Up on the Rooftop

This is a contest entry for "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"  (as a part of the Writer's League Challenge) using the following prompt:

Write a story that takes place on a roof.

300 words

~**~**~**~**~

         “Honey, please be careful!” Annie Matthews called up to her husband, who balanced precariously on top of their house.

         “Don’t worry, I won’t fall!” Mike hollered back, and Annie gasped as he stumbled over a loose shingle and nearly fell. “That was close,” he said, as he jokingly wiped his forehead.

         God help him, she prayed silently, making the sign of the cross.

         "I'm okay," he said. "Really."

         “I don't care! Come down from there right now!” Annie yelled. She didn’t want a replay of his last attempt to fix the roof, which resulted in a broken leg and three cracked ribs. The doctor had just called today to tell Mike it was okay to get up out of bed.

         “When the doctor said you could go back to work, he didn’t mean on the roof. He meant your job,” Annie explained, hands on her hips.

         “I’ll go back to work tomorrow, sweetie. Right now I’m fixing this roof,” Mike told her.

         Annie wanted to smile at the look of determination on her husband’s face, but a smile would only encourage him. They could afford a carpenter to fix their roof, but there was no way Annie could pay for another trip to the hospital.

         “Wanna toss me up a shingle, darling?” Mike asked Annie.

         “Sure.”

         As she threw the shingle and Mike leaned out to catch it, he lost his balance and toppled off the roof. “Ahhhhh!” He yelled, falling to the ground.

         When the rest of the family heard him yell, they all came running outside. “Get back inside,” Annie ordered in a panicked voice. “All of you, now! Laura, call 911.”

         “I already did, Mom,” Laura said.

         Annie looked at her four-year-old daughter doubtfully. “When, darling?”

         “When Daddy told us he was going to work on the roof.”

~**~**~**~**~