“Mommy, look! Look! Lilo and Stitch is real! Look! Look at the house!”

Bonnie slammed on brakes at the sudden outburst of her four-year-old son from the backseat.

“Yes, sweetie,” Bonnie said with a sigh, “it is a good movie. What do you want to watch now? The Incredibles?” She fumbled through the stack of DVDs in the glove compartment for another movie that would shut her child up for the next 90 minutes.

“No, Mommy. Look at the house!”

Bonnie massaged her temples. “Honey, Mommy has a headache. Please stop yelling.” She had been driving for the past two hours. Everything she could get out of the house that night was packed in the trunk, and backseat. She was on a non-stop drive to her mother’s house to find refuge from her alcoholic husband. She feared stopping would force her to turn around and go back.

“Look at the house, Mommy,” her son said and kicked the back of her seat.

She whipped around, about to smack his hand, but he pointed out the window. She looked up and saw the house on the hill. It looked similar to the house on the Lilo and Stitch DVD case.

“And there’s Stitch!” he said.

Bonnie looked closer and saw a blue ball rolling around on the roof. Bonnie smiled at her son. Whenever Mike came home drunk, threatening to harm them, he would escape into the worlds of his favorite Disney movies. He was Stitch, Simba, Hercules, Buzz Lightyear, Quasimodo, Flynn Rider, Mr. Incredible. Bonnie turned around in her seat. She knew she had to keep driving. She needed to be his hero for once. She channeled her Lilo, Nala, Meg, Jessie, Esmeralda, Rapunzel, Elastigirl, and pressed her foot to the gas.

word count: 291

—Nortina

This is in response to this week’s Sunday Photo Fiction prompt. Write a story around 200 words based on the provided photo. This week’s photo made me think of Lilo and Stitch. Tell me what you think. Do the houses look similar?