Question 42

• Mia White-tuuga, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

I was up in my room, listening to the rain pouring outside, when Mum called me to come eat dinner. I wasn’t hungry but I went anyway, just to please her. Dad had left when I was three, so it was just me and my little brother. Most of the time, I felt sorry for him. He had a teddy bear who he thought was our dad. He had named the bear ‘Fred’. Every time I looked at him, the exact same question would go through my head: what is the meaning of life?
While we were eating, there was a knock at the door – it was Roma, my best friend. Mum had never liked her. Roma had come over to study. We went upstairs to my room. Roma was one of the top students in our school. I was the exact opposite. I never got an A and wasn’t good at anything. I was trying to answer Question 42 on my Maths test – I knew I wasn’t going to pass this test.
Then something happened. There was another knock at the door. This time it wasn’t one of my friends, it was the police. Mum answered the door. I eavesdropped in on their conversation. I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing and what my brain was trying to understand. Roma was still upstairs, calling my name, and that’s why I got caught. Mum quickly turned around. I pretended I was looking at one of Mum’s paintings. She turned back around and they continued their conversation.
The next morning, Mum woke me up to go to school. After I was finished getting ready, Roma came. Every weekday she comes to my house at 8:15am on the dot. Sometimes, if she comes too early, she waits in the bushes until it’s exactly 8:15am.
When we got to school, everybody was staring at us. I wasn’t sure if they were staring at me or Roma. After Roma left to go to English class, it was pretty obvious who they were staring at. Finally, after a whole six and half hours of education, I left with Roma.
I went home to find Mum on the recliner with boxes of tissues and a photo of some guy. I slowly walked towards her. I could tell from her body language that she wanted to cry alone, buried by the mound of tissues. I grabbed my brother and went to my room. We stayed there until mum called us down for dinner. When mum is sad or angry, she tends to cook and clean to help ease the pain.
It was a long, quiet evening until I heard someone knocking at our front door. It was the exact same man who was inside the picture frame. He was tapping on the door frame, waiting for me to answer. I pulled open the door – so many questions were running through my head.
“Hi. My name is Fred,” he said. “The answer is Life.”