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(I must say, I do start to like the story again when I write the dog - I don't know why. Maybe because she is the closest thing I have to a talking animal in this story. Much love to Bear for being my inspiration.)
Chapter Ten: Suicidal goldfish should never be allowed on rooftops
While grief is fresh, every attempt to diverty only irritates. You must wait till it be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it. –Samuel Johnson
Maxie was not enjoying Gramma and Grampa’s house. Their door didn’t have a place for her to go in and out so she had to watch closely to see if it would open on it’s own. Gramma, especially, didn’t like when she did that. Her bed wasn’t near the fireplace because it kept getting in Grampa’s way so he moved it to a drafty corner without a decent view. Gramma yelled when she tried to run after her ball. Grampa accidentally kicked her and didn’t apologize, just muttered something about big dogs being a nuisance.
And, the worst thing of all about this house was that Chailyn was in a bad mood. When she had tried to cheer her owner up with a kiss, it hadn’t gone over well and she had found herself outside on a chain. The humiliation of it all! She patrolled the small area every few minutes to make sure the perimeter hadn’t been breached by any other human, animal or piece of dust. Each time, she lay down with a large sigh and tried not to let herself think of her yard and her home and the real place near the fire where her bed should be.
Chailyn wasn’t having a good day, either. She was spending most of her time thinking of her yard and her home and her comfortable down quilt on her bed. It wasn’t the same being at her parent’s house, especially as she didn’t have much time to prepare what she wanted to bring with her. As it was, she had barely been able to grab her comfortable pajama pants, roomy sweatshirt with the rip at the armpit that her mom had threatened to mend if she ever took it off, and the flip flops that she wore anytime she wasn’t working.
For the last thirty six hours, her brain had felt like it was rattling around in her skull. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Every time she tried to get comfortable on the couch, she made the mistake of using her sore arm and reminding herself why she was here in the first place.
How embarrassing to be caught NOT watching a foul ball in prime foul ball territory! She had a vague memory of hearing Lucas’ voice and wondering if he was coming to autograph the ball that the park security guards had rescued for her. The time she spent in the baseball parks infirmary and then the nearest emergency room had been downright embarrassing. Nurses did not make good patients and she was the worst even at her best.
When she had finally convinced the doctor that she was leaving the hospital, even if she had to do it by hiding out in the dirty linen bags and escaping in the back of the truck that came to pick them up every day. Dr. Drennon had laughed but given her points for her ingenuity and had okayed her release only if she could guarantee that she would be around people for another fifty four hours.
The only reliable group of people she could think of were her parents. It had killed her to make the call to her mother but it had to be done because she refused to stay any longer in a hospital where she couldn’t yell at the doctors and fellow nurses. Oh, how she wanted to wipe those condescending smirks off their faces!
She sat up cautiously at first to make sure that her head wouldn’t roll off her body. Nothing adverse happened. It was time to get off the couch and think about doing something productive. The first thing on her agenda was a glass of water. It was an easy enough task and no one else was in the kitchen.
Her mother had been hard at work with the home interior projects. Sunflowers greeted her from every corner of the sunlit kitchen. It was cheerful and aggravating at the same time, but infinitely better than the roosters that had crowed from every resting spot only the month before. Or maybe it was two months. She needed to come for visits more often if she couldn’t remember how long it had been since her last trip to the homestead.
Maxie started barking as soon as Chailyn walked to the window. Water, than dog. She shouldn’t have let her dad put her out on that chain this morning. The poor dog had been uprooted just like she had, but even more abruptly. There hadn’t been a calming talk about how much fun they would have on the visit, nor a careful inventory of acceptable toys and food.
Taking the plastic cup of ice water outside with her, Chailyn went over to her over-excited dog. “Now, cut that out! You behave or I’m going back inside.” Instantly, Maxie sat down and put her nose in the air, looking disdainfully around as if to wonder who that wild dog had been a moment before. “That’s better. That’s my girl.”
“You should be lying down. Mom’s going to kill you if she sees you up.”
Chailyn looked back at her little sister and tried not to notice once again how much she was growing up. It was happening too quickly. Now she understood the importance of those quips from their aunts and uncles all those years ago. Seeing a person grow up without being nearby for every single second of it was hard to handle. She felt her own mortality a little more keenly as she realized how old she was getting. She wasn’t even thirty but she owned a townhouse, a dog and had a contract with the hospital for the next six years. If that didn’t spell OLD LADY in large letters across her forehead, she didn’t know what did.
“I’m fine. Besides, I have the medical degree. I think I know what’s best for my own body.”
“When I used that excuse back in tenth grade to get that tattoo, it didn’t work. I wouldn’t go that route with Mom and Dad if I were you.” Charlotte walked over and gave Maxie a rub across her nose before stepping back to search her sister’s face. She seemed satisfied about what she saw.
“Maxie could use a walk after being cooped up. You want to go see what there is to see?”
Charlotte nodded and answered quickly, “Sure. Let me go get better shoes on. Should I bring you some more sturdy shoes as well?”
They both looked down at the dirty purple flip flops. “Now, why would you think these couldn’t withstand a simple walk? I’m not saying we go hiking. I’ll be fine with these on.”
“Whatever. They’re your feet but I’m not carrying you back.”
“You don’t have to. Maxie can do all the carrying. She’s good at that.” The dog sniffed and looked away, looking for all the world as if she was hurt by the accusation of being nothing but an animal. She was definitely big enough to pull her owner, having done so the previous winter. The two of them had made a trip to the park after a particularly furious snowstorm, armed with a halter leash and a sled.
Chailyn set down her water glass before going back to unsnap the chain, throwing it upward to connect with the low hanging branch. Her dad would thank her for it when he went to mow the lawn again. Now that it wasn’t her job anymore to help with the yard work, she was feeling magnanimous and more than willing to go the extra step to help out Dear Old Dad.
“Ready to go for a walk, Maxie?” The dog responded by leaping into the air with delight and settling into a sedate walk. “That bad, huh? We’ll walk that energy right out of you.”
The younger sister closed the sliding glass door and joined the two of them, sliding on her sunglasses against the autumn sunshine. “You’re in luck. I saw Mom and told her that I distinctly remembering someone on that doctor show she and Dad like to watch prescribing sunshine and walking for a concussion.”
She couldn’t help but smirk at her sister then. “What is it with you people thinking that a TV show is reality?”
“Shove it. It got her off your back.” Normally, Charlotte would have punched her sister’s shoulder but refrained since she was not feeling her best at the moment.
“It’s like they expect me to lay around in bed, moaning in anguish. Have I ever done anything like that?”
“There was that basketball game where you ended up on the court making all those strange faces.”
“I landed on some girl’s ankle and we both went down, thank you very much. That wasn’t my fault at all and I didn’t do any moaning in anguish. It was more like a scream of pain, if I remember correctly. Ended my basketball career.”
“No, Mom ended your basketball career. Because of that, mine never got off the ground.”
Chailyn glanced at her little sister. This banter was something they had spent a lot of time perfecting but there was something in Charlotte’s tone that worried her. Her heart wasn’t in her words. Instead of going right for the heart of the matter, she continued to side step. It was what they did. If the other wanted to bring it up, that was allowed. Otherwise, there were specific rules that needed to be followed.
“Did you want to play basketball? You seemed like so much more of a golf girl to me. It was the perfect game for you. And the perfect solution to getting Mom and Dad off my back about being a poor role model since it appears I spent more time getting hurt on the court than playing there.” Chailyn Adderly still held the unofficial school record for more time spent on the court with blood somewhere on her person. The coach liked to count the times it was the other team’s blood, as well. It had been an embarrassment then, but she was strangely proud of that accomplishment now. In a way, she had helped advance girls’ sports at Stetson Hills Senior High School.
“I liked golf. Really, I liked driving the little golf carts around. Reese said…” she faltered but picked up almost too quickly for Chailyn to notice, “…that he had to bail every time we took that corner on the tenth green at the Vector Course. I know for a fact that he stayed in the car at least one time because he dove into the lake at least once.”
“Ah, good times. No wonder you drove so many teachers to retirement.”
“I’m not taking the sole responsibility for that. You and…you did your fair share of forcing some teachers out of teaching and into insurance, wasn’t it?”
At the corner, Chailyn let Maxie pick the direction. Dogs seemed to sense the more interesting route. Half down the block, they noticed quite a few out of state license plates out in front of a familiar house. “Myrtle and Tom know people from Idaho? It looks like they’re being invaded by potato people.”
“Mom mentioned that their daughter is getting married next weekend and her fiancé is from some little town there that no one has heard of.”
“So, the entire state is here for the wedding? That seems about right.”
Charlotte jabbed at her sister’s shoulder this time. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s kind of funny. Besides, it’s an old joke. I bet Myrtle would find it uproariously funny.”
“And Dad would glare at you for even saying something like that out loud.”
“Oh, let him.”
Maxie shook her large head and steered the group across the street to a small patch of brightly colored flowers. No matter what season they walked in, the dog could always find the only flourishing foliage. These were firmly ensconced under a series of bushes that kept out most of the wind and harmful weather. After sniffing appreciatively, she set out on a new path toward the nearby school.
“I heard a rumor today at the store when I went to pick up your soda.” Charlotte watched her feet, not looking up from this interesting game of Kick All The Rocks Nearby.
“That wasn’t mine. You know very well it was for Dad.”
“Do you want to know what it was?”
Immediately, she could tell that this wasn’t part of the game. This was a Serious Conversation Topic. “Sure.”
“Quite a few people took great pains in making sure that I didn’t hear them talking about Cora being in town.”
Maxie suddenly found herself several lengths away from her walking party. She walked back and nudged first one hand and then the other. Neither one was moving. So that she didn’t miss anything important, she sat down and watched first one girl and then the other.
“Are you sure you heard them right?” Chailyn asked, working at keeping her breathing steady.
Charlotte shrugged, her shoulder length bob making a pretty swinging movement, just like the hairdresser had intended. “There aren’t many people named Cora around these parts. I also heard Fran’s name being bandied about. I think she’s staying with her.”
“Do you think Mom and Dad know and just haven’t said anything to us?”
“It’s possible but I doubt it. I can’t imagine that they know.”
It had been a long time since either girl had really thought about their older sister. Occasionally, a memory slipped out but was hastily pushed back down. Charlotte had the most trouble with it seeing how Cora had left so abruptly right as she was really starting to understand her strange big sister. She had the most happy memories and the most to lose by not sharing them.
“Would we be doing the right thing if we let them find out from someone else? Should we be the ones to tell them?” Charlotte asked tentatively.
“She should be the one to tell them!” Chailyn announced vehemently. Maxie put her ears back, crouching slightly just in case her owner decided to use that tone with her. Even Charlotte found herself stepping back. “It’s not enough that she had to hurt them then. Now she has to come back and see if she can finish the job.”
Since neither sister knew exactly what had been said that day and really had no idea why Cora left so suddenly, they had formed their own opinions over the years. Charlotte fantasized that she had left to travel the world with only a backpack and a picture of her family wedged in her back pocket. Chailyn, always the realist, had decided it was over the issue of college; more specifically, the parents paying any money for Cora to go to an out of state university.
“We should get back. I think you’re looking a little flushed.”
Maxie waited while the girls gave each other a long look and a hug before setting off back the way she had gone. It was a cold day and, if she was very good, maybe she could curl up by the fire for the rest of the afternoon.
Holly and I worked off challenges from each other and these were the ones that I was given:
(1) reliable, contract, rattling, dirty linen, "Cut that out!"
(2) magnanimous, anguish, furious, upward
(3) solution, ensconce, advance, Idaho, "That wasn't mine."
And the chapter title is from an idea I was given at the NaNo meeting last night. Much love to my peeps!
Chapter Ten: Suicidal goldfish should never be allowed on rooftops
While grief is fresh, every attempt to diverty only irritates. You must wait till it be digested, and then amusement will dissipate the remains of it. –Samuel Johnson
Maxie was not enjoying Gramma and Grampa’s house. Their door didn’t have a place for her to go in and out so she had to watch closely to see if it would open on it’s own. Gramma, especially, didn’t like when she did that. Her bed wasn’t near the fireplace because it kept getting in Grampa’s way so he moved it to a drafty corner without a decent view. Gramma yelled when she tried to run after her ball. Grampa accidentally kicked her and didn’t apologize, just muttered something about big dogs being a nuisance.
And, the worst thing of all about this house was that Chailyn was in a bad mood. When she had tried to cheer her owner up with a kiss, it hadn’t gone over well and she had found herself outside on a chain. The humiliation of it all! She patrolled the small area every few minutes to make sure the perimeter hadn’t been breached by any other human, animal or piece of dust. Each time, she lay down with a large sigh and tried not to let herself think of her yard and her home and the real place near the fire where her bed should be.
Chailyn wasn’t having a good day, either. She was spending most of her time thinking of her yard and her home and her comfortable down quilt on her bed. It wasn’t the same being at her parent’s house, especially as she didn’t have much time to prepare what she wanted to bring with her. As it was, she had barely been able to grab her comfortable pajama pants, roomy sweatshirt with the rip at the armpit that her mom had threatened to mend if she ever took it off, and the flip flops that she wore anytime she wasn’t working.
For the last thirty six hours, her brain had felt like it was rattling around in her skull. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Every time she tried to get comfortable on the couch, she made the mistake of using her sore arm and reminding herself why she was here in the first place.
How embarrassing to be caught NOT watching a foul ball in prime foul ball territory! She had a vague memory of hearing Lucas’ voice and wondering if he was coming to autograph the ball that the park security guards had rescued for her. The time she spent in the baseball parks infirmary and then the nearest emergency room had been downright embarrassing. Nurses did not make good patients and she was the worst even at her best.
When she had finally convinced the doctor that she was leaving the hospital, even if she had to do it by hiding out in the dirty linen bags and escaping in the back of the truck that came to pick them up every day. Dr. Drennon had laughed but given her points for her ingenuity and had okayed her release only if she could guarantee that she would be around people for another fifty four hours.
The only reliable group of people she could think of were her parents. It had killed her to make the call to her mother but it had to be done because she refused to stay any longer in a hospital where she couldn’t yell at the doctors and fellow nurses. Oh, how she wanted to wipe those condescending smirks off their faces!
She sat up cautiously at first to make sure that her head wouldn’t roll off her body. Nothing adverse happened. It was time to get off the couch and think about doing something productive. The first thing on her agenda was a glass of water. It was an easy enough task and no one else was in the kitchen.
Her mother had been hard at work with the home interior projects. Sunflowers greeted her from every corner of the sunlit kitchen. It was cheerful and aggravating at the same time, but infinitely better than the roosters that had crowed from every resting spot only the month before. Or maybe it was two months. She needed to come for visits more often if she couldn’t remember how long it had been since her last trip to the homestead.
Maxie started barking as soon as Chailyn walked to the window. Water, than dog. She shouldn’t have let her dad put her out on that chain this morning. The poor dog had been uprooted just like she had, but even more abruptly. There hadn’t been a calming talk about how much fun they would have on the visit, nor a careful inventory of acceptable toys and food.
Taking the plastic cup of ice water outside with her, Chailyn went over to her over-excited dog. “Now, cut that out! You behave or I’m going back inside.” Instantly, Maxie sat down and put her nose in the air, looking disdainfully around as if to wonder who that wild dog had been a moment before. “That’s better. That’s my girl.”
“You should be lying down. Mom’s going to kill you if she sees you up.”
Chailyn looked back at her little sister and tried not to notice once again how much she was growing up. It was happening too quickly. Now she understood the importance of those quips from their aunts and uncles all those years ago. Seeing a person grow up without being nearby for every single second of it was hard to handle. She felt her own mortality a little more keenly as she realized how old she was getting. She wasn’t even thirty but she owned a townhouse, a dog and had a contract with the hospital for the next six years. If that didn’t spell OLD LADY in large letters across her forehead, she didn’t know what did.
“I’m fine. Besides, I have the medical degree. I think I know what’s best for my own body.”
“When I used that excuse back in tenth grade to get that tattoo, it didn’t work. I wouldn’t go that route with Mom and Dad if I were you.” Charlotte walked over and gave Maxie a rub across her nose before stepping back to search her sister’s face. She seemed satisfied about what she saw.
“Maxie could use a walk after being cooped up. You want to go see what there is to see?”
Charlotte nodded and answered quickly, “Sure. Let me go get better shoes on. Should I bring you some more sturdy shoes as well?”
They both looked down at the dirty purple flip flops. “Now, why would you think these couldn’t withstand a simple walk? I’m not saying we go hiking. I’ll be fine with these on.”
“Whatever. They’re your feet but I’m not carrying you back.”
“You don’t have to. Maxie can do all the carrying. She’s good at that.” The dog sniffed and looked away, looking for all the world as if she was hurt by the accusation of being nothing but an animal. She was definitely big enough to pull her owner, having done so the previous winter. The two of them had made a trip to the park after a particularly furious snowstorm, armed with a halter leash and a sled.
Chailyn set down her water glass before going back to unsnap the chain, throwing it upward to connect with the low hanging branch. Her dad would thank her for it when he went to mow the lawn again. Now that it wasn’t her job anymore to help with the yard work, she was feeling magnanimous and more than willing to go the extra step to help out Dear Old Dad.
“Ready to go for a walk, Maxie?” The dog responded by leaping into the air with delight and settling into a sedate walk. “That bad, huh? We’ll walk that energy right out of you.”
The younger sister closed the sliding glass door and joined the two of them, sliding on her sunglasses against the autumn sunshine. “You’re in luck. I saw Mom and told her that I distinctly remembering someone on that doctor show she and Dad like to watch prescribing sunshine and walking for a concussion.”
She couldn’t help but smirk at her sister then. “What is it with you people thinking that a TV show is reality?”
“Shove it. It got her off your back.” Normally, Charlotte would have punched her sister’s shoulder but refrained since she was not feeling her best at the moment.
“It’s like they expect me to lay around in bed, moaning in anguish. Have I ever done anything like that?”
“There was that basketball game where you ended up on the court making all those strange faces.”
“I landed on some girl’s ankle and we both went down, thank you very much. That wasn’t my fault at all and I didn’t do any moaning in anguish. It was more like a scream of pain, if I remember correctly. Ended my basketball career.”
“No, Mom ended your basketball career. Because of that, mine never got off the ground.”
Chailyn glanced at her little sister. This banter was something they had spent a lot of time perfecting but there was something in Charlotte’s tone that worried her. Her heart wasn’t in her words. Instead of going right for the heart of the matter, she continued to side step. It was what they did. If the other wanted to bring it up, that was allowed. Otherwise, there were specific rules that needed to be followed.
“Did you want to play basketball? You seemed like so much more of a golf girl to me. It was the perfect game for you. And the perfect solution to getting Mom and Dad off my back about being a poor role model since it appears I spent more time getting hurt on the court than playing there.” Chailyn Adderly still held the unofficial school record for more time spent on the court with blood somewhere on her person. The coach liked to count the times it was the other team’s blood, as well. It had been an embarrassment then, but she was strangely proud of that accomplishment now. In a way, she had helped advance girls’ sports at Stetson Hills Senior High School.
“I liked golf. Really, I liked driving the little golf carts around. Reese said…” she faltered but picked up almost too quickly for Chailyn to notice, “…that he had to bail every time we took that corner on the tenth green at the Vector Course. I know for a fact that he stayed in the car at least one time because he dove into the lake at least once.”
“Ah, good times. No wonder you drove so many teachers to retirement.”
“I’m not taking the sole responsibility for that. You and…you did your fair share of forcing some teachers out of teaching and into insurance, wasn’t it?”
At the corner, Chailyn let Maxie pick the direction. Dogs seemed to sense the more interesting route. Half down the block, they noticed quite a few out of state license plates out in front of a familiar house. “Myrtle and Tom know people from Idaho? It looks like they’re being invaded by potato people.”
“Mom mentioned that their daughter is getting married next weekend and her fiancé is from some little town there that no one has heard of.”
“So, the entire state is here for the wedding? That seems about right.”
Charlotte jabbed at her sister’s shoulder this time. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s kind of funny. Besides, it’s an old joke. I bet Myrtle would find it uproariously funny.”
“And Dad would glare at you for even saying something like that out loud.”
“Oh, let him.”
Maxie shook her large head and steered the group across the street to a small patch of brightly colored flowers. No matter what season they walked in, the dog could always find the only flourishing foliage. These were firmly ensconced under a series of bushes that kept out most of the wind and harmful weather. After sniffing appreciatively, she set out on a new path toward the nearby school.
“I heard a rumor today at the store when I went to pick up your soda.” Charlotte watched her feet, not looking up from this interesting game of Kick All The Rocks Nearby.
“That wasn’t mine. You know very well it was for Dad.”
“Do you want to know what it was?”
Immediately, she could tell that this wasn’t part of the game. This was a Serious Conversation Topic. “Sure.”
“Quite a few people took great pains in making sure that I didn’t hear them talking about Cora being in town.”
Maxie suddenly found herself several lengths away from her walking party. She walked back and nudged first one hand and then the other. Neither one was moving. So that she didn’t miss anything important, she sat down and watched first one girl and then the other.
“Are you sure you heard them right?” Chailyn asked, working at keeping her breathing steady.
Charlotte shrugged, her shoulder length bob making a pretty swinging movement, just like the hairdresser had intended. “There aren’t many people named Cora around these parts. I also heard Fran’s name being bandied about. I think she’s staying with her.”
“Do you think Mom and Dad know and just haven’t said anything to us?”
“It’s possible but I doubt it. I can’t imagine that they know.”
It had been a long time since either girl had really thought about their older sister. Occasionally, a memory slipped out but was hastily pushed back down. Charlotte had the most trouble with it seeing how Cora had left so abruptly right as she was really starting to understand her strange big sister. She had the most happy memories and the most to lose by not sharing them.
“Would we be doing the right thing if we let them find out from someone else? Should we be the ones to tell them?” Charlotte asked tentatively.
“She should be the one to tell them!” Chailyn announced vehemently. Maxie put her ears back, crouching slightly just in case her owner decided to use that tone with her. Even Charlotte found herself stepping back. “It’s not enough that she had to hurt them then. Now she has to come back and see if she can finish the job.”
Since neither sister knew exactly what had been said that day and really had no idea why Cora left so suddenly, they had formed their own opinions over the years. Charlotte fantasized that she had left to travel the world with only a backpack and a picture of her family wedged in her back pocket. Chailyn, always the realist, had decided it was over the issue of college; more specifically, the parents paying any money for Cora to go to an out of state university.
“We should get back. I think you’re looking a little flushed.”
Maxie waited while the girls gave each other a long look and a hug before setting off back the way she had gone. It was a cold day and, if she was very good, maybe she could curl up by the fire for the rest of the afternoon.
Holly and I worked off challenges from each other and these were the ones that I was given:
(1) reliable, contract, rattling, dirty linen, "Cut that out!"
(2) magnanimous, anguish, furious, upward
(3) solution, ensconce, advance, Idaho, "That wasn't mine."
And the chapter title is from an idea I was given at the NaNo meeting last night. Much love to my peeps!
