Elaine recoiled at the sight of the motel sign that glowed against the night sky as an unwilling star. Elaine slammed the car door shut and stormed out of the parking lot into the lobby where her father would most likely go next. She didn’t want to hear his pleasantries with the front desk lady as they would get checked in for the night. Elaine needed at least a few minutes to herself after the six-hour drive. This was the only break she would get before the language camp, the music lessons, and the summer of chores at home.

Question

From the corner of her eye, Elaine saw her father drag the two-wheeled suitcases with two duffle bags on the handles. He wiped the sweat off his brow, took out his wallet to show his ID, and talked with the matronly blonde woman in a wrinkled uniform. The woman seemed to like Elaine’s father, as everyone did, which irritated Elaine. “Why does he have to be friends with everyone in the world?” Elaine muttered under her breath.

“Come on, kiddo,” Elaine’s father called out to her, “214!”

Elaine dragged her feet and followed her father at least twenty steps behind, not once reaching for her suitcase and duffle bag, not even when he opened the door.

“You can choose the window side. What do you want for dinner? Pizza? Indian?” Elaine’s father placed the menus he had grabbed from the front desk on Elaine’s bed for the night. “I’m going for a walk. Text me what you want. I will get food on the way back. You can shower tonight so we can head out early. The service is at 10. We have to leave right after breakfast at 7.”

“I didn’t even know her. Why did you drag me along? I’m old enough to stay home by myself for a couple days, dad!” Elaine yelled before burying her face in the fluffed pillows.

“I’ll be back in an hour,” Elaine’s father said in a voice above a whisper. “Text me, or I will get chicken curry and rice.”

The heater unit in the motel was buzzing louder than the cable shows Elaine put on the television to numb her mind. A movie about a rowdy teenager who insults her parents, not knowing that her mother is fighting cancer was playing. The message was too loud and in her face for Elaine who regretted not helping her father with the luggage. She knew she shouldn’t have yelled at her father, and she knew her anger was misplaced. Her grandmother, who didn’t want to help raise her, had left the world. Elaine was in Newton for her grandmother's funeral, the one who never got over the heartbreak of losing her daughter. She knew her father did everything he could to raise her well while he was all alone.

Elaine didn’t want chicken curry, but an hour had passed, and it was too late to text her father to request pizza. When Elaine realized she had watched an entire movie and was on the next one, she began worrying. She could hear car doors slamming in the parking lot. She was expecting her father to open the door in the next few minutes each time. Her heart began racing when she heard tires screech and come to a hard stop as if it had hit something or someone. Elaine rushed to the window and opened the curtain. A driver had nearly hit a cat whose eyes glowed in the dark like a sinister force. The driver was not her father.

Elaine hung her head and held onto her cell phone. She still hadn’t called or texted her father to check on him. “Have I upset him so much that he doesn’t want to come back until now?” she said to herself. Just then, she heard the door click and open. Elaine rushed to the door to grab the two bags of take-out from her father’s hands. She set them on the table and hugged her father as if she was seeing him after five years.

“Sorry, kiddo. The restaurant was so busy and backed up. Apparently, it’s the best Indian food in the whole state! I brought naan and chana and chicken curry and rice,” Elaine’s father explained his delay as he hugged his only child. “Did you watch anything good on TV while you waited?”

“Just what I needed to see, dad,” Elaine said. “Sorry for not helping with your luggage and being miserable on the whole ride.”

“All’s well that ends well, darling,” Elaine’s father said. “I know it’s not easy on you. Your grandmother wasn’t the same after your mom…left. It’s not her fault. Some people aren’t as strong as you.”

“You think so?” Elaine remarked. She was in awe of her father who always knew the right thing to say at the right time.

“I mean, only a strong young lady can starve for hours and still hug her dad before hugging the take-out!” Elaine's father said with a smile as big as the full moon.


Question
Which statement best reflects a theme in this story?
Responses
A The best way to deal with grief is through laughter.The best way to deal with grief is through laughter.
B Guilt turns a person into someone incapable of love.Guilt turns a person into someone incapable of love.
C Sometimes strong feelings are difficult to process.Sometimes strong feelings are difficult to process.
D People who don’t move on from the past are alone.People who don’t move on from the past are alone.
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Answer 1

The statement that best reflects a theme in this story is:

C. Sometimes strong feelings are difficult to process.

This is evident through Elaine's struggle with her emotions regarding her grandmother's funeral, her anger towards her father, and her eventual realization of her love for him despite the grief they are both experiencing. The narrative captures her internal conflict and the complexity of dealing with loss and disappointment.