The Orphans in the Woods

Three days had passed since Mr. and Mrs. Hamberg had died and on the fourth day Rohan and Gertrude could no longer pretend as if nothing had happened. The siblings had met each other in the kitchen, both looking for breakfast. They could smell something terrible in the air. They could see the disgusted looks on each other's faces as they both tried to bite their tongues about the stench. Rohan stared at the last slice of cheese on the fridge shelf as he stood frozen holding the fridge door open. Gertrude grabbed the last of the Lucky Charms and poured the remaining cereal into two bowls, placing them atop the bistro table before sitting down.

"Bro," Gertrude said seriously and calmly. Just like when Rohan called her Gretch. When Gertrude called Rohan "Bro" it meant there was no time for nonsense.

Rohan snapped out of his daze and closed the refrigerator door. He looked at his sister sitting at the bistro table and slowly went to join her noticing his bowl of cereal set at his side of the table. He smiled inside, pleased that his sister was still so thoughtful, then he sat down with her.

Gertrude didn't want to talk while she was eating. It was hard enough to eat cold watered cereal with that stench pervading inside the house. Yet as she chewed and swallowed her Lucky Charms, she was aching to complain about the stench and the waiting.

Rohan already knew what she was thinking. Rohan began to eat his bowl of cereal as he thought about leaving earlier than he had hoped. He decided to do the talking that he knew she wanted to do.

"Ok Gretch, you win this time," Rohan started, then with a big sigh continued, "We can't stay here as long as I thought. No one has bothered us, and I don't think anyone knows anything yet, so that's all been good. But we both smell the problem. I'll get everything ready today."

He noticed her satisfied smile as she stayed quiet and finished eating. She didn't make a sound or let out a word as she knew he was done talking.

"Make sure you have everything packed that you want or need. I'll make sure the car is packed around sunset time. We'll leave right after the sun goes down," he finished explaining, then continued with his cereal.

Gertrude smiled widely and nodded in approval. Then she took her bowl to the sink and washed it off.

"Thanks for not saying 'I told you so'," Rohan added.

Gertrude just kept smiling and went to double check around the house to make sure she'd definitely gotten everything packed.