Chapter Text
“Are you bored already?” Marie Chandler asked her brother, who was flipping through a Hawkeye comic book he’d bought at the nearest bookstand.
“Me not bored, just not interested,” Thomas Chandler said, not even looking up.
“That’s what bored means, dickwad,”
“Marie Ann Chandler, you watch your mouth!” Her mother smacked her in the back of the head.
“Ow!” She protested. “Mom, it’s just a word I heard the performers using! I didn’t know it was bad!” She did, but she knew this would appease her mother. She wasn’t looking to get grounded again this year. She had a lot of books she was eager to get her hands on. Her friends said her mom was weird because instead of getting grounded from tv, she was grounded from books.
Her mother’s expression softened.
“Oh,” She said. “Well, then don’t use that word. It’s rude, and mean.” She said, and Marie nodded solemnly.
“Where’s dad?” Thomas asked, looking around the room.
“He’s busy talking to one of the instructors,” She said fondly and exasperatedly. They knew why-he’d talked and talked and talked to them to death, as he was fascinated by the art of the circus. Marie liked some of it-the lady who was on top of the elephant was cool, and the high wire trapeze was awesome too. She didn’t know much about the rest, though. The lion tamer was more her brother’s style, but the throwing knives…now that was pretty cool.
“I’m going to get my bag from the van,” Marie announced. “Knowing dad, he’ll take ages, and I can read.”
“Go, but be careful,”
Those would be the last words that Marie would hear her mother speak.