Strangers at Heart (flash fiction)  

Anne wanted to punch Claudia in the face. They were doing dishes after a mostly silent dinner of tuna noodle casserole and canned Le Sueur peas. Claudia was babysitting while their parents went to see The Carpenters at the Rose Theater. It was the first time they were alone together. 

Claudia was Anne's cousin, but she was older, like an Aunt. Claudia said that Anne's mom was the “oops-baby.”  Claudia’s mom and Ellen were mostly grown and gone by the time Anne's mom came along. That is why she felt so strongly about having Anne. She didn’t want Melissa to grow up as an only.
 
As Anne washed and Claudia dried, Anne told her about the A she had gotten on her math test. She was proud of that A. It was hard earned. Math had never come easily, and she had never gotten an A before. Math was always the subject that marred her shining report card.
 
Instead of acknowledging her effort, or being happy for her, Claudia said, “Math is so easy. I don’t know why it is hard for you. I always got an A in math.” Anne tried to get Claudia to understand how much she had studied, and how hard she had worked, and how significant the grade was to her, but Claudia just kept repeating over and over again that math was easy.
 
Anne could feel anger growing in her jaw, and in her fist. In that moment, she hated her. She knew Claudia would always be in her life. Family is like that. She would be at holiday dinners and family celebrations, and she knew there would be a few more years of being babysat, but she also knew that they would always be strangers at heart.
 
Anne didn’t hit her that day. She wasn’t a hitter, but she thought about it. In time, the anger she felt grew into tolerance, and then indifference, finally accepting that family doesn’t always feel like home. 

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