Demon

Timothy

The dream fades, and I keep my eyes closed, trying to cling to the sensation of sleep. I’ve told Guardian not to wait for me to talk to him, to take advantage of the fact that my mind is receptive when he can tell that I am first waking up. So I hear him right away. He doesn’t waste any words saying good morning, since he knows we only have a few seconds.

“Natalie sends her love. Today she will attend her parents’ wedding. All is well with her family, although she fears she annoyed her grandmother by questioning stories within the bible.”

What? Really? Well, that’s done it, as soon as I heard that message I got too interested and it woke me all the way up. “Thanks, Guardian,” I whisper to him. She annoyed her grandmother? I know that is who has sent her the bibles she’s been reading. Natalie has told me that her Grandma likes to take her to church and talk about Jesus and stuff like that. I wonder why it would annoy her for Natalie to talk to her about it?

I sit up, and reach over to my desk to get my notebook. I decided yesterday to keep a list of things that I want to talk to Natalie about when she gets back. Every day we usually are able to talk about everything, and I don’t want to forget all the topics I have wondered about while she’s gone. I write, “Why was Grandma mad about the bible?” Then I go to the bathroom, get dressed, and head downstairs.

Mom is drinking coffee, sitting at the kitchen table. She looks up. “Good morning, sweetie,” she tells me. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Can I have toast?” I ask.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, taking another swig of her coffee then getting up. I put my book down on the table and read it while she’s moving around the kitchen. When she puts a plate of toast down in front of me, she tilts her head sideways to look at the book. “Is that the one about archeology you were reading last night?”

“Yes,” I tell her, and push the book around the other way so that she can see the picture on the page. “This is an archeological dig site in Israel. They are exploring a city mound with signs of habitation from the bronze age.” I am trying to help Natalie with her bible research. She wants to try to figure out what parts of the bible are true. So she’s reading the bible, and learning about other religions and mythology from Angel, to compare the different stories people have made up. Meanwhile I am trying to learn what scientists have actually discovered about the history of the area.

She looks closer at the picture, then rubs her hand across my hair and says, “That’s nice.” I swing the book back around and read more while I’m chewing my toast.

She finishes her coffee, then sighs and stands up. “Well,” she says, “I need to get ready to go to work. Your Dad is staying home with you today, but he’s still asleep, so just try to be quiet, okay?”

I nod, and turn the page.

Laura

It makes me nervous to leave Timothy alone with Michael, but I try to tell myself that it will all be fine. He was out so late last night. I had long since given up on waiting for him and gone to bed, and I’m not even sure what time he got home. But I know it was long after midnight.

He is completely passed out in bed as I quietly move around the bedroom getting ready to go. I hate to wake him up, but I can’t leave without telling him, so that he knows that he’s alone here with Timothy.

I sit on the side of the bed and gently shake his shoulder. He doesn’t react. I shake him a little harder, and that does the trick. He inhales quickly, and squints his eyes at me.

“Honey?” I say.

“Mmm,” he sort of moans.

“I’m leaving for work. Remember, you’ll be here with Timothy today, okay?”

“Mmmm.”

I pause for a moment. He starts drifting back into sleep. “Mike?”

“Mmmm.”

“I’m going to leave the bedroom door open, okay? So that you can hear if Timothy needs anything.”

“Mmm-kay.”

Well, that’s about as much as I’m going to get. I kind of hate to leave it like this, but I’ll be running late for my first hair appointment if I don’t get going.

I pick up my purse on my way out the door of the bedroom, glancing back to see Michael’s breathing resume the slow rhythm of sleep. I sigh.

Timothy is in his room reading, of course, his notebook open to take notes about what he’s learning. I think this is another one of the experiments he is running with Natalie, something about learning about the history behind the bible. I’ve stopped being surprised by this kind of thing with the two of them.

“Hey, kiddo, I’m going to work.”

“Okay. Bye, Mom,” he says, looking up from where he is sprawled on his floor.

I crouch down next to him, and give him a kiss on top of his head. “Your Dad is still sleeping, but if you need anything you can go and wake him up.”

“I won’t need to Mom, I’m old enough to take care of myself. I told you that yesterday too.”

I chuckle. “I remember. I don’t think the authorities would agree with you, but I know that you are very capable and mature. Just remember that Dad is here if there is an emergency.”

“All right, Mom. Have a nice day.”