That Morning.....

• Eunice Woo, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2018

As soon as I got up from bed in the morning, something caught my eye -what was that thing doing on my bedside table? There was a baby bottle and a pacifier on top of a handwritten note. It couldn’t be! I hastily read the note, and as every word registered in my brain, my stomach sank lower in my body, until I could positively feel it at my feet.

‘Dear Sam, please babysit Amanda just until I get back from my business meeting. Her bottle and pacifier should be on top of this note. I left you a sandwich and some sushi. (make sure to keep it away from Amanda!) -Love, Mum P.S. I should be back by 6:00pm
10 hours of babysitting my loud 2-year old sister. 10 hours of compete agony. My feet were heavy as I lifted them one by one into the living room, where Amanda’s crib was. As soon as I entered the room, Amanda turned her head around. For a split second, I saw a devilish grin on her chubby face. Then the tears started. Wincing, I quickly shoved the pacifier into Amanda’s open mouth and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Feeding Amada was probably the hardest thing I ‘ve ever done in my life. I had to lift a pink spoon in and out of her mouth again and again, for over an hour. Amanda kept on spitting her food out, onto my shirt, onto the table, and onto the floor. Honestly, I couldn’t really blame her, because the sticky baby cracker that was shoveled into her protesting mouth was the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. However, once the mush was all gone (more outside her than inside) another grin appeared on her face. She seemed to realize that I would be the one to clean up the mess.

The rest of the day was not very different. What went in, went out (and I had to clean 3 diapers because of this). I also endured hours of screaming and wailing. Her toys were strewn across the floor for me to clean, and she had an annoying habit of going to sleep whenever I tried to get her to do something. And then, at 5:45pm, the doorbell rang.

I don’t think I’ve ever run faster in my life. I opened the door for my mum. All of a sudden, Amanda’s wailing stopped. As my mum stepped into the house, she was all giggles, clapping her chubby hands clumsily. My mum looked delighted. “You guys seem to be getting along well! I’ll be going to meetings for the rest of the week, so you’re fine to do the same thing tomorrow, right?” I looked over at Amanda, and I swear she shrugged and gave me her sweetest, slyest smile.