A Touching Scene: Part II

"Hey, Dark!" Weiner pushed her way through the thick mass of flowers that her mother had insisted on placing at the entrance. But as soon as she yanked her way through, she tripped over another pot of something that looked suspiciously like a flower weed that her mother had tried to grow.

"Dark!" She repeated, and found him sprawled out on the welcome mat.

"The dandelion," he confirmed, nodding towards the direction of their mother's wacky gardening. "We seriously need to teach her the difference between weeds and actual decorating flowers." His scowl deepened as he added scathingly, "And we need to teach Dad to ask for our permission before signing us up on something, like swimming."

"Never mind that," said Weiner bracingly. "Here, I have the key." Feeling a bit superior, she dangled the housekey in front of his face before letting the two of them get in.

The two teens walked inside the house, calling out various names, like, "Mom!" or "Where's that cat?"

"Mom must've locked her outside before she left," Weiner said, answering the last question. She pushed open the backyard door, and discovered an immensely happy "Bai-Bai," who must've been locked out for quite a while, because she yowled with excitement and zoomed around the house, knocking over various objects.

But, Weiner noticed, not even Bai-Bai's humorous greeting (for she had wallopped down the hallway, only to slip on the slick tile floor) had dampened Dark's rebellious spirit. It only made things worse when their father entered the hallway quietly.

"Given up, haven't you?" challenged Dark. "That would be a good decision, you know. Because no matter what you do, I'm not going."

But the usually gentle, good-natured Dad seemed to be fired up as well. "I can tell you what to do," he said. There seemed to be a new authority in his voice. "And if I say you go swimming, you will go."

For a moment, Dark seemed to be speechless. He didn't say anything at all, and his dad continued on in a gentler voice, "But I'll sign you up for a class with older kids."

Maybe Dark took comfort in noticing how his dad's voice lowered considerably, for he retorted, "Don't you understand? I DON'T WANT TO GO SWIMMING!"

Oh dear, Weiner thought. This was going all wrong. She could only watch helplessly as her father puffed himself up with rage, his face contorted in anger. It would've been so much scarier had Weiner and Dark not known him all these years.

"You," he begun viciously, jabbing a finger into Dark's chest, "are going to attend swimming, and that's FINAL!" He roared out the last words.

Then Weiner felt it: bubbling in her stomach, ready to be released. It was contagioius. And before she had fully taken in the consequences of what might happened if she let it out, she did just that.

"BWAH-HA-HA-HAH!" Screaming with mirth, rolling on the floor, pounding the ground with her fists... Weiner laughed.

Dark raised a quirky eyebrow. Dad merely stared in astonishment. The two exchanged looks: Is she insane?

But then..

Weiner cast a helpless look at her father before bursting out in more fits of laughter. Then her father joined in, his deep melodious voice harmonizing with her much higher-pitched voice.

At first, Dark merely stood there, his head cocking quizzically, almost comically. But then he joined in; though hesitant at first, it became much stronger.

Suddenly, Dark straightened up. "Wait a minute," he stammered, looking confused. "Why are we laughing?"

"I don't know," gasped Weiner. "I thought it sounded funny when Dad ROARED. ROARED, get it? Dad NEVER gets angry! The meanest moment he ever had was when he farted in revenge for when you broke the dish. You just broke the record, Dark."

While the dad looked rather indignant at being reminded of this humiliating moment, Dark's face lit up, revealing his more playful side. "Oh yeah..." he said, his face striking a remarkable resemblance to one of wonder.

"Well I was laughing because you looked funny laughing," joked their dad, but nobody laughed. Dark and Weiner had already experienced some of their dad's corniest jokes, and couldn't be expected to laugh all their life.

"Negotiate," said Dark, rather seriously this time.

"What?" his dad replied. "I didn't know that you even knew how to negotiate."

Dark shrugged. "I know how to negotiate," he said pointedly, "but I don't know how to negotiate FAIRLY." This brought upon another couple of giggles.

Weiner turned away. "Excuse me," and with that, she climbed up the stairs slowly, occasionally hearing a shout of, "That's unfair!" or "You want ME to give you 5 for every lesson you take? Are you serious?" She had left behind her a touching scene.

Author's Note: Such a different tone from Part I, don't you think? Too rushed, maybe... but I left it this way. Agh! I always have to be in a different mood in order to write in the same style I begin with... well, anyway, I hope you enjoyed!