As Simple as It Seems Read Online Free PDF

was buttered on.
    â€œEverybody else calls them flatlanders,” I said. “Why shouldn’t I?”
    My mother pulled a fistful of clean silverware out of the dishwasher and carried it like a bouquet over to the drawer.
    â€œMaybe Dr. Finn could find you something to do at the shelter,” she said, returning to the subject of my nonexistent summer plans. “I’m going over there tomorrow afternoon to see about a nest of bunnies somebody turned over with a mower. Poor little things got their ears—”
    â€œStop!” I cried, putting my hand up. “I don’t want to hear about the bunnies.”
    â€œThere were five to begin with,” my mother said, closing the silverware drawer with her hip, “but only two are left.”
    She reached into a box of cheese crackers that wassitting open on the counter and popped a few into her mouth.
    â€œI told you I didn’t want to hear about the bunnies, Mom.”
    I was sitting on the couch in the family room, off the kitchen, still in my nightgown. There were Sunday morning cartoons flickering on the television with the sound turned off. My mother came over and stood behind me, resting her hands on my shoulders. There was orange cheese-cracker dust on her fingers.
    â€œHow about some pancakes—would that cheer you up?” she asked.
    â€œI’m not hungry!” I shouted, shrugging out from under her touch. “And I’m not going to be hungry ten minutes from now when you ask me again, either.”
    â€œYou might feel better if you got some fresh air. Moping around in your pj’s all day isn’t going to help anything, Sugarpea.”
    â€œI don’t want to get some fresh air. I want to be left alone,” I said. “And how many more times do I have to tell you— don’t call me Sugarpea .”
    â€œI’ve called you that name since you were a baby, Verbena,” my mother said.
    â€œWell in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a baby anymore.”
    I was so mad I couldn’t even look at her. Everything about my mother annoyed me, including her weight, which had ballooned to an all-time high. I knew it was mean, but the fact of the matter was I was embarrassed to even be seen with her. If only she would leave me alone. But no matter where I went, she always seemed to be hovering nearby asking me questions or trying to get me to eat something.
    My father must have heard us arguing, because he appeared in the doorway, holding a wooden bird feeder in his hand.
    â€œEverything all right in here, ladies?” he asked.
    Sunday was his only day off, so he’d been out in his workshop happily hammering away all morning. He had a quiet way of tracking the storms between my mother and me without ever quite being drawn into them.
    â€œEverything’s fine,” my mother said. “We’ve just been talking about what Verbie might like to do with her free time this summer.”
    â€œI could use a hand out in the shop. This feeder is about ready for a coat of paint, and there’s a brush out there with a certain little girl’s name on it.”
    My mother wasn’t the only one who could set me off.
    â€œLittle girl?” I said. “Little girl?”
    My father looked to my mother, who turned her hands palms up.
    I felt like the monkey in a game of monkey in the middle.
    â€œI’m going up to my room to read,” I said, getting off the couch.
    â€œDo you have a good book?” my mother asked, springing into full-blown fuss mode. “’Cause if you need one, we can go into town and swing by the library—no wait, it’s not open today. We’ll see if they have anything at Peck’s instead—a paperback, or maybe you’d like a magazine. Afterward we can stop and get manicures. I’ll give Trudy a call and see if she can fit us in.”
    She reached for the phone, and before I could stop it, the lava overflowed