Excerpt From My WIP Titled ' Sugar & Spice

CHAPTER FOUR

January 1981

Mum and Grandma took me shopping for school supplies today. Seb only needed new uniforms. I needed uniforms, a school bag, a pencil case, exercise books, a drink bottle and a lunch box. That's a lot of shopping. 

My uniform is a green and white striped dress with itchy material and a silly little ribbon at the neck that looks like Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken’s bow tie.

Mum bought three along with a green jumper for winter. I asked about some long pants like Seb’s, but Mum tossed three pairs of thick, white, ugly tights into the trolley. Okay, I guess there will be no trousers for me. That’s just stupid. Once we finished with the uniforms, it was off to another shop to get the rest. 

We found the lunch boxes, and I quickly spotted one with The Muppets on it. Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Gonzo. All my favourites were there. I picked it up off the shelf. ‘Mum, look. This one, please?’

Grandma reached for another one on a higher shelf and threw it in the trolley. I climbed up onto to the side of the trolley to see what it was. Strawberry Shortcake. Not again. My room is decked out in Strawberry Shortcake. Bedspread, curtains, and cushions. The lot. I couldn’t escape her. ‘Get down, Charlie. You’ll hurt yourself.’

Only moments earlier, Seb had been hanging off the back of the trolley, upside down. No one told him to get down. ‘I don’t want that one. Can I have The Muppets, please?’

No one answered me, and Mum checked her watch. ‘Hurry up, kids. I have to get home and start dinner before Dad gets home.’

Next was the pencil case. I liked the blue one with dogs all over it. Grandma was at it again. ‘Oh, look, darling. This one matches your Strawberry Shortcake lunch box.’ I give up.  

Finally, it was a bright pink school bag covered in white flowers. I didn’t bother asking for the one I wanted. A pile of exercise books was added to the haul. ‘Robyn, do you think we can stop by that little cafe with the cupcakes for a quick cuppa on our way out?’

Screwing up her nose at Grandma, Mum checked her watch again. ‘Okay, Mum, but we can’t be too long. I really need to get home.’

Grandma and Mum both ordered a cup of tea. Mum pointed to the big glass cabinet next to the counter. ‘What cupcake would you like, kids?’

I picked one with green icing and a big red frog lolly in the middle, and Seb picked one with Spiderman on it. We sat down at the table, and before I could reach for my cupcake, Grandma cut it in half and put one half on her saucer. Huh?

I glared at Grandma across the table as Seb stuffed his entire cake in his mouth, dropping crumbs and hundreds and thousands all over the table. She licked her finger and wiped Seb’s face as she turned towards me. ‘You share yours with Grandma, sweetie. We don’t want you getting fat, now do we?’

Mum gave me a sympathetic smile. How is that fair? I get only half a cupcake. Seb poked his tongue out at me. It was all brown from the chocolate icing. 

We got home, and I sat on my Strawberry Shortcake bed, staring at my matching lunchbox and pencil case, and wondered why our parents treated my brother and me so differently. 

Hayley Walsh (c) 2025