Friday Night

Jump!

Jump! Jump!

Jump! Jump! Jump!

Giggle!

Mary glanced down the hallway from her seat on the sofa.  The noise coming from her two young daughters’ room was not the sound of sleeping princesses, but rather the sound of rampaging kangaroos.  She stood up with a hint of mischief in her eyes and tiptoed toward the partly open door.  Mary placed her hand on the door, listened for a moment, inhaled and rushed in with a “Hey, what’s going on in here?” shout.

Both girls shrieked as they fell down onto the double bed, scrambling to get under the covers.      

Good-bye

We had a good run, you and I.  For years you stood by me, offering warmth and energy when I rolled out of bed.  There you would be keeping vigil on the kitchen counter with the blender and toaster, ready at an instant to leap into action, gurgling and brewing.

Sadly, as the summer winds down and the leaves start to turn you too have reached the end of existence.  With barely a flutter of your green light you sit silent and unmoving, the water left cold and the grounds still dry.

Good-bye my faithful friend, my little coffee maker.  

The Inheritance (6)

The car doors opened and both families climbed out into the warm summer morning, leaving Lisa’s husband Tom sitting behind the wheel with the motor running.  While the two sister’s scouted out a place to make their own for the day Tom would make his way down to the landing and get the boat launched.

“Want a hand with the boat?”  Brad asked stepping up to the driver’s side of the Yukon.

“Sure.  Hop in.  Lisa?  Do you want to haul anything with?”

“I think we will find a spot and then meet you down by the landing.  It looks like it will be easier to haul everything from there instead of this hill.”

“Meet you down there, then.”  Tom said, putting the vehicle into drive and easing it forward.

Overhead a few white clouds offered sporadic shade as they sailed by.  The weather forecast was for the high to be in the mid seventies with a 10 percent chance of scattered showers in the afternoon.  Lisa felt confident the day was going to be about as perfect a day for a picnic as you could get.  It was important nothing got in the way of her plans.  Plans she had been developing for a number of years, plans she had tweaked and massaged with letters and phone calls to both her siblings, encouraging and soothing until her sister decided to come back for a visit.  Plans she had carefully kept hidden from everyone around her, maintaining the image of passivity and mildness others took for the real Lisa.

“Let’s go.”  Lilly said indicating the top of the stairs leading down the tree-shaded hill to the beach.  She had her beach tote slung over her shoulder and each of three children had backpacks or totes in hand.  They grew up where going to the beach was a common, if not daily, event and were well versed in navigating from the parked car to the shoreline with their belongings in hand.

“Ready when you are.”  Lisa said as she hiked her bag over her shoulder, nodded with a smile at her sister and headed off toward the stairs.

The group moved forward with Lisa leading the way and Lily’s oldest daughter bringing up the rear, trailing behind the four younger children and the two adults.

To Be Continued…  

Piecework

The long day ended with a whistle blow, a signal to everyone to set down his or her tools.

Hamish continued his intense focus on the gem in his station, his tiny vibration tool barely touching the surface.  He was very close to finishing this power crystal. 

It was the most perfect gem he had ever seen in his thirty years of working in the power plant and the Super had given it to him, trusting him to shape it properly. 

His bonus from the sale of this one piece would pay for his daughter’s tuition at the space academy.

Welcoming The Rain

Joy, unspeakable joy suffused his being.  He raised his hands up, tipped his head back exposing his face to the life giving water falling from the dark clouds overhead.  His face beamed with pleasure as the wetness fell on him, soaking every part of him, washing away the dust and grim. 

Refreshed and clean, stomata opened up taking in carbon dioxide in exchange for water vapor spurring on the developing flowers to put forth their vibrant display of color at the end of summer. Asters, Monkshood and Chrysanthemum lined the brick walkway leading out to the gazebo in the backyard.  

Teary Eyed

Her lower lip quivered as tears welled up in her startled eyes.  She drew in a sharp breath and held it in an effort to keep them from cascading down her cheeks, blinking her eyes as she did.  The pain radiating up her leg from her stubbed toe overwhelmed her and she let out her breath in an explosion of unladylike words.

Around the office heads popped up, like prairie dogs in the plains of South Dakota popping out of their burrows, to see what was going on.

“Sorry, I stubbed my toe.”  She said, her face red with embarrassment.