No Chocolate? Least Of My Troubles....

                        When I was angry, I was ANGRY.

I pouted my lips and glared up at my mom. Why couldn't I have some chocolate? It was so...good! I stared through the shop window, my entire body leaning against the glass.
      But she had to say, "No, honey, I'm sorry. We can't really afford this now..."

      And yet she could buy all those..vegetables?! YUCK!
 
      "So, now we're poor?! Everybody in my class will laugh at me now!" I yelled, angry at her.
     
      "Lower your voice, silly! You shouldn't speak to your mother that way. And you shouldn't care about what others think. Be yourself, and they'll like you for who you are."

      Blah. Blah. Blah.

Mom just doesn't understand sometimes. They made fun of Nicholas last week because he accidentally called the teacher, "Mom"!

If they'll laugh at that, they'll DEFINITELY laugh at me when I say I can't even have chocolate!

  Why am I the one whose life sucks now...?

-------------------- A few weeks later ------------------------------------------

  "WHAT?!"

"You heard me, sweetie. Go get some of your toys and try to sell them to the neighbors or some of your friends."

"Sell? Why do I hafta sell them?" I complained noisily.

"I told you this weeks ago. Your father's lost his job, and he's spending all his time trying to get another one."

"But why hasn't he already?" I asked, pouting again.

"It's because so many other people have lost their jobs, too. They're calling it, "The Great Depression" in some places, " Mommy explained calmly, "I just think we're going to have to be careful with our money...Hmm....I might still have some of your brother's clothes for you to wear..."

"No! I don't want Brother's clothes! They're all ugly!"

"Hmm? But you were complaining a few weeks ago that you wished you had clothes like Brother's...?"

Hmph. She got me there. Turning my head and crossing my arms, I quickly changed course.

"But they're all old! I don't want his hand-me-downs!!!" I yelled.

"They're practically brand new. Your brother was always careful with his clothes."

"That's 'cause he was a sissy-boy!"

Uh-oh. She gasped....

"Don't you talk about you brother that way, young man. You know that he's not a sissy boy, he's very brave, going out into the war. You should be proud of him."

"But...but...I didn't mean that, Mommy!" I muttered, tearing up, " I just don't want Brother's hand-me-downs, I want my own clothes!!" I said, bursting into tears.

Reader, you're lucky I'm not keeping out on you...I really didn't want to write this!

Like I was saying, I was..crying, and then...

"Aww, Aaron...Don't cry, honey...things'll turn up from now, don't worry. You're just gonna have to be brave until we can make things work." 

"But..when'll things go back to normal?" I said, starting to wipe away my tears.

"Honey...I don't really know...that's why you've gotta be brave!" she said positively, wrapping her arms around me, and saying, "Now, why don't you go round up some of your toys to help me?"

I nodded, standing up and running to my room.

"Hmm...", I said aloud, alone by myself , "I really like my model airplane, so I can't get rid of that..."

"...And I just can't let go of my dinosaur toy..so that neither..."

" And I just CAN'T give my soccer ball away..., but then again there's my teddy bear...I shouldn't say this out loud, but I can't sleep without it..."

"But there's also my toy soldiers...I don't wanna let anybody's grubby hands on them!"

"....But that leaves nothing I can give away!" I said, relieved, "I'll just go tell mommy. She'll understand. I just can't live without this stuff!"

"Maybe I can just make some toys from the tree outside, anyways...like a lil' doll or somethin'..."

So, practically leaping down the stairs, I was about to call Mommy's name out when I heard her on the phone.

"Mommy says never bother her while she's on the phone..I'll just sit here 'til she's done.." I muttered to myself.

By the way, I have a nasty habit of talking to myself, Reader...

Little did I know I'd regret this moment for the rest of my life.

"What?!" Mommy suddenly gasped on the phone. I sat up real tall and tried to hear what was going on, but the voice on the other end was too soft. I knew from her voice that Mommy didn't know I was listening, and something told me to go upstairs that second, but  ignored it.

  My curiosity came over me. And it killed the cat.

"What d'you mean that he's dead?!" She nearly shrieked.

  What? Somebody's dead?! My ears perked up.

"But..my baby! This can't be true! I thought you said that everything'd be alright, with him not actually on the front lines!"

"Baby"? But Mommy only used that name with big brother....?

And then I heard her collapse onto the floor.

"They were BOMBED? Why didn't you....why didn't...oh, why didn't you STOP them? Those planes...why did they do that to my baby? WHY?" she cried, breaking down into deep sobs, "Why?"

BOMBS? But what did that have to do with big brother?

A voice on the other end seemed to speak urgently to her for the next couple minutes, and slowly, Mommy started to calm down. I could still hear her crying, but she was trying to keep it down. I could almost see her covering her mouth. Just so I wouldn't hear.

  Little did she know I already had...

"Yes, Officer...I understand...yes...yes... I know, I'm sorry for blaming you....yes...Thank you for letting me know...yes, goodbye."

I heard her quietly crying...probably into her sleeve.

I don't know how long I sat there, but suddenly I heard her footsteps getting closer.

'Ahh! I'll get caught listening in!!' my instincts yelled at me, and I ran, ran as quickly and quietly as I could...back up the stairs.

A few minutes later I heard a knock at my door. Would she tell me about Brother? Or would she just lie about him? About how she was crying for probably 2 hours straight?

"Honey..." she said quietly, walking in, "I've got to tell you something..."

                                    To be continued.....
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Sorry, I'm just realized how much time I've spent on this story, and I have to go...I know it might be annoying, but could you please review? I could really use some tips on how to finish this story!!
Thanks,
Minuit
(Hope you liked it!!)