Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Clyde got a letter from her niece today. Actually, it came to her two weeks ago and she had just now found it.

“Hm?” she asked in her bed. She picked up the letter and opened it.

“Dear Auntie,” she mumbled. “I will be coming on nineteenth of June at ten in the morning. I have a surprise for you. I can’t wait to see you. Love, Lucy.” It took the biddy a moment to read over the short letter for it to sink in.

“Oh crap!” she mumbled. Clyde looked over at the calendar on her wall. The month was April with the daffodils staring at her. She leapt out of bed and took the pages down to June. The old lady counted down the days before she realized…

Clyde rushed over to her window and opened it wide. Her friends, Pauline, Muriel, and Lewis, looked up when they heard the noise. Clyde looked down and saw them.

“Oi!” she yelled. “What day is it?” Pauline sneered at that question.

“Don’t shout in the street!” she yelled back. “It’s not tactful!” Clyde snorted.

“’Ho cares?!?” she yelled. “What day is it?” Muriel took a moment to ponder that question.

“Thursday,” she replied. Clyde frowned.

“No!” she yelled. “’Hat’s da date?”

“Oh!” Muriel said. “Well… uh…”

“The nineteenth!” Lewis cut in. Clyde’s face dropped.

“Damn it!” she yelled. Then, she hurried back into her room. Her friends looked at each other, confused.

“What’s she up to now?” Muriel whispered. The other two shrugged at her.

Clover wandered onto the porch of her Uncle William’s hound.

“Uncle!” she called. “You have a phone call!” The old man looked up at her.

“Really? Who is it?” he asked.

“Nan!” the younger girl called. William didn’t respond at first.

“Tell her I’m not here!” he lied. Clover gave him a paused face.

“But, Uncle…” she said.

“I’m not here!” he repeated. Clover bit her lower lip.

“Okay…” she mumbled. The younger niece turned and went back inside to the phone. William frowned to himself.

Great, he thought. She’s not as good at lying as Liz. He flopped back and waited for Clover to return with her grandma’s demand to nag him long distance.

Clyde matched forward with determination in her step. Her friends still couldn’t figure it out.

“She hasn’t said a word,” Lewis whispered.

“Shouldn’t we ask her?” Pauline asked.

“But how?” Muriel whispered. The other two looked at her. The third old biddy shrugged.

“I don’t know,” she said.

“Hey Clyde!” Lewis called to the other first.

“Yeah!” the raggedy friend yelled.

“Where are we going?” the farm woman asked.

“To da train station,” Clyde replied.

“The train station?” Pauline asked.

“Yeah,” the old biddy said.

“But why?” Muriel asked. Clyde paused and turned to her.

“To pick up me niece,” she said. Her friends looked at her, puzzled.

“Niece?!?” they all yelled. Clyde nodded while showing off her crooked, dirty teeth in a grin. Pauline tried to look away.

“You have a niece?” she asked.

“Yes…” the dirty old biddy replied. “Didn’t I tell ya?”

“No, you didn’t,” Muriel said. Clyde reached into her jacket for a cigarette. She glanced over at her friends.

“Well, now ya know,” she said. “’Ey Polly, ya got a light for me fag?” Pauline gritted her teeth.

“No!” she hissed. Clyde still looked at her with sweet little puppy eyes. Muriel and Lewis glanced over at her. The rich old buddy rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she hissed. The old woman reached into her some red purse and pulled out a lighter. Clyde walked over and lit it up. She took in a long smoke. The dirty old biddy gave her a huge grin.

“Cheers!” she said aloud. Pauline rolled her eyes again.

“Yeah, yeah!” she grumbled. Clyde turned back to the path.

“Let’s go!” she said aloud. Her boots made a dragging sound as she walked. Her friends just kind of shrugged and followed behind. After all, what else could they do?

Tucker and Annie had just opened up the Sunny Plum Café for the day. The former happened to glance up and notice his wife cutting him a sharp look.

“What is it now?” he asked. Annie sighed and rolled her eyes.

“You never do anything sweet for me!” she complained. Tucker narrowed his eyes at her.

“Sweet?” he asked.

“Yes,” Annie complained.

“Like what?” her husband asked.

“You know dinner, flowers, nice gifts, things like that,” she listed off. Tucker rug out the cloth in his hands.

“Don’t have the time or money,” he brushed. Annie frowned and walked into the kitchen. Her husband blinked.

“What?” he asked.

“Never mind!” his wife shouted. She let the door swing closed behind her. Tucker stood there, paused. I will never understand women, he thought. Then, the man went back to wiping down the tables.

The old biddies made it down to the train station. Clyde looked among the morning rushing crowds of people.

“So, when is your niece getting here?” Lewis asked.

“Ten!” Clyde shouted as she kept looking.

“Oh, I see,” the farmer replied.

“How will you find her among all of these people?” Pauline asked. Clyde stood on her tiptoes and kept looking.

“I’ll know when I see her,” Clyde said. Then, she paused.

“There!” she shouted. The dirty old biddy waved her arms in the air. “Lulu!” she shouted. “Over here! Over here!” Then, she dashed straight into the crowd. Her friends stood watching as the people rushing by swallowed her up. Clyde returned moments later with a girl about nineteen with long, blonde wavy hair. The aunt gave off another messed up grin to her friends.

“You lot!” she announced. “This is me darlin’ niece, Lucy Gibson!” The girl gave them a tiny wave.

“Hi…” she mumbled to the older women.

The Sun

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