Clay staggered into the kitchen. Even though all the clocks in the house said it was two a.m., his body was still convinced it was noon, and lunch time to boot.
He paused in the doorway of the kitchen and stared at the scene before him. Bob was quite literally elbow-deep in a massive tub of ice cream, and Dave’s face was smeared with sherbert, the rainbow kind.
They froze at the same time and looked at him with matching guilty expressions. Then Bob said,
“There’s Rocky Road in the freezer behind the turkey.”
Clay nodded and headed over to the pantry where Shelley’s giant freezer was. He figured it was just bad luck on her part, to marry into a family where all four boys were teenagers at precisely the same time. They couldn’t help it, though - they were growing, and they needed fuel.
Clay plopped down at the table next to Bob and dug into the tub of ice cream. The cool chocolate hit his tongue and he smiled, pleased.
All three triplets froze when they heard footsteps on the stairs. Dad was a nutcase about staying in shape and healthy, and it usually took wheedling and a good dose of Shelley-persuasion before they could eat ice cream at all. Dan reached for the lid for the sherbert, and then Scott stood in the doorway.
His hair stuck up in all directions, and he looked disgruntled. He wagged a finger at Clay. “You’d better not have eaten the Black Forest.”
Clay waved his sticky spoon. “All yours, man.”
Scott grunted and shuffled into the pantry.
The first night home was always the longest.
(278 words)
2 comments:
Even though I have no idea about the rest of the story...
I got a good sense of the characters and their home.
It was engaging and you didn't have to resort to action filled words or events.
Bravo.
I really enjoyed the scene. I can feel the exhaustion and the feeling of... displacement, I believe that is the word I want. I like also how they each have their own preferred flavors.
Post a Comment