Running Away

“You can't stop me!” Katie furled her brow and pursed her lips.

“Can we talk about this?” I asked. “Running away seems like an extreme solution.”

“No, we're done with talking,” Katie hissed under those flashing eyes. “You had your chance. I am going to run away. Now.”

I sighed deeply. Some days, being a parent was an near impossible task.

“And do you have a plan for where you will go?”

That seemed to stop her in her tracks. The brows wrinkled deeper in thought. After a moment, her scowl turned into a smirk.

“You're trying to know where I'll go so you can stop me,” she declared. “Well, I'm not going to tell you. I'm just going to go.”

“Then don't let me stop you,” I said as I turned back to my coffee in an effort to appear calm.

“Fine!” With that, Katie grabbed her backpack and stormed from the kitchen. The front door slammed, then the house was enveloped in momentary quiet.

Two minutes later, the doorbell rang. As I suspected, Katie was standing on the stoop, quivering in fury. I leaned against the door jamb and lingered over a sip of my now cool coffee.

“Back so soon?” I smirked.

Katie huffed and kicked her Hello Kitty backpack. Her light-up sneaker spasmed with flashes of red and blue.

“I can't go off the sidewalk,” she pouted.

“Well, that is a problem,” I conceded. “You are, after all, only six. Maybe you should rethink this whole running away thing until you can cross the street by yourself.”

Word Count: 271