Character Sketch #12

The family of three is shopping for shoes. Dad elbows the teenage daughter while Mom keeps a tight grip on the designer purse slung over her right shoulder. Daughter is surprisingly confident to be seen in public with her parents.

They don’t look like they belong together: one is grunge, the other gangsta. And yet they talk together animatedly, gesturing to add the proper emphasis at the right times.

Small and blonde, she takes a few running steps to boost her speed on those pink Heelys. I hope security doesn’t catch her; she’s enjoying herself far too much for them to harsh her mellow.

Twenty yards back, Mom pulls younger sister along on a second pair of pink Heelys. Little sister has quite had her fill of shopping for today, possibly enough for the rest of the month.

They’ve been married for decades, or possibly only days. He smiles down at her as she takes the hand he offers, and each squeezes the other. She meets his eyes and returns his smile with an equally bright smile of her own.

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