Black Eye

>Lincoln Loud, a grown man of thirty-three, sat before the principal of Royal Woods Elementary and did his best not to chafe.
>”Mr. Loud,” Principal Rickles began, “I called you here today in regards to my...concerns...for Darna’s safety.”
>Darna sat next to Lincoln with her head hung and her black bangs obscuring her eyes. Tall and gangly with almond shaped eyes and a slight overbite, she resembled her mother save for the swollen black eye. “This is the third time since September that your daughter has run into a doorknob,” Rickles said. There was a hint of accusation in his voice.
>Lincoln was not offended. This happened all the time. Darna, you see, God love her, was the clumsiest creature of the earth. She fell, fumbled, tumbled, and stumbled more than a drunk on an icy sidewalk.
>”She’s very klutzy,” Lincoln explained.
>Rickles glared. “Literally no one is that accident prone, Mr. Loud.”
>:Lincoln sighed. He didn’t want to do this, but it had to be done. He turned to Darna. “Honey, can you please walk to the door, then come back and sit down?”
>Darna looked curiously up at him, then got to her feet. The office was wide and sunny, the dark gray carpeted floor smooth, even, and free of obstructions. “Watch,” Lincoln said.
>Rickles leaned over the desk like a spectator at a sporting event.
>Darna walked to the door, turned, then started back. Halfway to the chair, a ghost stuck its foot in her path and she staggered. Her eyes widened in alarm, and she overcorrected, whipping around in a circle and crying out, her hair swishing around her head. Her feet went out from under her, and she reflexively balled her hands. They hit the floor first, then she face planted...right onto her fist.
>Rickles hissed through his teeth in sympathy. Darna moaned and lifted her head.
>Now her other eye was black.
>”See?” Lincoln asked.
>Rickles looked between the two Louds, then relaxed. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Mr. Loud.”