sister

And then I was awake. Just like that, sitting upright in bed and my face dripping with the water she had thrown at it. I touched my pillow, which was damp. There in the early dark she stood with the empty glass in her hand.

"You said to wake you up."

And I had. It was true. I asked for a wake up call and I would have slept in. I would have turned over in my warm bed and groaned and muttered that I had changed my mind. I didn't want to be woken at all. I wanted to sleep.

She grinned, but only with half her mouth. A sly curl of the lip. Half smile, half frown.

I wondered what it would take to throw a glass of iced water into the face of a sleeping child.

"I said wake me up, not throw water at me"

"Well," she said "You're awake now. The show is about to start."

I would roll over and go back to bed. I would change my mind. Danger Man was a great show, but 4am was too early. Even Patrick McGoohan could not excite me at this time in the morning. I wanted to curl up and sleep. The pillow was worse than damp, it was soaked through. I tore back the covers and the morning was all ice. My mood was cold and surly. I glared at her and dragged myself to my feet which were numb and swollen with sleep. She wanted me to be mad at her. She wanted me to have woken into a mood. I would sway but I would not fall. I could stand up to my sister. This at least I would do. I could match her sneer with a smile so sweet that she would hate me for it.

"Thanks." I forced the smile wider, "Thanks for waking me," I said.