The Terror

“Ouch! What the heck was that for?”

A quick pain shot through my shin to my knee and back down. I briefly considered kicking the kid back, then caught the sharp glance from Melissa, before she stepped out of the room and into the kitchen. I glared back at her, clutching at my throbbing right leg. Ben, meanwhile, ignored me. I bit my lip before taking a deep breath, and tried to unbury what patience I might have left from within. I decided sitting down might help cure the nearly overpowering twitch that was still screaming at me to just kick him.

“Ben.” My voice seemed unnaturally high. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “Ben, it’s really not nice to kick people. It doesn’t feel good, and…”

The kid was already halfway across the room, beelining it for some exotic-looking plant sitting on the coffee table. I hopped to my feet to follow him, but tripped. He had managed to untie my shoe during my brief speech on niceties. I watched helplessly from my belly-down position on the floor as the plant landed upside-down on the cream-colored carpet. Oh, if only I had a gun....