Not until I went home for Christmas
did I remember about the trains. It had
been close to two years before I made it
home again. I didn't plan it that way, but
it's funny how when one is living life one
doesn't do a very good job living at all, if
you know what I mean. Busy with work,
my stress levels escalated to an all-time
high. I nursed my ulcer the best way I
could and spent that year eating a bland
diet of bananas, rice, and apples mainly.
I climbed the attic steps, deciding to call it
an early night; I looked forward to a good
night's sleep.
Causing a lulling effect actually, my
bed vibrates when a train rolls into town.
I can hear the headboard banging up
against the wall and the flimsy wooden
doors puckering from their seams. The
attached mirror on the Victorian - style
dresser shakes too, pulsating against the
attic paneling. Had it not been for my
familiar surroundings, I could almost
close my eyes and visuslize being in a
sleazy hotel. But what do I know about
sleazy hotels. Well, there was that one
time, but that's another story. The train
passes and it's quiet again until another
train passes. I count. Not sheep this time
but seconds. The 420 seconds turned
into minute, and seven minutes later a
second train passed.
When I awoke the next morning, I
floated down the steps. I hadn't slept so
peacefully in years. My children were
seated at the kitchen table playing
yahtzee with their grandparents. Sarah
shook the dice.
"I think I'll go for my sixes."
"But you have a one, two, four, and a
five."
"I'm not betting on getting a large
straight and getting a three."
"But you don't have any sixes."
She shook the dice again, not listening to my
suggestions. I had Sarah ' s teenage years to
look forward to.
"What's for breakfast? "
My mom didn't respond. I was worried she
was still upset about me posting one if her
photos on Facebook, and she probably still
was. Making an impromptu decision to skip
breakfast, I sat in a cushioned rocking chair
the living room. As I dozed in the chair, I heard
voices around me though I could not rouse
myself from my slumber.
Sarah, Ian, Miles, my husband Kyle, and
my folks were sitting around the Christmas
tree and they were laughing.
Grandpa said, "When your mom was in high
school, she took an advanced biology class.
At that time, she happened to be the only
female student in her class."
Oh Dad, not this story again.
"She had a difficult time trying to prove herself
as a credible force to be reckoned with. For her first project she bought a mouse and trie to teach it to run through a msze. IZaire making great strides until...
Until what grandpa.?
Well kids can be cruel. There was a bad snowstorm that year and your mom couldn't get to school to feed the mouse. Before she got to school two days later, the monsters in her class took it Zidane hanged hum from the lid of an ice cream buckey. When she opened the bucket she saw the prank.
TBC
No comments:
Post a Comment