OOC: The results of your roll have been included to begin this thread, Em has remembered that there were 'tasks' to be done before going out to play and finds herself looking at the task board.

Em stood looking out through window near the front door. The October leaves were drifting through the front lawn on a chilly breeze outside. Only a minute or two had passed since Mom said she was going into the kitchen and already Em could hear the familiar sounds of pots and pans, the crackle of the stove and the smell of onions and garlic.

On the wall next to the coat rack was the large, bronze, urn-looking thing that held the big umbrella. No one ever used it unless it was really rainy. But right above it was something that Em always had to use, every day.

A small blackboard.

And on it, white chalk marks which outlined a table. There were three columns and six rows, all carefully marked to angular perfection with Dad's ruler. The heading of the first column read: Task and the second columns were 'No' and 'Yes'

For each task that would be completed, Em usually had to wipe the 'X' mark off of the 'No' column and place a 'Check Mark' on the 'Yes' column.

Then there were the rows that listed the 'Tasks' themselves. They weren't 'Chores.' Dad was very, very specific about that. The tasks were things that Em had to do every day. And Dad would be the one checking.


Em looked at the table. She had already done most of the tasks. She only need to Brush her hair, which Dad was trying to get her to do. But he usually didn't oversee this operation, preferring to get Mom to teach Em, on account of Mom's knowledge of hair and that Mom was basically in charge of most things related to modeling and that hair fell into that category.

The books were a different matter. Dad had gotten a bunch of flimsy paper books from somewhere. They looked like maybe they were pulp-like and had titles like I Like Christmas, Two Plus Two Equals Four, and Sally Celebrates Her Birthday. They were clearly from his childhood or maybe even Grandpa's. And, because of this, the edges of the paper were frayed. Each book was about 7 pages long and Dad had a new one ready every day. They got more complicated and now Em was find each page of those seven pages was jam-packed with words that were very, very small as to fit as many as possible on a page.

The question mark was another thing all together. Dad explained many, many times that a question mark was in the last row because 'No system can capture everything.' Sometimes, Em would find something written next to the question mark like 'Go over your school homework again' or 'Say something nice to your brother.' On rare occasions when Dad was in a good mood there would appear something like 'Open a Present!' which meant Dad had bought something for Em. The books could be found on the book shelf in the living room.

But today was a different kind of day. On days like today, the question mark stood on its own, without anything written next to it. This meant that Dad would be telling Em what task that represented. And he would expect the other tasks to be done by the time he got around to telling her. Because it was Saturday, this reminder usually happened before lunch. If Em hadn't completed the task by then, Dad would be upset.
This message was last updated by the GM at 01:26, Mon 10 Feb 2020.

After her Mom had ended their conversation Em had gone upstairs and gotten dressed. She'd stripped off her T-shirt slash PJs on the way up the stairs, but had remembered to keep hold of it so she could put it in her room where it belonged. Then she'd put on her baseball cap, pulling her  long hair through the hole in the back to tie it out of the way. It was a Saturday and there was nothing she needed to do, which meant Em could wear what she wanted. Em's wardrobe of clothes that she considered comfortable for such an occasion was limited, but she still spent several minutes dressed only in her underpants ostensibly picking what to wear and really just enjoying the freedom of to be herself.

It was a Saturday with nothing to do, which meant there was a lot to be done, so Em didn't spend too long drifting around her room. She got dressed in her brother's old jeans and his old Transformers top and, after checking the result in the mirror and smiling at her reflection she grabbed a pair of socks and ran down stairs.

Em had been planning to get her socks and sneakers on and get outside before Mom decided she wanted help or company in the kitchen, but at the bottom of the stairs she remembered the task board. Sighing to herself Em looked up at it.

Mom had brushed her hair while they were talking, so Em rubbed the 'no' cross out and drew a new one in the 'yes' box. Then, her shoulders slumping slightly in resignation, she padded through to the living room to find today's book.

When Em got into the living room she spotted the familiar book case. The second shelf held a pile of small rectangular books. Each book was made of several pages of paper that had been folded in half and stapled down the center. The top book had the title Suzy’s Wedding Day  and might tell a simple story of the character and how she was about to or already had been married. Stacked just below this book, and poking out from underneath, Em could see the partial title Motorcycle Race in Californ...

Dad usually wanted Em to read the books in order of how they were stacked. But the last couple of times he hadn’t said anything when she had searched the pile and didn’t seem to notice that her Older brother routinely flaunted this rule, grabbing books of interest in his own pile and reading the boring ones last. After reading, each kid was supposed to put the book in the ‘finished’ stack on the shelf below the unread books.

Looking at the book on top of her pile Em snorted through her nose. Having to read a book on a Saturday wasn't fair. Having to read about stupid Suzy and her boring wedding day should be illegal. Dad would check up though, so Em reluctantly picked up the book. Spotting a book that looked more interesting peeking out from further down the pile Em paused. Unable to help herself she looked around, making sure she wasn't being watched. Then, covering what she was doing with her body, Em put stupid Suzy back on the pile and pulled out the book that promised motorcycles.

Well musing about the unfairness of it all, Em heard a noise at the window. No sooner did she have the chance to look up, when she saw it:

It was Rocco. She had heard some of the other kids in the neighborhood and at school mention Rocco, the neighborhood squirrel with his distinct streak of white fur down his back. It made him look like Pepe le pew From the cartoons. And now he was right outside the windowsill Scratching on the window, and holding in his mouth what looked like an acorn.

Although Em managed not to jump at the unexpected sound she did turn the book so that she was holding it with the title facing her body. She looked in the direction of the noise, and when she saw the furry stranger at the window she smiled.

"Hello" Em said, walking over to the window, walking slowly in an attempt to not scare away the racoon "what've you got there?" she asked, putting the palm of one hand flat against the glass of the window.

Up closer, Rocco was a mixture of colors, red, black, and grey. With one long streak of white from the top of his head down to his tail. The colors blended together nicely, giving him a smokey look. The mask he wore seemed to foretell the typical actions that kids around the block ascribed to him: stealing food, tearing garbage bags apart, and getting into everything. His eyes were little glossy balls of light brown, like copper over honey, and his tail swayed back and forth, as if he was a dog.

When Em got close up to the window, she saw that he wasn't holding an acorn in his mouth, but a muffin. He clutched the muffin tightly, with his black hands which were like gloves, nose sniffing at the palm that Em pressed from the other side of the glass window.

Em laughed when she realised that the raccoon had a muffin it had stolen from somewhere. "Ha! You stole that, I bet. You're an outlaw" she told the raccoon "you can do whatever you want. You should go steal more stuff. Or go hang out at your hideout" she said, then her smile faded a little "I can't come play yet. I got to read my book" she told the raccoon, holding up the book "do you want to hear it? I can read it to you if you want?" she offered.

Rocco put one hand on the glass window in what was almost a human gesture. Then he stiffened up, and looked past Em as if he had seen something behind her. Then the raccoon turned around, hopped off the windowsill and disappeared into the bushes, streaked-white tail trailing behind it.

“Did you read it? Did you market down? You know How I don’t like to remind you” Dad said from behind Em.

Had there been time Em might have regretted the raccoon leaving. It might have been nice, having someone to read to. There wasn't time, though, because Dad announced himself.

Turning around Em held up the book "I'm just about to start reading it now" she said "there was a raccoon on the windowsill. I was telling him not to mess with our trash."

"That's my girl." Dad said, with a tone that seemed to say 'don't get distracted.'

Then he said. "Transformers, huh?" Looking at Em's shirt. The 'huh' could be interpreted in many ways.

- 'Huh': Disapproval

- 'Huh': Lack of understanding

- 'Huh': Matter of fact

- 'Huh': Surprise

Dad used that word always at the end of sentences and it was never malicious but always held some kind of meaning that was difficult to read.

Not wanting to cause any trouble Em simply looked down at her shirt, as though she was checking it was Transformers, then she nodded an agreement. Dad's 'huh' could have meant any number of things, so it was safest not to say anything back.

"Do you want me to read out loud to you? Or in my head?" she asked, holding up the book again to prove she really did know she had to read it now.

“Why don’t you read it in your head? I know you’ll do it. I trust you.” Dad said with a smile. But then the smile faded and Em could see a hint of slight irritation on his face. “I just don’t want to have to remind you to get the rest of the stuff on the chart done.”

Em knew that Dad hated having to remind her of things like that.

When she was told to read in her head Em nodded and walked over to a chair. She flopped onto the seat, sprawling in it with her legs over one arm and her back resting against the other arm, getting comfy for her reading.

At her Dad's reminder that he didn't like having to tell her about the task list Em felt a hot flash of anger. What did he think she was doing? She'd ticked off everything on the list except reading and question mark, and now here she was with her dumb book while a Saturday where she didn't have anything to do ticked away from her. And when she was done reading she wouldn't go outside and have fun. She'd go find Dad to discover what today's question mark was. After reading, not before, because he wouldn't like it if she went to find him first.

Rather than let this irritation show Em flashed a smile at her Dad, then she opened her book to the first page and held it up in front of her face. "I know, Dad. I'll remember" she said.

As Em processed these thoughts and the flash of anger, Dad revealed the nature of the question mark.

“Good. Because for today’s question mark, I’m taking you to your brothers baseball game.” Dad explained. Em has never been to her older brothers baseball game, which he played every Saturday. Dad then added “Hurry up! I’ll be in the car!”

Em's heart sank from her chest to the vicinity of her feet at the news that today's question mark was going to cost her her Saturday. A Saturday with no pagent activity was rare and precious, and Em had had plans. There were wars to be won and girls to be rescued and bad guys to be fought and the world to save. But now all that was going to have wait. It wasn't fair.

It doubly wasn't fair that it was going to have to wait so she could watch her brother enjoy his Saturday. It was bad enough that didn't have to get his hair done and wear make up and dresses and smile and look pretty. Em didn't want to go see the neat stuff he got to do instead. She knew she was very lucky to be able to pick through his old clothes before they got thrown out, but that didn't mean it felt good to know that she had to make do with his garbage. She didn't want to start spending her free Saturdays stuck stealing any scrap of fun that she could get, second hand, from him too.

The question mark needed ticking off though, so Em just nodded and made a humming sound in agreement.

The only good thing about the news Dad had just delivered was that he was eager to get going. That meant Em felt safe skimming the book, glancing at the words and looking at the pictures just enough to be confident she'd be able to bluff her way through talking about it if Dad had questions. She took what she thought was enough time to satisfy Dad that she'd read it, but wasn't too long so he'd get annoyed about waiting. Then she put the book on the finished shelf and went to tick off 'read book' and put on her sneakers.

Stepping outside Em paused for a second to mourn the day she would have had. It occured to her, very briefly and in passing, that she could just run down the street and still enjoy her day. By the time anyone realised what she was doing she'd be gone. She didn't, of course. That would be a very bad thing to do when her Dad was waiting for her, and it'd make both her parents mad and - worse - disappointed. Instead Em walked to the passenger side of the car where Dad was waiting and let herself in.

Em watched as Dad walked out the door with a chipper smile on his face, completely oblivious — or appearing so— to Ems  true feelings reading the revelation.


OOC: Em joins thread

Em: At Big Brother’s Baseball Game