I had seen a documentary movie on some men who had trapped a rhinoceros in a wooden pen; they were all working together in the movie to get the animal out of the pen without getting killed. It made me think of our family efforts to get Dad out of his Bad Moods.

On this occasion the big Vacation Fight ended when a few hours later the pensione owner knocked on Dad’s door and said that the other guests were complaining because of all his shouting. Dad told him he would never come back to this pensione again if that’s how he was to be treated. The manager said fine, but for tonight he’d have to be quiet. Dad told Mom to pack up right there and then. He told her if she didn’t pack us all up right now, he’d just walk out and leave her. And when Mom said, “But, Ralph, be reasonable,” Dad screamed, “I mean it, Elsa—forever!”

After Mom had packed her things and Dad’s—he made her pack his clothes since this fight was her fault, because if she was a better wife, he would not get into his Moods and they’d still be on vacation and happy—he sent Mom to our room to pack our things and get us ready to leave.

She came in and turned on the light. As soon as it was on, huge moths began to come in the open window from the dark outside.

“Dad’s in a really awful Mood. The worst he’s been in for a long time. He wants us all to leave tonight.”

We were shocked. He had never gone this far before. Last year he slammed the glass door between Mom and Dad’s room and the balcony so hard it shattered and once he had thrown a potted ivy plant at Mom in front of Janet, which showed how mad he was even though he missed her and the pot shattered against the wall. But he’d never cut our vacation short before. He always swore he’d never come back at the end of every vacation, but we all knew that he had a whole year to cool down from his fury at the “pounding music” at La Busola, so it didn’t worry us, and we always came back. But now we were all up in the middle of the night, so it looked like he meant it.

“Mom, is he really going to make us leave?” Janet’s voice shook. She was about to cry.

“Yes, dear, I’m afraid he’s serious. The manager aggravated his Mood at the worst possible moment.”

Rachael suddenly screamed, “I hate him! I hate him!”