Morning all. I can’t wait to see where this prompt takes everyone. So without further ado, let’s start those timers.
Not where I expected it will go but I kind of like it.
Wednesday, September 17th: I will smite him with the might of a thousand hammers.
“I will smite him with the might of a thousand hammers,” Kevin screamed. Allie and Mike exchanged a look across the breakfast table, each pausing in their breakfast. Allie had her spoon dipped into the cereal and Mike had his spoon halfway to his mouth.
“What do you suppose happened this time?” Mike asked. Allie shrugged.
“Don’t know he’s your brother,” she said.
“Yours too now that dad married your mother,” Mike replied.
“True but I’ve only known him three months,” Allie said. She frowned. “Isn’t it supposed to be swords?”
“Swords,” Mike asked. Overhead they heard Kevin rushing around the footsteps moving from one room to another. The two of them resumed eating.
“Yea, last week it was the might of a thousand swords,” Allie said between bites. She knew to delay would mean missing the bus. She wanted to finish eating and then brush her teeth. Because of Kevin’s frequent smiting rages she kept a travel toothbrush and toothpaste downstairs in the guest powder room to use on weekday mornings.
“Oh yeah,” Mike said. “He’s been on a Thor kick recently, so it’s hammers now.”
“Oh,” Allie said. Before her mother remarried, it had just been a household of the two of them. After the marriage she had four step brothers and had learned more about superheroes and comic books than she had throughout the rest of her life. It seemed to be a much bigger part of their lives than she would ever have expected.
She and Mike were the same age, only a month separating their birthdays. Jason and Danny were older and not around much. They had in fact left before Kevin’s morning rant started as had their parents. Not for the first time, she wondered if the timing was calculated. Kevin was only a year younger than Mike and the three of them rode the same bus to school so she and Mike were witnesses to the morning smiting threat.
“Who do you think he is smiting now?” Allie asked. She finished her cereal and took the bowl to the sink rinsing it out and putting it in the dishrack to dry.
“No clue,” Mike said. Probably someone moved something the way he is running around. Mike finished his breakfast and dropped the bowl in the sink. The spoon clattered against the sides. Allie moved to the guest bath and her travel toothbrush. Her backpack was already on the sofa waiting. Mike took a deep breath to steel himself and then headed for the stairs.
Allie brushed her teeth and made sure she didn’t have toothpaste spatter on her shirt. She rinsed with mouthwash and checked her hair. She could hear the rumble of voices overhead but didn’t need to make out the words to know what was going on.
Mike would tell Kevin that it was time to go. Kevin would argue that he hadn’t eaten breakfast yet so it couldn’t be time to go. They would argue and Mike would eventually point to the clock and Kevin would grab a protein bar as they all headed out to the bus stop.
Allie left the bathroom. She slung her bag on her shoulder as the boys clattered down the stairs. Kevin raced past her to the pantry where he grabbed the protein bar and all three of them headed out of the door. It was becoming their routine. As they walked Allie wondered if she should ask about the smiting or if it was something best left alone.
Ten til Midnight 