by Janet

A Sleepy Child

The Man Upstairs

A Fictional Series

CARLA FERNANDEZ, UNIT 102

My baby girl, Lucita, has been very difficult lately. Something is making her unhappy at night, and I cannot soothe her. I feed her, change her, rock her… and still, she cries into the darkness. When the sunrise peeks into her room, she stops crying. Then, she finally sleeps.

My neighbor, Mr. Ferguson, gets angry when she cries. He pounds on the wall and it scares Lucita. Then she cries even more! I feel bad, and I try so hard to keep her quiet, but he is not helping. 

He used to wave to me, before Lucita was born, but now he grunts and rolls his eyes. He is very gloomy. When Lucita sees him she cries! I often wonder if he casts a shadow on her. Babies can sense things, you know, and I think Lucita can feel his unhappiness. 

There is a man coming to live in the unit above me, and he is older than Mr. Ferguson. I was afraid that he would be gloomy like him, but I think he is very different. He came yesterday, with a painter, and when Lucita saw him she laughed. She has never laughed before!

It made me happy to see her so responsive. I’ve been worried that something was wrong with her, but now I feel much better. Last night, at bedtime, I cried tears of joy into the darkness. The room was so quiet. Then I realized that Lucita was not crying, she was sleeping. 

It was a miracle!

TO BE CONTINUED

I’m keeping my notes short because I still have things to do, but I hope you enjoyed the new addition to the story – and my illustration of a sleeping baby.

The voice of the narrator is a little different than what I’m used to. If you notice that the standard English is a bit off, it may be because you need to add a slight accent. I know it’s not ideal to use dialect, but I have friends who could sound like Carla, so I’m hoping that I did it in a complimentary way.

I wasn’t going to jump into any info about The Man Upstairs yet, but I’m impatient and so I wanted you to at least get a glimpse of him. It’s not much, but at least we know he has a good aura. haha!

Goodnight for now!

Until later,
-Janet

Word of the Day Challenge: Responsive

4 Comments

  2. This is rich material these characters in this run down apartment building. Los Angeles? You can do so much with this. Carla is not an unreliable narrator like Larry. Really cool voice. Is she alone with Lucita? Really want more!! 🙂 This installment is one of my favorite things you’ve written!

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    1. Wow thanks and happy to hear that! It is within Los Angeles area for sure. That’s the bulk of what I’m familiar with so anything I write comes from the L.A. influence lol. She is alone with the baby… I’ll get to that. 🤣🤣😄

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