Thier Story

A small nose peeks around the corner as the door squeaks open. Nellie’s tired silver eyes raise from a stack of papers. Then she brightens asking, “Is that you little Chipmunk?” Nellie hears his giggle and he enters smiling. “What’s up?” Nellie asks brushing a dark brunette strand of hair away from her eyes. The little boy copies her and brushes a blond strand away too. Both smile.
“Mama, tonight can you tell me a story?” Nellie throws her hand to her chin as if thinking real hard, then says dropping her hand back to the desk and shrugging,
“Okay!” He laughs his silver eyes beaming back at his mom, and then he turns to go. He stops suddenly and turns back to his mother and with a quizzical look on his face he asks,
“When will daddy be home mama?” Nellie scrunches up her face, a brow raised and she answers,
“Well he should be home by now. Why don’t you go find him,” At that the small boys blond hair disappeared behind the shutting door like a magic portal sending him to a new world. Nellie then sighed smiling. She had a sense of pride for her child. A connection that anyone could see, he was her little boy and so she thought about this while her baby boy Jessie only nine years of age ran around calling,
“Daddy, Daddy, are you home yet?”
“No I’m not home I’m still at work,” her husband answered. She heard them laugh and smiled to herself. After letting her mind free she remembered the work she still had to do and looked back down to her work. Her pencil is set as if waiting for the gun to blow and signal the racers to begin. Finally her pencil begins to fly across the paper creating a story of words. She stops to stare at the paper then she starts writing again. She does this for a while then turns the page and she begins writing more. Three pages later of writing and staring blankly down at her paper the door opens and closes behind someone. Nellie’s eyes come upward and stop to meet another’s. She looks back down without bothering to say anything and stares down at her pile of papers. The one who had entered the room walked over silently and like a child peered over her shoulder on tiptoes though much not needed and hands clasped behind his back like a duck floating in a pond. In a childish voice he asks, “What are you writing about?” Knowing the reply already but just for the sake of it asking. She shuts the notebook and says,
“You’ll find out eventually. For now though you’ll have to wait because it’s a surprise,” He sighs exasperatedly and whines,
“But I want to know now. Please, can’t you just give me a hint?” She says nothing but begins backing her chair out. He slips out of the way of its rolling wheels so as to prevent his white socked feet from becoming squashed. Nellie stands and walks out of the way of the chair and he cheerily pushed the chair in. He crosses the room and opens the door bowing extremely low as she exited. Then without warning she turned to him and said sternly,
“You stop being weird now Wolf I mean Elliott and I’ll give you a kiss. Just one though.” He leans slightly over and she plants a kiss right on the top of his blond head. After that he got all serious.
“Alright, let’s get a move on!” he says all loud and obnoxious. Nellie sideways glances at him with an evil air to it and he gets shy and tries not to smile. Their kid peeks around the hallway. “Hey, you Chipmunk!” Nellie’s Chipmunk and big old wolf exchange the same ginormous smiles.
“Okay now let’s go see what we can find for lunch,” Nellie interrupted. All three of them scour through the kitchen in search of something to eat. Every once in a while they’ll say “well we could have this or we could have that,” Then finally Jessie says,
“We could have a salad,” and so they settled for that. Nellie cuts up some lettuce, Elliott slices some tomatoes and carrots, and Jessie collected an array of nuts such as almonds, walnuts, and peanuts. Nellie put the lettuce in the bowl, followed by the tomatoes and carrots, and last nuts.
“Our little Chipmunk is one for his nuts isn’t he?” Elliott said proudly with a huge jolly grin. All laughing about this statement, Jessie places the lunch upon the table while Elliott as gentlemanlike as he’ll ever get pulls out his wife’s chair and waits till she sits down. Nellie nimbly sets herself in the chair thin body straight as a pole and thin head poised in place. Her lips stay in a firm line as Elliott helps her chair in. Giddily Elliott crosses to the other end of the table and sits hunched in an awkward manner his thin body leaning sideways his head cocked like a confused dog and his eyes and smile glowing radiantly. Nellie and he were as opposite as anything could ever get and there kid was half of each of them. He sat thin and straight head poised but he had the lips and hair of his father. While Nellie had dark brunette hair her son and husband had blond. While Elliott had bright blue eyes his son and wife had set silver ones. So they sat there a moment and then all manners are forgotten if there ever were any.
“I get the first serving!” Elliott announces reaching his long arms across the table toward the bowl. Before he can reach it though Jessie snatches it up and dignantly replies,
“Silly daddy salad’s for kids!”
“Son I am sorry to say but that is for a rabbit and trix not salad.” Nellie just sits there not amused in the slightest. Snatching up two carrots neither noticed because of their extremely important argument about trix and salad and rabbits. With an unchanged expression Nellie tosses one at Elliott which strikes him straight in the forehead and the other at Jessie that bounced off his ear. Suddenly both of them are staring at her eyebrows raised in an air of confusion. Genuinely Nellie smiles at their faces and entirely pleased with herself asks,
“Are you two done? Perhaps we could eat sometime soon, if you don’t mind,” The boys nod curtly as if their necks needed oiling. The salad bowl is replaced back at the center of the table and Nellie grabs a handful with two spoons. A bunch is dropped on Jessie’s plate then is passed to Elliott. Ignoring the two spoons since his previous trials with them had ended with a tantrum of complaint he reached in with a large hand and put the huge supplement on the white porcelain plate before him. Then Elliott announces,
“Let’s pray,” Folding hands and bowing their heads Jessie begins,
“Thank you Lord, for this wonderful day and this wonderful family that loves me dearly. Please let this terrific food we are about to eat bless our bodies and let us have a good rest of the day.
Amen.” They then said. They all ate and discussed their days and a lot of other happenings. When all finished, Nellie gathered the dishes and carried them off to the kitchen sink. Washing them Nellie poured warm soapy water down them and dried them gently on a striped linen cloth.
“So I heard you are going to tell Chipmunk a story tonight. What’s it to be about?” Elliott says entering the kitchen already knowing the answer.
“If you really want to find out you’ll come and listen tonight,” was Nellies reply. Elliott sighs making Nellie smile.
“So what’s for dinner tonight?” Elliott asks.
“What are you making?” Nellie shot back. At that Elliott left. Putting away the dishes Nellie then wipes down the coffee colored table. She walked into the living room and turned on the television. “Hey Elliott come here a second,” Elliott peeked around the corner making sure Nellie wasn’t angry and then trotted out seeing the news playing.
“Huh,”
“It says there is going to be a big storm coming through here. Possible power outages, strong winds, rain, thunder, and lightning.”
“Well good night for a long story. If it’s serious Jessie won’t sleep a wink.”
“Then it’s a good thing I did choose a long story for tonight.” Nellie says. Elliott takes a seat on the coach and then pats the seat beside him till Nellie walks over. Finally Nellie sits beside him. Elliott curls his arm about her shoulders and pulls her into his side. They sit there like that a while eyes closed ears listening to the drone of the television. Nellie had almost fallen asleep when suddenly, startling her, a knock occurred at the door. Nellie now eyes open stood and yelled,
“Coming!” Nellie began hobbling over since she had nearly gone to sleep along with her foot. Elliott followed after her. She paused and gripped the bronze door handle and then pulled it open. There stood quite ironically five familiar men.
“Uh,” the shortest of the men who had bright red hair tried to get out. He started to back up, “we heard there is to be a storm and we also heard you folks have a large house. Do you suppose you could spare us a room or two?” The two looked slightly taken a back so a mousy brown haired man said,
“Oh and we’s heard you was a mighty nice family!”
“Did not,” muttered the tallest. “They said we’d be lucky to house at this place.” Nellie was silently staring at this peculiar sight they were all shoeless, sun burnt, thin, and ragged as if worn down by weather.
“And what do you two have to say? Anything worth my time?” Nellie asked in a sarcastically sweet voice pointing at the two who had not yet said anything. The man with the greasy straight black hair, black eyes, and a crazy scary smile laughed a sharp laugh.
“Quite feisty for a woman!” was all he said. Then last who had not spoken said,
“Excuse the others won’t you. They have little manners.” He said with graceful eloquence, a sheepish smile, bright brown eyes, and a toss of his dark chocolate brown hair. The tallest, that had dark hair, dark eyes, and deeply tanned skin then said,
“Told you so, they’re too snobby to let a bunch of bare footed men into their pretty little house”
“Hey, I’m going to be too snobby in a second if you don’t shut up!” Squeaked Nellie.
“Hey, she sounds like our mouse!” exclaimed the tallest.
“Now that you mention it, she looks like her too,” said the dark brown haired man. Elliott had begun to back away, very cautiously and then they noticed him.
“Wait a sec,” the mousy haired man began. “Wolf!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. Perfect timing I guess one could say but from behind they suddenly heard,
“Mommy, Daddy, what are you doing?”
“Uh,” was all Elliott could manage but Nellie burst out,
“Just some crazy men needing a place to stay,” as she said this she opened the door wide and let into her living room the peculiar sight that she had beheld at the door. As they had entered Nellie eyed them each with the most deviled expression capable of being presented. They’re all silent around in a nervous circle.
“Go on upstairs Jessie I’ll be right up,” Nellie said nodding to the white marble spiraling to what seemed the sky. Jessie nods smiling. He skips to the bottom of it the men’s eyes following the boy like magnets to metal. Up and up the boy ascended like an angel to heaven until he disappeared and the trance was broken. “You haven’t changed much!” Nellie says almost sorrowfully. “So, Jack are they truly all this obnoxious still?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” he says with a swish of his dark brown hair.
“So, the wolf fell in love with the mouse. How grand?” Cleave says in a husky voice, putting his darkly tanned face to the ceiling, closing his dark brown eyes, and letting his black hair fall back with gravity. All laugh except Elliott who smiles shyly.
“Ah, Elliott we knew it’d come to this eventually. You always did have a deeper connection with her than anyone else!” the thin red headed man named Kade, exclaims too enthusiastically.
“You guys still live up in the mountains?” Elliott questions.
“All summer, winter, and autumn!” says Ray, the mousy haired man.
“Though we go home in the spring to our parents,” Keagen hisses giving it a creepy air without trying. “We mostly do this to evade the copys though,”
“Ah, yeah the copys they always trying to get us.” Cleave says almost proudly.
“Cleave quiet down Jessie is terrified of the police.” Nellie says hissing just as bad as Keagen. At that Keagen gives a harsh laugh. Nellie eyed him but he only smiled.
“Keagen, you’re as evil as ever I see.” He stretches his long thin body and says back,
“I have my work cut out for me; if I’m not careful you may end up beating me at it. You certainly have perfected that evil eye and I have to admit your hiss is pretty good too. But I have more experience than you; I started at five, you ten. I’m also twenty now and let me see you’re nineteen.” He hisses this all at her like he’s a great teacher or something. Nellie returns a mock smile and then starts in,
“Well it is perfectly wonderful knowing you are all well but if you are to stay you must immediately shower up and be prepared to help fix up some sort of dinner.” They sigh at Nellie’s final proposal, a do it or die situation, and reluctantly follow Elliott down the long hallway or as they call it the hallway of doom to the shower or as they put it the Jews grave. Around two hours later they all enter showered clean. At once Jack sighs out,
“Ah, it’s hot in here,”
“Don’t even think about it!” Nellie yells loudly without turning around.
“I guess it is true mom’s have eyes in the back of their heads,” They all chuckle for a moment and then begin to scour the kitchen with all its wonderful delicacies. One of the men curiously sniffs an open jar and in return sneezes like five times laughing hysterically all the while. Another screws a cap off dipping his finger in it and trying it on his pink bumpy tongue. His face, in reply to the taste, is ghastly. After he turns, to see a little boy staring up at him,
“Uh, excuse me mister but that is vanilla,” the man smiles unconcernedly not knowing what the vanilla could possibly be for.
“I knew that!” he says with a grin. Jessie smiles at the goofy man and nods unbelievingly.
“Jessie, don’t bother Kade,” Nellie says a tiny bit exasperated, “And please would you help the poor man find the spices!” Nellie places a list in Jessie’s palm and gathers them one by one into the arms of Kade.
“That’s all there are,” Jessie says staring at his overflowing arms that just barely keep from collapsing.
“Ah good,” said Kade, “Thank you,” Jessie nods and follows the man out of the pantry. He carefully makes his way over to his mom and is quiet a moment then starts,
“So, who are all these crazies needing a stay for the night?”
“Oh, I suppose I should put out the basics,” Nellie said peering around at all the chaos erupting within her lovely little kitchen, “Well there is the one you helped find spices, the one with red hair he is Kade. Be careful of him, he can be a bit of a trickster. Tallest, yeah, the one with black hair, and the darkest skin, steer clear of him, he isn’t the nicest. His name is Cleave. Pay no attention to whatever Ray says, he’s the mousy brown hair dude. All he ever says is nonsense. Now Keagen, he’s the one with the straight black hair and the creepy smile. Uh, just entirely leave him be, he’s a bit insane, if not completely. Last Jack, the dark brown headed man, he’s pretty cool to hang out with. Yeah, I guess he’s alright. That’s all of them.” After Nellie finishes her secret whispered conversation with Jessie she finds the spaghetti is done. Now in a bowl the spaghetti transported to the table. With the guests now present Elliott helps wife’s chair in and fetches five chairs more than the three they use to only need.
“Any of you like to pray?” Elliott asked looking around at each guest.
“I’ll pray, I’ll pray!” Ray announced with his usual loudness. Before Ray could even form a sentence though to everyone’s surpris e Jessie said,
“No,” Everyone’s eyes fall on Jessie astonished at his subject certainty that Ray was entirely incapable of saying the prayer.
“Why not?” Jack asked. Jessie head high and lips firm answered,
“You’re to listen when prayers are being said, correct?” They nod. “Well if Ray says the prayer I am not permitted to listen.”
“Why is that,” Jack questioned.
“Mommy says not to listen to a thing he says because all he says is nonsense,” Nellie chuckles but the others are silent.
“I’ll say it,” Kade said.
“No I don’t like prayers with tricks wound inside. They’re like jack in the boxes and those are the most horrid toys ever invented.” Jessie said shortly.