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02:21, 29th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Closed: Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

Posted by BobbyFor group 0
Bobby
NPC, 219 posts
Sun 30 Jul 2017
at 02:42
  • msg #1

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

It had been that way for the last few days. Dad started off calling in sick. It was unusual, both to know he was home, but even more to know he wasn't working. Then another day. And then another.

Four days in a row Dad hadn't gone to work. Four Days he stayed in the Master bedroom--Mom and Dad's bedroom. Shawn heard him talking on a muffled, low voice to Mom. A voice of a different person. Maybe a sick person. But even in that muffled voice, it didn't sound like Shawn was used to hearing Dad. He sounded...energetic. Too energetic.

Mom was also acting strange, having forgotten a number of appointments, focusing instead on care taking for Dad. Shawn's acting coach had to call several times this week just to get an appointment to come to the house. Mom hadn't spoke to Shawn about acting, hadn't pressured him to get a movie part and hadn't even mentioned the film industry or his future stardom during the last week and half, well before Dad stopped going to work.

The house itself had an odd atmosphere to it. The kitchen counter was starting to get dirty. An open box of cereal sat next to the kitchen sink, piled high with dishes that were waiting form Mom's hands to wash. In the hallway, the vacuum cleaner was turned over, a job half done, partially blocking the entrance to the dining room.

"Dad's been sick."
Bobby noted, staring across at the kitchen table at Shawn, pointing the obvious with a voice that didn't overly worried, but still concerned. Bobby flicked a loose piece of lettuce from the taco dinner two nights ago. It landed on the floor of the kitchen with a silent thud, joining the dried pieces of cheese from the same dinner that had been on the floor as well.
Shawn Cramer
player, 892 posts
Sun 30 Jul 2017
at 02:53
  • msg #2

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Yeah. I'm sure he'll be fine, though. After you get sick, you get better, right?" Shawn wasn't the kind of person to get sick. Well, that wasn't quite true; he'd been sick plenty of times, he just always did his best to hide it right up until the point where he was so sick it could no longer be concealed. He himself was feeling a little more concerned than Bobby was, though he was doing his best to hide it. Dad's behaviour was most obviously weird - he certainly didn't sound sick - but it was weird that Mom had been so passive recently. But it was the dull, sad worries he had about Adult Matters, the kind of thing where he didn't really understand the problem, let alone the solution. He just had to hope Mom and Dad would figure it out and go back to normal soon.
Bobby
NPC, 220 posts
Mon 31 Jul 2017
at 01:44
  • msg #3

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Yeah." Bobby agreed. "Do you think...I mean, how do you think, I mean, you know? How is it that Mom and Dad love  you more?" Bobby asked.
Shawn Cramer
player, 894 posts
Mon 31 Jul 2017
at 03:11
  • msg #4

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

Shawn was taken aback by the question, and found himself scrambling to come up with a deflection. "I don't know if that's true. Mom and Dad, sometimes they act...funny. I don't understand them, even more than other adults. I don't know how to judge how much they love either of us - I just have to believe they do."
Bobby
NPC, 221 posts
Tue 1 Aug 2017
at 01:17
  • msg #5

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Alright." Bobby started, almost immediately after Shawn spoke. "It's just that, sometimes....I dunno. I just get the feeling that Mom doesn't really kind of pay attention to me, and that she's ya know? Just that's she's kind of interested in you and acting and stuff."

"I mean, I like to play with cars and matchbox, but I kind of stopped doing that. I thought that maybe Mom would be more interested in it, since she told me that she would like it if I started doing other things 'cause playing with cars is for little kids."

"But that's just something she said two days ago, and she's been acting weird."

Shawn Cramer
player, 896 posts
Tue 1 Aug 2017
at 01:35
  • msg #6

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Really?" Shawn was a little surprised that Mom had decided to manage Bobby's playtime like that. Certainly Shawn still liked playing with cars, and Mom hadn't told him not to do it. "Did she say what she wanted you to do instead?"
Bobby
NPC, 222 posts
Tue 1 Aug 2017
at 09:12
  • msg #7

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Well, no. Not really.  I mean she said she wanted me to do whatever Dad wants. But I haven't seen Dad the last couple of days. He's just, I dunno, in the room I guess."

The conversation sat between them for a while. Bobby stirred his Kix cereal absently, the spoon clinking against the side of the white-enameled bowl. Inside the kitchen, the whir of the dishwasher could be heard, a low grumble which produced white noise.

"What do you think?" Bobby asked. "Do you know what Dad wants me to do?"
Shawn Cramer
player, 898 posts
Tue 1 Aug 2017
at 11:47
  • msg #8

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"I don't know, really..." Shawn finished his cereal and walked over to the sink to put the bowl away. "Last time I spoke with him he took me to church, but I haven't really seen him since..."
Bobby
NPC, 223 posts
Thu 3 Aug 2017
at 03:07
  • msg #9

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Yeah." Bobby said, disappointed. "Well I have. He told me yesterday. I mean, told me to not come into the room. I went to Mom and Dad's bedroom. And I wanted to, you know, just see what was going on with Dad. I opened the door just a crack. I saw Dad was the room, in the bed. At least I thought that he was. There was some kind of thing he's working on in there. Making all of these shuffling noises, or paper-like noises. Then, all of the sudden, the door opened."

Bobby paused.


"Oh brother. Dad was mad as all get-out. He told me to go back down the hall and not disturb him. He didn't look well. Skinnier too. Kind of older. And he's growing a beard, I think."

Shawn Cramer
player, 899 posts
Thu 3 Aug 2017
at 03:26
  • msg #10

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"He probably just hasn't been eating and shaving because he's stick. And he wants to keep you out of his room because he's worried you'll catch it." Shawn tried to put a positive spin on things even as he worried about what Dad was up to. What would he need to shuffle paper for? Was he reading the Bible more?
Bobby
NPC, 224 posts
Thu 3 Aug 2017
at 09:53
  • msg #11

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"No." Bobby disagreed. "He's working on things in there. He's working on something..." Bobby stopped, a bit of fear creeping in his voice.

"I think we should try to figure it out."
Shawn Cramer
player, 905 posts
Sat 5 Aug 2017
at 15:40
  • msg #12

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

Shawn frowned and looked sceptical. In truth, he was worried about Dad, but on some level he thought that if other people found out how he'd been acting, bad things would happen. Even if Bobby agreed not to tell anyone, would he still let it slip? "I don't know. Mom said you should do what Dad wants. And Dad doesn't want to be disturbed..."
Bobby
NPC, 225 posts
Sun 6 Aug 2017
at 10:09
  • msg #13

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Oh Brother!" Bobby fretted, brows furrowed into a distraught grimace. "I know. You're probably right. Maybe if I listen to Mom then she'll start to...I dunno pay attention to me more or even play with me."

This last idea brought a glimmer of light to Bobby's face. "Maybe she'll even play matchbox cars with me!" Bobby said, face now filled with hope, though it was clear he wanted feedback on the idea.
Shawn Cramer
player, 906 posts
Sun 6 Aug 2017
at 11:15
  • msg #14

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"You never know. At the very least it couldn't hurt, right?" Shawn felt bad about getting his hopes up, but he already had enough on his plate to worry about today. He could figure out what was happening with Mom, Dad, and Bobby tomorrow, assuming he made it to tomorrow.
Bobby
NPC, 226 posts
Mon 7 Aug 2017
at 03:21
  • msg #15

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Alright!" Bobby said, getting up with a spring in his step--he actually did a little bit of hop. "Are you ready to go outside!?" He asked with the joy that only a kid during the summer would ask.

"Let's go play!!!" He yelled, pumping his fist. It was clear that what Shawn had said put him in a much better mood.
Shawn Cramer
player, 909 posts
Mon 7 Aug 2017
at 03:45
  • msg #16

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

"Yep!" Shawn mimicked Bobby's enthusiasm even as he wished he could share it. Today would be a very busy day.
Storyteller
GM, 384 posts
Mon 7 Aug 2017
at 09:14
  • msg #17

Shawn: Dad Hasn't Been to Work in Days...

OOC: Shawn joins thread

Shawn: Tears for Fears

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