AnYi 安亦

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Take the first line of your favorite novel. Remove and replace the nouns and verbs, and write a story that begins with your new line. Delete the first line.

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“All of them?” Cried dad, ceasing his pacing to stare at mum.

She was always the more level-headed of the pair, but even her voice wavered somewhat as she replied, “It would appear so, yes.” He fell dejectedly into the sofa; she pinched the bridge of her nose, briefly, before carefully replacing her spectacles and then heading into the kitchen. I heard the tap run, and then her head re-appeared in the doorway. “Tea?” This one was directed at me – dad was still slumped where he landed, staring at the floor as if it held some answers or solutions; too far gone to answer simple questions to say the least.

“Um… Yeah. Thanks mum.” She nodded and retreated. I never really know how to approach dad in this mood, so it was an agonizing wait for her to return. The only movement in the room was the nervous shuffling of my own feet, the only sounds the rhythmic taps, clinks, and eventual whistle of the brewing process carrying through the open door.

When she eventually returned, holding three mugs in that way I can never manage without burning myself, she set them carefully upon the little wicker circles arrayed upon the coffee table and beckoned me to join them. I had been sat at the dining table – folded into one of the chairs there while I ate the assortments of grains and oats I called breakfast – but at her behest, I cautiously approached the worn-down, but still cosy, chair before which she had placed my mug. After I’d clambered to my feet, mum placed a hand on dad’s shoulder and presented him with a mug of his own – he still seemed lost in thought, but he patted her hand and took the tea, so that’s something, I guess. She waited until I’d gotten comfortable in the chair – mug in hand and knees drawn right the way up to my chest – before she began. “So as I’m sure you noticed, we got some bad news just now. How much of that did you hear?” I struggled for a moment to think how exactly I should word that I had been quite successfully tuning them out until dad’s outburst, but in the end she must have seen the thought flash across my face; she just gave me a tired smile and continued, “Well, in short: money is going to be tight for a while, because we lost this year’s crops. We have some savings left from last year, but we’ll need to be smart about how we use them if we’re going to… if we’re going to make them last until next year.”

If I had to pick the thing in her explanation that really clued me in to how scared she was, it would be the pause. She’s always been this champion of business-like efficiency – she knows exactly what she’s going to say before she opens her mouth – and, as such, I have never seen her falter. This must be worse than she’s letting on. “Okay-“ my voice came out like a whisper, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “Okay. So… what do we need to do?” Still sounded timid to my ear, but at least it was audible this time.

“We need to find the bastard that burnt our fields.” Dad came back to reality with startling venom.

Mum was just as taken aback as I was. “Jesus, Andrew, we don’t know that’s what-”

He cut in with a scoff, “Come off it. There was no wildfire yesterday, nevermind at night. Ours was the only field damaged, and it was razed to the ground. It’s the only explanation.”

“But why would anyone do that?” My voice was still thin, but so are knives. The confusion in my little cry cut through their brewing argument like butter.

Dad was looking at mum when he answered. He waited, first, though – as if he were giving her a chance to say something, which she didn’t. “That’s for the professionals to work out, honey. God knows I think we could all use some answers.”

He placed his still steaming mug back on the little table – he missed his wicker mat – and went for the phone. I remember looking at mum, then; her face was white, and there was a look in her eye I couldn’t quite identify at the time. Looking back now, I know what it must have been.