Mom and I looked at each other.
Okay, I was pretty sure she was
speaking to my sister, Sally, but with Mrs. Ames, one is never really sure.
“I am!” Sally said, smiling broadly. “I’ve
never done anything like this before!”
“Whom are you going with, dear?” our neighbor asked.
“It’s my cousin, Ruth,” Mom put in. “She’s
never married and spends most of her year . . . erm . . . exploring.”
“She thinks of the funnest things to
do!” Sally was getting quite animated. “She’s climbed mountains and rafted
rivers and dived out of planes and lived in skin huts and rode in camel trains
and . . .”
She stopped for breath and I broke in.
I could see that Mom was growing a little paler with the mention of each
escapade. “Yes. She’s quite . . . adventurous.”
Mrs. Ames’ eyebrows had also risen
higher as Sally spoke. One hand gripped the bodice of her bulky cotton house
dress. “Oh,” she said at last. “Erm . . . where are you going?”
“Hawaii! We’re going to climb the volcano
and go out in an outrigger and surf and . . .”
Again I cut her off. “Cousin Ruth has
quite a full agenda.”
“Ah! Well, be sure to take lots of
pictures,” Mrs. Ames said a trifle breathlessly.
“Oh, I will! Mom got me a new camera!”
Sally dashed off.
“I take it you’re not going?” Mrs.
Ames had turned her faded blue eyes on me.
“Oh. No. I really didn’t want . . .
that is . . . well, Cousin Ruth and Sally have always gotten along like peas in
a pod. It could be danger . . ." I glanced at Mom and bit my lip. "Anyways, I have work.”
Mom was staring at me.
“I’d better help Sally pack.” I
hurried toward the stairway.
“I’ll be on my way as well,” Mrs. Ames
said behind me.
Mom cleared her throat. “Thanks for stopping by,” she said. “I’m
sure Sally will really appreciate the box of treats you brought for her to take
along.”
“Well, I thought both girls were
going. And I know these airlines don’t feed people anymore, so . . .”
“You’re so kind. Thank you!”
I heard the door close.
Sally appeared with her camera and the
small red ladder that sits on her
desk and holds all her necklaces. She peered at the door. “Where did she
go?”
“Mrs. Ames? She left.”
“Oh. I was going to show her my
camera.”
“She had to go.”
“Oh.”
“Are you packed?”
Sally turned back toward the stairs. “I
am! As soon as I finish picking
which jewelry to take.” She looked at her watch. “Good thing, too, because
Cousin Ruth will be here any minute!”
Ten minutes later, Mom and I somehow got
Sally and all her luggage out the door and into Cousin Ruth’s waiting taxi.
Sally leaned out the window, waving as
it started down the street. “I’ll see you in two weeks!” she screamed. “I’ll bring
you a hula lamp!”
Mom and I waved until the taxi disappeared.
"Okay, what's a hula lamp?" Mom asked.
"We'll Google it," I assured her.
"Okay, what's a hula lamp?" Mom asked.
"We'll Google it," I assured her.
"Two weeks of peace,” Mom said quietly.
“What?” I turned to look at her.
“Mrs. Ames was talking about two weeks
of peace when she was here.”
“Yeah?”
“Did she mean for Sally? Or us?”
I thought of Sally’s most recent
escapades and frowned. “For us, I’m sure.”
“Do you think she’ll be all right?” She looked down the street where the taxi had disappeared. “I mean . . . There are sharks and stuff . . .”
I stared at her. “Mom. Whatever could hurt her? She can out-run, out-think, out-rascal and out-bother anything on the planet! I’d give a shark one chance in 100!”
“Do you think she’ll be all right?” She looked down the street where the taxi had disappeared. “I mean . . . There are sharks and stuff . . .”
I stared at her. “Mom. Whatever could hurt her? She can out-run, out-think, out-rascal and out-bother anything on the planet! I’d give a shark one chance in 100!”
Mom smiled and nodded, then high-fived me. “Score!” she said. “So . . . What would you like
to do first?”
Stay tuned for Sally’s adventures in
travel-land!
Okay, maybe not like that, but she does distribute words we
supply with the instructions, “Take these and do what you can!”
And we do!
The result? Use Your Words. The January Edition.
My
words this month (picking ~ head scarf ~ red ladder ~ hula lamp
~ score) came
via Karen from https://cognitivescript.blogspot.com/
A huge thank you!
Now go and see what the other members of our
intrepid little group have wrought!
Ha ha "Give me your tired words, your poor phrases, my muddled lasses yearning to write free!”, that's exactly what I say, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWill we be hearing about Sally's travel adventures? Or of what's home life like without her?
It's not good when even the parent gives a sigh of relief seeing the back of an offspring :D
ReplyDeleteEchoing jenny_o. And wincing in belated sympathy for my beleagured parents.
ReplyDelete