Chapter 1: From City to Country

After living in the concrete jungle of New York City her whole life Tara was dreading their upcoming move to Vermont. Ignoring the boxes along one wall of her room she went over to her desk to start on her homework. The school year was almost over and everyone in Mrs. Jones' fifth grade class was glad that they wouldn't have to deal with homework every night over the summer. Mrs. Jones' said that homework builds character so, every night her students have homework in English, Mathematics, History, and Science, the 'realistic' studies, as she calls them. Sometimes Tara wondered if Mrs. Jones was born a grown-up because she obviously didn't remember being ten and in fifth grade.

It was almost dinner time. Tara hoped she could finish the last page of her homework before dinner so that she could read her book when they were done. She had managed to convince Cindy to lend it to her till next week. Cindy always had the best books. The Williamson's, Cindy's parents, even had a library in their house. I wish we had a library. A bookshelf in the living room contained all the books in the house, mostly reference books though a few novels had sneaked in there as well.

Done. Closing her books and putting her homework away took only a minute. Just then her dad called, "Tara! Dinner!" Just in time. "Coming!" Laying the book down gently on the desk she rushed to the door then made her way downstairs taking the stairs two at a time. At the bottom she almost knocked over her mother's vase. After ensuring that it wouldn't fall off the small pedestal she walked through the living room and into the kitchen.

The apartment wasn't big, after all this was New York City. The kitchen really was just a small space by a window with a little square table at it that was really meant for two people. Tara always ended up with her plate almost in her lap trying to avoid elbows that seemed to come flying from all directions. Sometimes it seemed that eating at home was one of the most tiring activities during her day. Her mom had tried one time to get a leaf for the table, but that made the table unsteady and they eventually gave up on it. For the time being she just had to be content with her plate in her lap.

Tara went to the cabinet directly to the right of the sink to retrieve three clean glasses. Taking them across the small kitchen to the fridge, not but ten feet, she skillfully avoided her mother as she dashed here and there putting the final touches on their meal. Roberta Louise Stevenson should have been a cook, all her friends and relatives agreed that such skill in the culinary arts should not simply be used to prepare meals for the small family of three. Whenever the subject was brought up Roberta, or Lois as she was most often called, always laughed and made a joke about how there wasn't a restaurant out there who would hire a five foot tall cook.

 

Tara dutifully prepared the drinks and then sat them in their appropriate spots at the table. The dining room table was positioned alongside the window so that all three of them could enjoy the view as they ate. Tara's chair was opposite the window, her mother's to the left hand side of it closest to the kitchen and her father's was to the right hand side with the back of his chair against the wall. Having placed the drinks in their spots Tara sat down to wait.

 

"There. All done." With that Lois turned towards the table, taking in the rest of the room for the first time since she had started cooking. "Now where is your father? James! Dinner!" Tara watched her mom pick all three plates up at once and bring them to the table with the grace of a professional waitress.

Surveying the beautiful presentation of food on her plate Tara felt her stomach rumble. I hope she doesn't make me wait till dad finishes with his conference call, I'm starving. "He said he had a conference call mom, they might still be talking." Taking a sip of her Sprite Tara waited for permission before touching anything on her plate. Eating before she was given permission had landed Tara in hot water more than once and with the move so close she knew that she didn't want to be the one that was volunteered for everything that no one else wanted to do.

From the study they heard a very muffled but strong, "Thirty seconds! I'll be there!" from James. Tara had to try really hard not to laugh at that. It was his usual response, but she always found it funny that thirty seconds could mean an actual thirty seconds or it could mean an hour and a half.

Tara let her mind drift while she waited for the inevitable entry of her father. She thought about her day, and then that of course led to the book that Cindy had loaned her. It was called The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan. It had looked interesting to her, but was not part of her normal repertoire, it was a fiction book that was very long and detailed according to Cindy. "A book that you could loose yourself in," was how she had put it, and with everything that was going on Tara could use a book that she could get lost in.

The sound of the office door opening was enough to bring Tara back to the present. Cindy, her mom, was still buzzing around the kitchen starting cleaning away the things that she had pulled out in order to make dinner with. With a grin Cindy turned to face the doorway just as James came in. "Did the call go well?"

Author's Note

Work in Progress....

Reviews

[K. C. Wells]

Added a bit more. Hopefully I'll be able to actually get this story out there eventually. :)

[Kris B]

wow. i think its really good. its interesting, because i can relate the dinner activities in the story to those of my own family. we used to live in an actual house in Texas, but the hustle and bustle of dinner makes me remember those times. but i ramble. i love a good read, and, even though i have no idea where this is going, i think this is a terrific story so far. i hope you continue it...

[TL Boehm]

ok, I read and I want more. This is a good start. I am curious to see where you will go with it.