March Writing Challenge – Red Glitter Devil: Vignette 4

This month’s prompt is “He was sure the Devil created red sparkly glitter”. I had some inspiration and have created a series of vignettes related to the prompt. You can find the first in this post, the second in this post, and the third in this post. Keep scrolling to find the fourth. Enjoy!

Photo from Pexels.com

I sat on a wooden bench watching Sammie try to launch herself into orbit on the swings. “Make sure to hang on tight Sammie,” I yelled across the playground. 

Candice and Vanessa were late for our Saturday playdate at the park, but I didn’t mind. It was the first time in a week that the sun was shining and I closed my eyes and threw my face upwards to greet it.

Squeals erupted from toward the swings and I opened my eyes to see Sammie and Vanessa already racing toward the jungle gym. Candice was walking slowly towards where I sat with her phone pressed up against an ear. As she got closer, I could hear the anger in her voice, and the scowl on her face matched it. 

“Well, do me a favor and get your shit together Greg. If we lose this case, we’ll never do business in the finance sector again, and you know who the good ‘ole boys on the 34th floor will blame. Don’t be the reason I lose my job.” I was sure Greg didn’t get a chance to respond before Candice hung up on him. I didn’t envy Greg that wrath.

When Candice looked toward me her expression softened and she smiled. “Hey Nate. Sorry about that.”

“Work on a Saturday?” I quirked her a grin.

She pursed her lips and narrowed her brows. “Whatever it takes to keep my job. We can’t all own our own construction company, Nate.”

“Relax Candice. I have to work on the weekends too sometimes.” Her pursed lips turned into a sneer, but they didn’t carry much weight with me at this point. “Come sit with me and enjoy this wonderful sunny Saturday.” I patted the bench next to me. It took her a few seconds, but she sank down and threw her head back to the sun. Her ponytail swept over the back of the bench and the muscles in her face fell slack. 

I mimicked her posture. I could hear the girls giggling along with the occasional background noise of traffic and lawnmowers.

“Nate, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.” I didn’t open my eyes.

“Do you ever wonder what your breaking point is? Like, what will throw you over the edge?”

I took a deep breath as I figured out what I was willing to share. 

“Whenever I start feeling that way, I make myself think about Sammie. She doesn’t think I even have a breaking point, but I know that if something happened, she’d be there to put her arm around my neck and tell me everything will be okay. I don’t ever want to put her in that position, but we’re a team and…” I paused to make sure I actually believed what I wanted to say. “And I trust that my team will be there for me if I need them.”

“You and Sammie have such a great relationship. I wish…” but Candice didn’t get to finish her sentence because there was a thud followed by a screech from the playground.

My eyes flew open and I ran toward the jungle gym, assessing the situation on the way. I heard Candice behind me.

Sammie was lying on the ground, whimpering through her crying. Vanessa was leaning over her and yelling, “Mommy!”, frantically looking back and forth between Sammie and us.

“Hey Sammie,” I said as I skidded toward her side. “Can you tell me what hurts sweetie?”

“It’s… it’s… it’s my arm,” finally came out.

“Okay. I know it must hurt really badly. Can you sit up so I can look at it?”

Sammie nodded and pushed off the ground with her uninjured arm, cradling the hurt one to her belly. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Hey look at that! Lucky thing it’s such a nice day today that you wore short sleeves.” I touched her hand and threaded my fingers through hers as I eased her arm away from the cocoon of her body. With my other hand I grazed the skin of her arm, starting at her hand and working my way up. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”

When I got halfway to her elbow, Sammie shrieked and tensed all over, like the outburst startled even her.

I returned her arm to the safety of her stomach and looked up at Candice who was kneeling on the opposite side of Sammie, with Vanessa tucked under an arm. She looked alert but not scared.

I chose my words carefully so as not to scare either of the girls. “Candice, I think Sammie would feel much better if we got a doctor to take a look. We rode our bikes here because the weather was so nice. Do you think you could give us a ride?”

“Yeah, no problem,” she replied.

Once I’d settled Sammie into the back of Candice’s black Camry and we turned the satellite radio to the Disney station for a distraction, I told Candice to take us to the hospital. When we got there, the intake nurse took our information quickly and grabbed an ice pack for Sammie’s arm while we waited. 

Sammie and Vanessa sat next to each other and Vanessa had her arm around Sammie’s shoulder. I guessed their fight over red glitter dragons was well mended.

“Candice, you really don’t have to wait with us. I know you probably have things you need to do.”

“How will you and Sammie get home?” Candice turned to look at me. When I didn’t answer her immediately she said, “We’ll stay.”

“Thanks.”

They called Sammie to see the doctor and get X-rays after about twenty minutes. Sure enough, there was a clear fracture straight across both bones in her forearm. It was going to be in a cast for the next four weeks. 

The doctor worked quickly to assemble the padding and layers of Sammie’s cast. When we were at the last layer the doctor asked Sammie, “What color do you want for the outside?” and handed her a book of colors and designs. She flipped through the pages, scanning them, like she already knew what she wanted and was just trying to find it. Finally, she jabbed the page and grinned. I looked to her finger.

“Of course you’d pick that one.” I nodded my okay to the doctor.

Back out in the waiting room, there was a flash of relief on Candice’s face when she spotted Sammie. Sammie made a beeline for Vanessa, waving her bright red glittery cast in the air like a beacon. Candice slapped a hand over her mouth and doubled over in laughter when she spotted it weaving through the rows of chairs.

By the time I got to her, Candice had recovered and threw me a smile that made her whole face light up. “Seriously?” she asked through lingering laughter.

I shook my head, chuckling. “Well, I really wish she’d found a different way to keep her sparkly red dragon arm, but I’ve gotta give her credit for creativity.”

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