Holidays in the Sun
The haze of summer causes everything to slow down. Clyde stood in the middle of
the field, staring at the sky. She opened her eyes to the high sun.
I forgot what I was doin’.
She turned and looked at her friends behind her.
“’Eh, ‘hat was we doin’?” the old biddy asked. Aisha gritted her teeth.
“Can’t you ever speak properly?” she asked. Clyde stuck her tongue out.
“We’re running from Kat,” Lewis spoke up.
“I meant before ‘hat,” Clyde said.
“I don’t know,” Muriel replied. Aisha shook her head.
“This won’t do,” she said. “We need to do something productive.” Her friends
gave her a blank stare.
“What?!” they asked. Aisha rose to her feet.
“That’s it,” she said. “We’re going into town.” Muriel tilted her head at her.
“What for?” she asked.
“We’ll find something to do,” the leader replied. Somehow, her friends didn’t
like the sound of that. What could they do? Would she listen? Muriel, Lewis, and
Clyde looked amongst themselves, plotting for an escape.
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Liz lay on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Clover dragged out the vacuum
cleaner. She plugged it up and started to vacuum the living room. Her sister
glanced over at her.
“Must you do that now?” Liz asked. Clover turned off the vacuum cleaner.
“Sorry?” she asked.
“Can’t you do that later?” her sister asked.
“No.”
“And why not?”
“It has to be done today.”
“But why?”
Clover dropped her shoulders. “Why don’t you help me out?”
“What?” Liz asked. Her sister groaned.
“You are eighteen years old,” she complained. “What are you doing with your
life? Have you even applied to any universities?” Liz gave her a funny look.
“No,” she said. Her sister rolled her eyes.
“You are hopeless, you know that?” she said. “Tell me you are at least looking
for a job.” Liz frowned at her.
“No…” she said. Her sister now felt like screaming.
“You’re worse than uncle!” she complained. Liz lay
back down on the couch, shrugging. You’re overdoing it again, she thought.
You’re only sixteen and you sound like an old lady.
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The old biddies walked up to the Sunny Plum café’s glass doors. Already, Tucker
and Annie frowned.
“They are back,” Tucker whispered.
“Yes, I can see that,” Annie whispered back.
“What do we do?”
“We have no choice.” The couple put on fake smiles as Aisha led the way through
the glass doors.
“Good afternoon!” she greeted Tucker and Annie. “How are you today?” Muriel,
Lewis, and Clyde stood behind her looking awkward. Annie raised an eyebrow at
her.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“How can we be of service to you today?” Aisha asked. Her friends, Tucker, and
Annie all gave her a strange look.
“What?” Annie asked.
“We want to help you out around the café,” Aisha explained.
“What are you saying?” Muriel asked. The leader waved her off.
“We may be old, but we want to give back to the
community,” Aisha went on. Lewis made a strange face.
What is she talking about? Where did she
come up with this plan? Why does she do that? Annie shook her head.
“We don’t need your help, thank you,” she said.
“Oh come on,” Aisha pressed. “We just want to help you out.”
“We don’t need it,” Tucker insisted.
“Please?” Aisha asked. Lewis grabbed her by the arm.
“They said no,” she whispered. The leader looked over at her.
“But…” she whispered.
“Let’s just go,” the farmer whispered.
“Would you like anything?” Tucker asked.
“No,” the old biddies said. Annie narrowed her eyes at her.
“Then get out,” she said. Aisha frowned at her.
“But…” she said again.
“Get out!” Annie shouted. The old biddies raced out of the café. Outside, Aisha
frowned, shaking her head.
“I almost had them,” she complained.
“Maybe we should give up,” Muriel said. The leader looked at her with wild eyes.
“Give up?” she asked. “Give up?” The other three nodded at her. Aisha stomped
her foot.
“No!” she shouted. “We have to doing something for this town!” Lewis frowned at
her.
“Do we have to?” she asked.
“Yes!” the leader shouted. “We have to keep trying until we accomplish
something!” Aisha marched further into town. The other three old biddies stared
at her confused.
“’Hat’s ‘it ‘er?” Clyde asked. Muriel shook her head, shrugging. Lewis followed
after the leader.
“Lew?” Clyde asked. The farmer glanced over her shoulder at her remaining
friends.
“Hey, it beats going home to hear more of Kat’s whining,” she said. Lewis
managed to catch with the leader. Muriel and Clyde had no choice but to follow
behind.
“Looks like another long day, doesn’t it?” Muriel asked.
“Yep!” Clyde said. The four old biddies walked further into the town.
Working to be a Better Person in the Town