Sara stayed home that day and Granma designed a trip for them to explore the woods that were a few miles away. They walked there and Sammy and Julia occasionally carried the younger ones. Once they were at the woods they all had loads of fun. <span style="font-family: 'Nerd','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The days passed pretty well and two weeks later the owner of the Grocery store told grandma that she could keep the Job. Grandma was very happy. The children were adapting to the life without their mom, and were also having a lot of fun with their Grandma. Sara seemed to be permanently damaged, and there was nothing that Grandma could do to change that except to be a very good friend to her. But as the weeks passed, Sara spent more and more time at home. <span style="font-family: 'Nerd','serif'; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It was easy to see that this family was now as happy as it would ever be.
 * __ Responsibility  __ **