Page 11 of Manny for the Alien
“She was fine. She just sat in front of the TV.”
“For the whole day?” he asked, looking concerned.
“Uh...”
I swallowed, all of my concerns being proven right in one conversation.
Hyacinth shook himself and sighed.
“I’ll write a schedule for you,” he said kindly, “and we can discuss everything in the morning.”
I nodded, feeling like I was the biggest idiot ever.Of coursea six year old couldn’t watch hours of TV like that. This was such a face palm moment that I was seriously questioning my intelligence.
Hyacinth stood and I did the same automatically.
“Thank you for stepping in today,” he said.
I shook my head.
“It’s fine. There’s food in the fridge for you, if you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, Marco,” he said, and paused at the door. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” I muttered as he shut the door behind him.
I stood there for a moment and then flopped back onto my bed with a groan.
Apparently today hadn’t gone as well as I’d thought it had.
Chapter Four
HYACINTH
I had failed everyone today.
My youngest two had missed having naps and dinner, Azalea had gotten away with watching television all evening and poor Marco had been left to try to figure everything out on his own.
He had even told me that he hadn’t watched kids of such a young age before, but I’d still left him to fend for himself.
Guilt stirred inside me.
It was still early and yet he was locked up in his room, looking tired and worn. If I hadn’t been so tired myself, perhaps I would have thought to disperse some relaxation into his room so that he could get a good night’s sleep.
Sighing, I went to the kitchen, finding a plate of food saran wrapped in the fridge with some left overs in a container.
It looked interesting. Some sort of stew or curry. Whatever it was, my mouth started to water at the smell while it was heating up.
The taste lived up to my expectations once I took the first bite.
I had to hold back a moan as my eyes drifted shut.
Wow. Perhaps I was wrong about earth’s food. Perhaps I was just eating the wrong things.
Surely if Marco could cook a meal so filled with flavor, he wasn’t the only one. That must mean there were others who enjoyed an abundance of taste the way that my people did.
It wasn’t anything like papilionoidean food, but it was filled with warmth, spice that infused each mouthful and filled my body with warmth.
When I was done, I felt full and sleepy and relaxed, my mood lifted.
