Outside Looking In

He politely interrupts with a soft knock from the inside of the house. His youngest daughter is having a quiet puff of her cigarette on the back patio. It’s dark and she can only see his silouhette.

“What are you doing out in the dark?” He asks.

“I’m just thinking. I like it out here at night. I’m okay..” She replies assuringly.

He tells her that he’s off to bed for the night, that he has to work early and for her to be quiet so he can sleep. He always had a tough time falling asleep. She secretly thinks it is because he doesn’t want to miss out on the rest of his
families’ lives. He would listen and wait for someone to talk loudly on the phone, or bang around in the bathroom. He liked getting up and telling them to be quiet.

As he closes the door, he smiles and realizes that his little girl is full of emotion and thought. She was always a good kid and with that had a smart head on her shoulders.

He enters the living room where his wife lays snoring on the couch, the two puppies surrounding her doing the same. The living room is dim and the t.v is far too loud for the average person to fall asleep to.

“Hey, Kim wake up. I’m going to bed.” He gently pats her shoulder with his solid hands. He shakes her a little rough, but she is used to his clumsy nature.

“What... I’m just..going to stay up for a little bit longer.” She whispers as she fights her head from falling back to her pillow.

His wife is very stubborn and always joins him an hour or so after him once she wakes up again. He calls the puppies to follow him down the stairs towards his bedroom. His feet drag over the plastic lining covering the stairs, as the dogs' nails click with each step. It’s a familiar noise to his oldest daughter and son watching tv in the sitting room. They know that this is warning to turn their tv down and their voices down on the telephone. One is always watching the tv while the other blabs to his girlfriend on the phone.

They get the more official warning, than the youngest. These two always seemed to cause him the most grief when it came to keeping it down at night. But he loved them just the same. Knowing that they were old enough to move out on their own, they were bound to make a little more noise.

“Okay guys, I’m going to bed. Keep the tv down and please don’t talk too loud on the phone tonight. No fighting with your girlfriend.” His voice with authority, but kindness at the mention of his son’s ugly break up.

They agree and go right back to what they were doing. Telling him to have a good sleep.

He enters his room and the dogs jump lazily up on the bed before him. Their tails wagging waiting for him to join them. He undresses and gets into his bed, wrapping the covers right up to his chest.

He sighs loudly as this is the first time he gets to really relax today. He lays there first with his eyes open, looking at the roof. He listens to all the normal noises of his house. His youngest is quietly slipping into the house, carefully clicking the back door closed. He smiles. The other two are quietly talking to one another. Their voices are muffled and faint, just as he’s used to. He can just hear his wife snoring on the couch. He smiles again. His life is fufilled. He has all that he has ever wanted. A nice, warm home to live in. A wife that loves him more than anything imaginable. He has three healthy, happy children that he raised with such care and understanding. He has his family. With that he rolls over and snaps his lamp off..

**Something I wrote in Rudi's point of view