Rose and Her Things
The day began over at the house with Carrie-Bri reading tales to Frances and Linnea of strange chains of death in relation to the opening of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.
“Check out what Dad brought back from work,” Carrie pointed to the pantry.
Girl Scout cookies.
“He said not to let you eat all of them though. Just kidding.”
Trefoils (whatever that meant). Do-Si-Dos. And Mint Thins, which Collette liked the best. She entered the kitchen.
“Everything’s a mess,” Carrie was telling the Puck, “because Aunt Rose was here.”
The table was strewn with large black paper cutouts, an open box of the 10th anniversary edition of Myst, Riven, and Exile, Werther’s butterscotches, and a Complete Guide to Log Cabins.
“She’s been looking up the price of land,” Mom said. “She’s going to build a cabin.”
“You should by this,” Rose was telling her later.
34,000-something acres off the coast of the Cortez Sea.
“How much?” Collette asked her.
“Forty-five million. But I’m going to get this. A poison ring.”
Collette absently wondered why Rose would want a poison ring. But it was time to teach the old algebra. About half-way through the session, Frances turned to her.
“Are you humming the rubber ducky song?”
Collette stopped humming.
“Wow. Yeah, I guess so.”
She couldn’t begin to guess why she was humming it, but she was. Frances thought this was mildly amusing.
“Well, Puck, won’t take his nap,” Carrie announced. “As soon as he rolled over onto his tummy, he thought nap time was over, and he got a big smile on his face.”
And because of it, Collette decided that Puck no longer needed his morning nap.
Later in the afternoon, while everyone else was off to class, choir, and errands, Carrie took Linnea outside for some basketball practice (albeit there was no net available) in preparation for another Saturday game. And OLeif, after a break back at home for Puck’s dinner, was back to work for the long-haul that night.
The evening skies were crowded with puffy rose-colored clouds, deep gray clouds, and dark golden sunbeams. Collette walked through the cold winds and listened to the firs. It was a beautiful evening.