That darkest night

items taken along. She took a few clothes,shoes and a bag, and stuffed it into her duffel bag. She closed the wardrobe and looked around the room. It was like the whol

fueling her car. She could not use the money to buy clothes, and other luxurious things. She preferred to buy it for her child

h necessary and unnecessary things." she called out to them, as she heard Melinda talking to Rose about beach clothes. She didn't really mean a vacation, but it would be like an excursion. She knew that telling them that now would be like a cancellation of plans. She would wait for when they would have been on the journey before telling them. She leaned on a sofa and watched television for sometime. Andrew came into the sitt

he was shooing flies away. "What else do you want me to take? The most important of my things are the ones in this bag!" Andrew put in, letting his shoulders droop. "Your things? Or what did you say?" Michelle asked, quite shocked. She had earlier thought that the bags were for all of her children. "Yeah. My sneakers, tennis rackets, board games, clothes and other things." Andrew replied without hesitating. Michelle did not really know what to say, at first. She didn't kno

she was too. Sean's Mom would be having to take care of him all alone. Anyway, hers would be easier, since it was only one child. Michelle knew that was a great difference between a single mother with a kid, and a single mother with three kids. A very clear difference. The difficulties in raising children varied. "Andy, return those bags to the room and take a few things out. Make everything into a bag."

g a smile. "Melinda is so enthusiastic about this stuff, I guess it has been quite a long time since they have had such outings.'' Rose said, as she stood akimbo in front of Michelle. "You know I don't have a lot of money to spend on vacations and excursions. I see it as a waste of time and money. I'm just doing all these so that they can go with me to that wedding. I do

ern her. "Rose, you don't understand! I pay the bills single-handedly, but you're still a young lady- you have a lot of money to spend on things like that." she replied immediately. Rose shook her head in disapproval. "That's not it, but..." she said, but Michelle interrupted her. "Let's take the bags outside to the car. Go and call those kid

ard Jason's voice. She turned off the engine and waited for sometime. She remembered how she had talked to her boss at the modeling house, that she needed five days off for a vacation. The woman had been quite surprised, since she had not gone on a vacation the previous year. That had embarrassed Michelle somehow. She wasn't a stationary object, but her boss was seeing her like one. Anyway, she was a very familiar face at her workplace- if every other person didn't show up, she

orch. "Are you going on a vacation? I see your girls are all ready." Laura said with a brief laugh. "I'm going for my cousin's daughter's wedding on Dustin Town. It's on Saturday, but I want to take my kids on a tour." Michelle replied as she walked few steps with her friend. "Alright. Are you taking Rose back to her house?" Laurentina inquired. Michelle looked at Rose and Mel still arguing. She wished they could just shut up instead of shouting at each other. "No. She's staying with us for as long as she wants. At least, she's helping me keep my children." she answered, gesturing at Rose to stop arguing. "Alright. I'm wishing you guys safe journey, Michelle." Laura said and waved. "Bye. Extend my greetings to yo

re quiet, so she checked them through the rearview mirror. They were dozing. "Melinda? Andrew?" she called out to them. Melinda jerked from sleep and looked around. "We are at Dustin Town already. I'm just driving to a nearby hotel t

was considering the money that she had. She was looking for an hotel that wouldn't be that expensive, but would suit her pocket. That would not be expensive at all. She didn't care whether the hotel would be situated in a run down area, what was most important was that it must be cheap. She chuckled to herself. If that would be the case, her kids would never let her take them into any

zoos, the popular Dustin Museum, and the cinemas. She would prefer to stay at the hotel- that would

respectful girl; the opposite of her own children. Michelle really appreciated the presence of Rose in their house. She couldn't really imagine how unbearable life would have been, if Rose wasn't staying with them. Now, she looked less stressed. Rose was so much a relief. She was able to pay one of her old friends a visit. At least, their coming down here to Dustin Town would be like a vacation. And it was

She took her shoes from the rack and set them on the floor. She sat on the bed to wear her shoes when she heard Rose's voice at the door. "Good morning,

helle asked Rose who was adjusting her gown. Rose looked up. "They are dressing up. I couldn't hold back from laughing when I saw how Melinda was dressed. It's as if she's the bride. I told her to wear a moderate one that wouldn't call so much attention." Rose said with a brief laugh. "Mmm...was her dress decent?" Michelle inquired. "Yes. I think she tried to put some sense into her dressing. All I was trying to say was that her dressing was bogus." Rose replied. After Michelle finished dressing up, she left the room wi

an hour ago, and it was taking her by surprise that the groom was yet to arrive. After the people Esther was discussing with left, Michelle walked up to her. "Esther, what's going on? Why isn't the groom here yet?" she asked. Esth

the groom coming soon. Worse, he wasn't picking his calls. Karen was more nervous, pacing up and down while her mother encourage

elp the scene. Karen was weeping and her mother and other relatives were consoling her. The guests dispersed one by one. It was a great disappointment; on the wedd