Circular Motion

Daddy was coming home today! The mere thought sent shocks of sheer glee from the top of her head to the tips of her toes, and she couldn’t help but dance a happy dance for the millionth time that day. Now if only Mommy would finish getting ready, they could run and meet him when he got off his plane. MEET HIM!!

She danced again, squealing in excitement as she clutched Mr. Fluffles to her chest. Daddy had been away since she was a baby, fighting to protect her and Mommy, so this would be her first time meeting him where she could actually remember him. And wouldn’t he be surprised, she was a WHOLE five-years-old! Not a little baby anymore, that was for sure. And Daddy was all done fighting, she and Mommy were safe, and Mommy said everything would be alrig-

“That’s right, everyone, this war is over. With the final details in order and the official disarmament in progress, all our brave men and women are coming home. And staying for good, it looks like – talks are in progress with our own government to fully dismantle the remaining areas of the country’s military now that most of the trouble areas have been safely squared away. Details will be provided as the talks progress, and the outcome is looking good. Now for the weather, let’s go over to Thom. Thom, how’s our weekend looking?”

“Well, Mickey, it’s going to be a wet one to start off with. I hope everyone has a sturdy raincoat to go with that umbrella, or are you going to get soa-”

He was getting soaked. There was just so much blood. Why was there so much blood? The soldiers, they hadn’t found him or his little sister yet, not the way they’d found Ma and Pa and Ojore - and it was their blood on the floor – oh, God, it was theirs - seeping into the floor and dripping into their hiding place beneath, hitting his shoulder and back and neck and soaking deep, deep into his shirt and into his skin, and he couldn’t move away. Not when moving meant letting the blood hit Nafia, who was cradled, shaking, in his arms. Not when moving could possibly mean alerting the soldiers still stomping around above that there were still living bodies nearby. He was the big brother now, now that Ojore and Odango were gone. Gunfire, rapid and impossibly loud, sounded from above, accompanied by the familiar sounds of panic and fear. He curled tighter around Nafia, squeezing his eyes and biting his lip against the whimpers begging to esc-

“-Escape to Africa for the winter! It’ll be fun!” Joanne pleaded. “We can go on Safari, go swimming, visit the old war memorials – and you know you love visiting old war memorials, Don. Don’t deny it. I just want to get out of the cold.”

Don looked skeptical, but sighed as he nodded. “Alright, alright. I’ll take a look, see if we can manage it. But you better not weasel out on visiting those memorials if we go, got it? My Great-Grandad was there when they laid down arms, and helped build one of those memorials. I want to see it if we go.”

“Of course!” Joanne agreed cheerfully. “Not a problem. Since it means so much to your family, we’ll even take a picture of it to send back to your Da-”

Daddy was coming home today!