{A fabulous writing practice book called "Write the Story" (available from Picadillyinc.com) guides my everyday "Pajama Pages"; those pages you write when you're in your pyjamas and you haven't yet brushed your teeth before crawling into or out of bed... early morning or late night scribbles. Each page gives you 10 words and you have to write a story containing all those words - Hope it entertains you.}
Saturday, 23 October 2021
Theme: A Babysitter snoops and find something unexpected
newspaper | cardinal | cotton | document | Tiramisu | blackened | prediction | borderline | freedom | female
HERE'S MY PAGE TODAY:
As per my prediction, the kids were down before eight. I was paid by the hour and tonight I had “worked” for less than an hour before I had the whole house to myself – easy money.
I sat at the kitchen counter; my hands splayed to feel the cold white marble. Money was no object here. I fished a biscuit out of a jar labelled “nice try”, they were much sweeter than the “no effort made” and “naughty” jar. I once tried the “naughty” jar biscuits and was shocked that someone had made biscuits from soap.
I contemplated what to do with my freedom tonight, a stale Tiramisu glared at me from the back of the fridge, and I sneered at the disgusting vile dessert, only the rich can make something beautiful that tasted like foam and call it cake.
The kitchen was clean enough, other than a blackened pan waiting on the cooker top, or maybe it wasn’t ‘waiting’, it was evidence or a “lesson” … I had no doubt that one of the girls had used it to make popcorn as the stale smell mixed with ammonia had met me at the door when I had arrived.
My boss, in my assessment, was the poster child for borderline personality disorder. She was the reason I had taken this babysitter job. Unbeknownst to my employer, her family and home was my research lab. My master’s thesis in abnormal psychology, was depending largely on my observations in this home, with their strange behaviour, and the weird child rearing techniques of the unsuspecting mother. “Female psychosis after childbirth” - although there was plenty example here, my working title changed daily. I once changed it to “Psychopaths can be mothers too.”, based on some of the things I had found in this house.
The document was due next week, and I hoped tonight’s drawer diving will bring more insight.
As I opened the drawer, where I knew I would find lacy lingerie and toys, I was surprised to find instead a neatly folded newspaper in an otherwise empty drawer. It was a cardinal sin to snoop, but as I unfolded the paper slowly, and stared at the circled article, my mouth was suddenly drier than cotton wool,
“Woman kills nanny for snooping.”, the heading blazoned my guilty research.
It was the last time I babysat at that client; my thesis was fabulous though.
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