Tammy Marsh’s return from the grocery store was prompt as usual, for that was her way. Ms. Marsh had always been one for accuracy in all aspects of her daily life, today was nothing out of the ordinary for her, and she had run her typical routine, every detail exactly as she planned. Tammy planned everything from daily meals to the amount of time she spent in the shower. Nothing was ever unscheduled, and that was how she liked it. Unloading the groceries from her suburban, Ms. Marsh had already begun listing afternoon activities in her head. Recently Ben had begun to find it nessesary for them to spend time together as a family that is ever since Katherine’s “accident”, but who could blame him, he was certainly no father of the year. But none the less, he still tried. Ben and Tammy Marsh had been happily married for eighteen years or so it would appear from a distance.
Noel Marsh was lounging on the couch with a copy of Bram Stockers’ Dracula, rhythmically pulling a rubber band and allowing it to slap painfully back against her wrist when her mother walked through the door. Noel had a problem no one in her family liked to talk about. So instead, she wore wrist bands.
Katherine was in her usual way, knees bent up to her chin, Barbie blanket pulled so far up only her eyes poked out. If Katherine had been visible, Ms. Marsh would have seen her five year old daughter’s dirty cheeks were stained with tears. Maybe if Ms. Marsh had taken a second to talk to her daughters about how their day was, or how they felt about their parents’ divorce, things might had gone differently, but Tammy Marsh did not. Instead she unloaded the groceries with quick pace and neatly arranged them in then pantry. All the while Katherine sat hidden like a doe in hunting season, and Noel kept time with her wrist.