family

So, I'm sitting there in my cousin's living room, exhausted. It's already about 11:30PM, and we've got a two hour drive before we get home. I'm kinda idling through the contents of Mia and Jeanie's hand-built dollhouse. It's quite a sight.

Jeanie comes up. At 2, she's a cute little girl with straight black brown hair falling just below her ears and a voice strong enough to unnerve an army general. She notices my interest in the doll house, and proceeds to give me a tour.

"This... is... This is an oven... See what this nob does? So you can cook stuff!"
"Wow, Jeanie... Very cool! Can you bake me a cake?"
"No... It's just pretend, see? And this is the parents-es room, it's where the daddy sleeps... But there is no daddy...."
"What happened to the daddy?"
"This is the grandfather... Not the daddy... He's the grandfather... There's no mommy, either..."
"What happened to the parents?"
"They died, so the grandparents take care of everybody..."

Jeanie seems momentarily saddened by this, but soon forgets, and proceeds to run off, shouting, "MO-GAN! MO-GAN! Watch THEES!" She proceeds to summersault onto the couch, ramming her head against the back. "It doesn't hurt! MO-GAN! Watch thees! It doesn't hurt!"

"Really?" I say. "It looks like it hurts! MY head hurts just watching you!"
"Noooo.... MO-GAN!"
I'm forgotten, left holding the oven from the doll's house in my hands.

As we leave, Keldon comes out. Standing by the side of the house, he proceeds to play an unnamable jazz tune while we load the car. Just as the doors close, he changes to "Taps".


And the song for the day... Jennifer Kimball, "World Without End":

...I am dust, let me settle;
all reason unwound.
We are ravelled and shaken,
not touching the ground.

Other places, other times
I remembered my lines -
but here I know it all by heart...

-lelandpaul
-26-