Digging Through the Sphinx's Paws
Monday, April 10, 2006
At breakfast back at the house that morning, the subject of the Sphinx was mentioned around the table. The suggestion surfaced that the Sphinx contained treasure chambers within its paws. Although the government was not allowing anyone, thus far, to research this rumor further.
“I’m going to go over there and dig into the paw,” Rose said smugly, eating a biscuit in her pajamas.
“You would be arrested by the Egyptian government,” Collette told her.
“I’d do it at night when they can’t see.”
“I don’t think they turn off the lights at the Sphinx,” Mom said, quite used to Rose’s silly ideas.
“I’d smash all the lightbulbs!”
“You’d never get through,” Collette insisted, wondering why she encouraged such ridiculous conversations.
“I’d dig too fast; they’d never know.” Rose went on.
After breakfast, Mom and Collette called a brief conference in Mom’s and Dad’s room to discuss a possible spring break for the week. Joe, wrapped in his usual blue blanket of the morning, looked like a “beached whale” as Mom said, after he had thrown himself up on the bed. Rose just looked happy that they were getting off all subjects but math for the week, and smashed one of Mom’s rose pillows in her hands.
Later, Joe went about with a small box of Nerds in each of his back pockets. Hissing like a snake, he ran around shaking his bum for the rattler. Nothing too unusual… And Frances and Linnea, who were also off much of their school for the week, giggled over a bag of cheese curls at the counter while Collette made an attempt to finish her reading in Numbers for the day.
At one point before lunch, Rose gave a homemade letter to Linnea to curry to Collette at the kitchen table. The envelope was folded of a sheet of notebook paper sealed with a sticky substance, subsequently labeled, which Linnea read over Collette’s shoulder.
“What’s ‘peep gloop’?” She asked, wrinkling her nose.
“I imagine its chewed marshmallow,” Collette said, gingerly lifting the slimy cover of the envelope.
Inside was a folded sheet of notebook paper. Unfolding it, she discovered an obnoxious-looking monster done in red pen. Typical.
In other news, Linnea excitedly told her that the family had purchased a highly electronized juicer, which would whip anything – apples, beets, broccoli, and lemons into drinking juice. And Collette had heard via Denae through Mom that Diana’s coffee meeting had gone well with Shechem, although nothing terribly exciting would immediately follow.
And Rose later redeemed her silliness by planting flowers and strawberries in terracotta pots on the back patio while Linnea ran around in her swimming suit with the hose.
The drama of life…