A SHOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEDDINGRenato, the husband Kelly had visited earlier in the week, was there at her wedding. And he was armed. Drunk and armed.David, an innocent and curious child, Bore's youngest son, was standing next to the deranged man.It was David who started screaming when Renato shot up. Some guests thought it was some kind of joke, part of the wedding. Kelly, in her beautiful cream dress, not at all adorned like a bride's. She had chosen a simple brocade dress with a high collar. What she didn't give up was her gloves. She had always thought brides wearing gloves were beautiful; hers was white and delicate, only one shade lighter than her dress, almost cream, ice white, her nails were well done, and a low heeled sandal with toes sticking out, matched her dress perfectly. Kelly was as white as her gloves, even though she was so well made up, the makeup didn't help at the moment, the colour ran from her face. The man with the gun was looking for her amidst the fort

A SURREAL EVENT.The visit of her father and brothers cheered the girl up even more. Even more so when the brothers recreated her attack on Renato. They enlarged what actually happened, making her look like Batman, and the father and stepmother laughed too hard at the three of them and their exaggerations.“ I think Clara should choose where we go on vacation, she is the hero, isn't she?” said Luca, as they decided where they would travel to, and everyone agreed that it would be up to her to decide where her vacation would be next week.“ Cyclone Park!” She shouted, giving the idea of where she would like to go before they took away her right to choose. The two brothers jumped for joy in the hospital room and an angry nurse, who had just taken over, entered the room demanding silence. Clara was discharged late in the afternoon and her father picked her up. A prescription for medications that would help with the pain, medicine to avoid a possible infection, and relief she was going

A DIFFERENT INTERACTION SUNDAY“ Is this your little girl?” asked a lady sitting in a spaghetti chair at the front door. The retirement home was two stories high, a large house that looked more like a church. The lady must have been almost eighty years old, her eyes dull but lively, a pair of glasses hung on a small chain on her large bust, and when she saw them coming, she stood up, and Clara noticed that she was walking with her back bent.“ Hi, Eva, yes, this is my little girl, Clara.” Kelly was shorter than the little lady, but she had to bend down to kiss her wrinkled cheek. Eva also had bowed legs, as if the years were weighing her down. The artificial teeth, long in need of being replaced, small teeth that once were certainly bigger, were worn down, especially the front ones, and made her smile look strange.“ Hi, Eva," Clara greeted her, extending her hand, but the woman pulled her into a tight hug, making her disappear against her large, sagging breasts.“ You are beautifu

FRIENDS?Kelly remained seated as she was. She was used to the common reaction like Cassia's. Not that it would ever make her sad. She, like most, had not given her an opening and that was all she could do, just make first contact. Now it would be with Cassia.Kelly went into the pool for a while and then came out, grabbed a book from her purse to read. Hearing the squeals of joy from her stepdaughter and her little friend Sula, Kelly lowered the book onto her thighs, finding it strange that Sula was still there. Her hat wide over her head, the sun strong, she frowned and covered the sun with one hand; she saw the two little friends playing right in the pool in front of her. Sula's little brother was with them and was banging his little hands in the water, splashing the girls with his childish squeals.The three of them were playing together, and she hadn't seen them coming. Looking around, she saw Cassie sitting on the chair next to her.Cassia was looking straight ahead, sitting sti

FACING GERARD"It was during the following week at school that Sula, her little friend, told her that her father had left home and now lived somewhere else. The months went by and Sula always commented to Clara that her mother was very happy and playful. That her mother was becoming more and more different and now it was the father who seemed sadder. She had seen him cry, but didn't understand much of what he and her mother were talking about. And he visited them every evening, tried to hug her mother, perhaps wanting to move back in with them, but her mother smiled and said they were better off this way, and according to Sula, they really seemed better off.All of this went through Clara's mind. Very quickly, like a sped-up movie, she saw the events of so many years ago and those that followed. Kelly had shown her how to act in cases of abuse, and all the bells in her head went off since Gerard's call. At the bottom of the stairs, her chin trembling with anxiety, she looked into the