Family Ties -- Short Story Summative

Kay was really not in the mood to deal with her little sister right now. Sure, she loved Aline and all that big sisterly stuff, but still. Not right now. Unfortunately, Aline had never really cared much what other people wanted.

“Kathryn,” she said, in that snooty voice that always made Kay want to slap her. “Don’t you think you ought to clean this… place up sometimes?”

There was absolutely nothing wrong with Kay’s tiny bachelor apartment, and Aline knew it. Sure, it was smallish, and sure, it always smelled just a tiny bit like wet dog, which was a mystery. But it was hers, and she kept it tidy. Aline was just turning her nose up at it to rile Kay, who decided simply not to let Aline annoy her.

Easier said than done.

“I wish you’d let me take you shopping. I saw a dress today, and I really think you could look almost pretty in it,” Aline was saying, still in that I’m-so-much-better-than-you voice.

“Thanks,” Kay said, and was pleased to note that her voice sounded almost totally calm. “But I don’t really have the money. Speaking of which, I should be heading out. I have to work.” This wasn’t strictly a lie; she did have to work. In about three hours.

Aline rolled her light blue eyes, the only similarity between her and Kay, and left without even saying goodbye. Things were always this way between Kay and her sister, like they were engaged in their own private power struggle. Their brother, Milton, was always telling Kay not to let Aline get to her, but that was often impossible. Like now. Though she knew her place looked fine, Kay found herself tidying up, and immediately stopped, brushing her dark hair out of her face irritably.“Damn Ali,” she grumbled to herself, stomping over to her bookshelf and grabbing a book about Ancient Sparta. She flipped to a random page, and tried to read, but she was still too angry, and she already knew all these things about Spartan life.

So she did what she always did when her little sister irritated her, and called her brother. He picked up on the third ring. She didn’t even bother with a greeting, instead just launching into complaints about their sister.

“Ryn,” Milton finally interrupted, sounding exasperated and a bit amused. “She’s our sister. She’s not going to change just because you find her annoying. Annoying you is her job. So let’s talk about something else, okay?”

Kay sighed. “Fine, what’s going on with you? How’s work?”

Milton, being one of the rare people who actually really loved his job, could talk about it for hours. Normally whoever he was talking to got bored after about twenty minutes and either tried to change the subject or found an excuse to end the conversation. Today, however, Milton changed the topic himself after fifteen minutes.

“So, have you decided what you’re going to tell the Museum? Are you going to accept their offer?” He asked. “I mean, it’s an incredible opportunity, and pays way better than Tim Hortons. You got that university degree for a reason, remember?”

“I just…” Kay began, unsure how exactly to say what she meant. “I wish it wasn’t so far. I wouldn’t get to see you or Aline, or any of my friends… or Mom and Dad’s graves.”

Milton was silent for a moment. When he spoke, he sounded surprisingly annoyed.

“You really think that matters?” He demanded. “Mom and Dad’s graves are just graves, Ryn. It’s not like they’re there. They wouldn’t notice that you stopped visiting. And either way, they’d want you to make something of your life, instead of living in a crappy little apartment and working at a Tim Hortons. Stop making excuses not to have to take any risks in your life.”

And with that, he hung up, leaving Kay staring at the phone in her hand in a mixture of surprise, hurt, anger, and shame. He was right, she knew, but that didn’t mean she liked it. She looked around her apartment, and her feeling of shame grew. She had told herself that she was trying to hold onto her past, and stay in a time and place that felt safe, but really she was hiding and allowing herself to stagnate and waste her life. Her fingers moved across the keypad of her phone, dialing.

“Kathryn,” said the voice on the other end of the line. “Have you decided to accept the Museum’s offer?”