The humming of the coffee maker was nearly drowned out as I typed, paying the bills like I did every Saturday morning.

The computer sat on top of the wooden desk in the middle of the small living room, surrounded by an ocean of clutter; thick books, pens that had exploded, pencils with the eraser chewed like gum, papers stuffed into binders covered with scribbles, and toys made up all of this mess. These things were all crammed into the small living room of our tiny apartment, and because of this, anyone who was coming to see us for the first time would obviously feel cramped, but it seemed that we never felt uncomfortable. How could you feel like that within your own home?

Behind me, my daughter sat on the brown, dirtied couch, playing with her coloring book. The crayons I had bought her were already about a year old, and most of them were either missing or broken. But she was always so content, so easily made happy. For somebody so young, she truly understood our condition. Sadie was easy to please and seldom ever complained.

I glanced from my place in the living room over to the couch, and I felt the edge of my mouth turn up in a grin. She had just woken up about fifteen minutes ago, and hadn’t bothered to brush her hair or even change out of her pajamas. Her bangs were messy and pushed to the side, and her long hair was more than obviously tangled in some places, especially the ends. She needed to have them trimmed, so I’d have to try and get to that next week if I had the money and the time.

But, it’s not like I looked any better than she did. I was still in my pajamas as well, wearing a giant, red, but comfortable shirt, mismatching green and yellow pants that hung from my legs, and dirty pink slippers.

I picked up my cup to drink more coffee, only to find that I had finished it all. Sighing to myself, I got up and shuffled through the mess, making my way into the kitchen and towards the coffee maker. I filled up my cup again, listening to the familiar sound as the steaming liquid poured into my ceramic container, and feeling the warmth it brought to my fingers when I wrapped my hand around it.

Holding my drink, I turned to look outside the window, first noticing the light pink flowered curtains, and then I focused my attention on the brick wall outside of our kitchen. On it, there were vines growing, creeping along its side with leaves of different sizes. There was a particularly big one towards the middle, shaped perfectly like a heart. Every weekday Sadie had a routine of saying hello to the plants we kept inside, just like they were people, but she’d always say hello to that heart-shaped leaf. She’d always say that leaf was special.

Taking a sip of my coffee, I left the window and instead stared at my daughter drawing on the couch. Even though I had put a distance between us, I could still see the picture she had selected from the book, and the colors she had used so far were pink, blue, and green. Sadie colored outside of the lines, and had pressed on the crayon so hard it made it left a mark a lot thicker when she used it on the paper.

Staying where I was, I set the coffee down on the counter, speaking. “Sadie, want to go to the park today?” My daughter looked up from her activity and a smile lit her face, brightening her big, blue eyes and flashing her tiny little teeth. She nodded energetically. “Go get ready, then.” I told her, making a grab for my cup again and watching as she put down her things, jumped off the couch, and raced into her room, telling me she was going to wear her favorite shirt. The pink one with a black and white puppy on it.

It was just us, like it was every day, but we were a family. And maybe, some day, things would get better.

A/N; I thought of this last night, and wrote an outline during school. I probably should've been paying attention, but I got my progress report and got 100 and up in everything except Science, where I got a 98. Heh.

Read&Review

ily all bai

- Forwards, Bandit