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<div class="text-justify">

Wallace leaned over the counter, tapped his sister's shoulder, and smiled in his usual *I've got a secret* posture. In a muffled voice, he muttered three words that sent shivers down his sister's spine..."I was thinking."

"Why don't you just come out and say what your mean?" Veronica rolled her eyes, then turned hastily to leave the dining room. 

Exasperated at not being taken seriously, Wallace retorted, "I wouldn't be such a wreck of a human being if my own family would support me on important issues." 

It seemed as though Wallace's break with reality was coming sooner than expected. And today, Veronica thought, it seemed to be headed full steam in that direction.

She'd had enough of his bizarre and foolish escapades this past two years. Now, today he was suggesting a winter cruise. Going along with his wild idea would be backtracking in her pledge to her parents and their physician to hold steadfast and not indulge him further. 

"Shhhh... mom and dad might hear you." Veronica waved her hand in her brother's face.

"Too late. I've already booked the dates. Two tickets." Confident in his decision, Wallace danced in a circle movement around his sister.  

Breaking down, but desperately trying to de-escalate the situation, she responded kindly, "and just what would I be doing on the winter cruise other than catching the flu?"

"Well, you'll start by lying on the beach, soaking up fantastic sun, sipping on fabulous cocktails, and hopefully meeting handsome young men. It's all the rage for your age group? You can even take mom and dad. Securing two more tickets will be a breeze!"

Veronica looked at Wallace, then picked up the phone to call their doctor. "Are you trying to kill us all off so you can inherit everything?"

"Put the phone down, silly. I'd never do that, and frankly I hadn't thought of it until now." With his head down, Wallace looked up sheepishly, then let slip a wicked grin. "You're supposed to be this sophisticated older sister. I've got your number. You don't know what a winter cruise is, do you?"

Veronica didn't want to admit that she hadn't heard of it, so she pretended to be placed on hold with the doctor's office while she searched for "winter cruises".

She delivered a stern rebuttal, then playfully slapped her younger brother on the head.

"We'll see. Meantime, don't make surprise moves with other people's lives. Just let me know beforehand so we can plan a successful family outing around our work schedules and our parents' health needs." Veronica was always able to instill in her younger brother a small amount of calm and reasoning in certain situations.

However, in this instance, she chided herself for not being supportive enough. But his well-being was and always would be an issue.

</div>

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My story is based on [Day 1863: 5 Minute Freewrite: Monday - Prompt: muffled voice
](https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@mariannewest/day-1863-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-muffled-voice)

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Thanks,
@justclickindiva

*Happy rest of the week everyone with whatever your endeavors.*

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SOURCES:

a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines;
f) Thumbnail ZAPFIC50 Image used with permission of owner;
g) Build-it A DIY and How-to tutorial platform on Hive banner used in accordance with the Community Admin's guidelines;
h) Sandwiteer of March 2021 Banner earned by me as winner of the March, 2021 B.I.S.S. Sandwich Contest.

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