Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) by Rosie Malezer Page B

girls,” Dad says.  Mum sits in her chair and stays quiet.  “Your mother and I are going to live apart for a while.  We both need you to know that it is not because of anything you girls have done.  We both love you very much.  We just need to have some space from each other so we can figure some things out about our future.”  Silence fills the room.  Three sets of very rounded eyes stare back at them, as this news takes us all by surprise.
    “Aren’t we all unhappy enough right now?” I ask angrily.  “Why do this?  It’s like you both want everything to get worse.  Well guess what, I don’t even know if that is possible anymore!” I yell as I run to my bedroom.  Slamming the door behind me, I lie face down on my bed, soaking my pillow with tears.  When I am all cried out, I hug Ralph and carry him back out to the living room.  He always makes me feel better.
    While I am sad that my parents are splitting up, I feel that it has something to do with our dead evil grandfather.  I stare at my mother, trying to read her thoughts.  I instead see a vision of her and my father screaming at each other.
    “You disgust me!” my father yells at her.  “You knew what he was like and you never said a single bloody word to me about it.  Our babies were subjected to that filthy monster’s paedophile doings.  YOU did this!”  The shame my mother feels is overwhelming and I want to scream at him to stop yelling at her, but this vision is not of the present, but of the past.  This memory of accusation was one that my mother could not argue with.  As she lay there on the bed in tears, my father said to her, almost calmly after taking a very deep breath, “I can’t be near you.  I’m sorry, but us being together is hurting us.  More importantly, it is hurting the girls.  Just… pack your stuff and go.”
    Although I am horrified at being witness to the argument which led to their decision, I also think it might be good for them to be apart for a while.  Too much hate and anger creates nothing but misery for everybody involved.  I don’t like my parents being so unhappy.  That night, my mother takes a couple of suitcases full of clothes and leaves.  When the front door closes, my father stands and stares at the door.  Anger again oozes from him like a tidal wave.  I start to understand his anger, but hope it soon ends.
    I go to him and hug his leg, hoping that his leg will tell the rest of him that I love him.  He leans down and picks me up.  Hugging me back, my father’s anger is replaced with sorrow.  I wish I could make him feel happy again.  Maybe after my parents have been apart for a little while, they will miss each other so much that they get back together and everything will heal.
    “I know what will make you feel a little bit better, you know,” I say.  When I look at him, one of his eyebrows shoots up, making me giggle.  “You need to put me down first.”  When he lets me back down to the floor, I walk over to our special bookcase and pull out one of my Little Golden Books called The Tawny Scrawny Lion .  Taking his hand, I lead him back to the living room.  He sits me on his lap and my sisters sit on either side of us and look at the pages as I “read” the story to them.  By the time I have finished, both of my sisters are on the floor, laughing so hard that their ribs hurt.  Dad pulls me into a hug and thanks me for such a beautiful story.
    * * *
    It’s been three months since my parents separated and things are slowly starting to settle down at home.  When I arrive at the kindergarten one morning, Sharyn tells me that her parents have finally bought her a bicycle!  She is learning to ride and has training wheels on the back, just like I used to have.  I ask Sharyn’s mother if my best friend can come to my house so I can introduce her to my family. 
    “I’m sorry, Krystal, but I don’t want Sharyn riding out on the road.  She is still learning and it