Family Tradition (1st Place)

“How much longer can we let this go on?” Misty chided her brother, Sam.

(heard in kitchen) “… Howard I can’t believe you insulted Misty’s husband again! You seriously need to take some subtlety lessons. Get some class Howard. You’ve never liked him, but to insult his father is just… over the line. You know how sensitive Misty is…”

“I don’t know. They’ve fought before. They fight every Thanksgiving, and throw in Christmas and Easter too. It’s like…,” Sam pondered for a word, “a tradition. It’s the Steele’s family tradition.”

“But how much is enough for this family? Do we have to support this kind of display? I mean what if our spouses and us just decided to blow up at every slight misspeak? I know Bill didn’t take his comment that way. Plus, Mom just goes off the deep end at Dad.”

(in kitchen) “… you should talk Marge. You get half sloshed every holiday. I bet you’d go up like a roman candle if I struck a match.”

“Howard! You never understand. The pressure is enormous in this family. It’s like we’re trying to go out of our way get angry at each other, then they look at me to smooth everything over…It’s more than I can bear ”

“Then maybe you should explain to Dad that Bill wasn’t insulted,” Sam stated. “Dad is usually the cooler head between the two you know.”

“I don’t know. I suppose, I should.”

“Well, then I guess we should confront them. You are absolutely right. We can not let this go on any longer.” Sam's voice became stern, as he placed his hand on the kitchen door.

Misty then stared at Sam in disbelief. “Oh, I don’t think we should go in there. I was just talking about leaving.”


298 Words
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