<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="background-color:#353535; border:1px solid black; margin:10px 10px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;">Everything was fine and dandy. Then, everything changed when soap was mentioned.<br/><br/>Mallory froze. She could not believe her own ears.<br/><br/>"Listen, Blake, it's okay," she said, grabbing his wrist so hard her knuckles were turning white. A piece of fish managed to escape from her mouth onto the floor, but for this one time, she did not notice. She could watch Blake's whole world <a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUltheRpJNw">slowly falling apart</a> in his muddy brown eyes. He was familiar with soap - when they were little, Mallory's mom had sometimes demanded that he wash before he was let into the house, and she had sent her out with a bucket of icy water and the smallest sliver of soap for him. Mallory could still remember his idea of washing - dipping his fingers in water and drawing slightly less filthy lines on his face with it. He was never allowed to remain that way for long, as she always promptly proceeded to empty the bucket of water on him.<br/><br/>"We're gonna take a bath, and it will be okay. Just like when we were kids. It'll be our bath this year! We won't have to do it again." She managed a small smile. Standing up, she marched towards the door Margo had indicated - Blake in one hand, chicken in the other.</div></div>