October Days

The day the Dow rose higher in points than any other one day in history, Collette and Puck were busy with slightly less history-shattering things.
When they arrived at the house, Mom and Linnea were finishing the packing to leave for Iowa with Dad, who had just returned from a morning run.
After saying their goodbyes, Carrie-Bri, Collette, and Puck drove Rose to work. All three girls marched out to the car, with Puck marching between them in a line.
“Bye!” he called over his shoulders, imitating his mom and aunts.
He was quite the chubby.
At the mall, Rose got out of the car and tied her apron around her waist.
“You walk through the mall like that?” Carrie asked, laughing a little. “That’s kind of embarrassing.”
“It is not,” Rose retorted.
Inside, Rose parted ways toward Olga’s Kitchen, and Carrie, Collette, and Puck waited in line at the Clinique counter to buy Grandma Snicketts a bottle of lotion, her usual. While they waited, Puck, pointed happily to the black diamond-shaped tiles on the floor, between the white tiles.
At their next stop – Plato’s Closet – Puck found a brief friend, a little girl somewhat taller than himself. He pointed at her and smiled.
“Look, it’s a ‘him’, Mommy,” the little girl said.
They stopped by Grandma’s place next, where her slide projects were set up on the table. Puck played with trucks for awhile until it was time to leave.
It was cornbread and tomato soup for dinner that night, under the blue clouds of a perfect October evening. Collette rollerbladed around the neighborhood where trees of dark yellow rustled in cool winds.