Group Writing Project #2

 

Explanations

By Steph

 

Jim Frayne packed what he hoped would be his last box before leaving for his junior year of college. He would be leaving the next day to attend a small college near Sleepyside where he would room with his best friend, Brian Belden, like he had the first two years.

He wondered if going fifty miles away would help him get his mind off of Brian’s younger sister, Trixie. After knowing each other so long he still could only bring himself to look at her fondly and hold her hand. After all she had turned sixteen, or so he thought. He could never be sure exactly how old everyone was. Also, he found himself putting his foot in his mouth so often around her that he was convinced he had "foot in mouth disease."

At least she still wore the id bracelet he had given her on the plane to Iowa so long before. Even he didn’t really know what that meant.

He looked out the window and saw fog outside that matched his foggy brain. He heard a soft meow outside and let in Honey’s new cat, whom she naturally had named Doctor. He knew of course that the cat was named after the not so secret love of Honey’s life, Brian.

The phone rang and he figured it was Brian confirming plans for their off to college party that night but all he heard was heavy breathing. The phone line went dead.

A minute later the phone rang again and it was Tom Delanoy, his family’s chauffeur who said, "Sorry, Jim, that was Celia. I was calling to wish you luck at school this year. Of course we all know you’re perfect so you don’t need luck. We were practicing Lamaze exercises and I dropped the phone by her by accident."

After hanging up Jim went to his closet and found a box he had had sent to him right after he had moved to Sleepyside. In it he found the stick with the shrunken head on it but never noticed the inside of the head was hollow.

He pulled out a little sheet of paper from the head and read it. It said: "The person who has this head will be forever cursed to say silly things to the girl of his dreams and look at girls who don’t even come close to measuring up to her. Until you kiss her you will be cursed to do so. But be careful of dark-haired men with dark eyes who may get the girl before you do."

He suddenly realized what the curse meant. He had to find Trixie soon or else she would fall for Dan and he would be forever cursed to say stupid things to her! He thought of all the stupid and thoughtless things he had said to her over the years. It was a wonder she still spoke to him.

He thought about how secretly proud he was of her sleuthing. Of course her first case had brought him to Sleepyside, a town he loved. He wished he could tell her the truth about that but he always said something silly instead and it killed him when he thought about how many times he must really have hurt her feelings. Boy, he was a dunderhead!

He also knew that Trixie and Dan had been spending time together. Boy, he better act fast before it was too late--if it wasn’t already.

He also thought to himself, "Boy, straight A’s in school but a dunce in love."

Brian finally called and said, "You and Honey come over at six. We are going to play a little baseball first. Bring your stick, AKA your Louisville Slugger super Sammy Sosa model. I think it would be fun. Bobby is already developing quite a talent at age nine, too."

Jim ran to his closet and got out his stick and headed to Crabapple Farm.

The fog had cleared in the air as well as his brain as he knew exactly what he had to do once he got to Crabapple Farm.

When he arrived he found Brian and Mart in the driveway working on Brian’s broken down jalopy. Brian said, "This old broken down piece of junk. I guess that’s what you get for fifty dollars these days. But I thought if you could have a beautiful diamond ring that only is worth two hundred dollars, we can have fifty dollar cars and bring only two dollars spending money on trips."

He laughed and said, "I’ll come back and help you in a bit. I want to talk to Trixie."

Mart said, "She’s in the kitchen with Moms, Honey, and Di helping get the food ready for the big party. As if she could really help. She’d burn water if Moms wasn’t standing right there with her when she cooked. I’m almost scared to see what she cooks up."

Jim said, "I really wish you would stop teasing Trixie like this. You know it hurts her a lot. After finding a curse on me, I hope to change my own behavior."

Brian, always the calm, level-headed future doctor said, "Please do. You two drive us all crazy with all this looking fondly at each other and holding hands. If you two ever get married you’re going to end your ceremony that way. No kiss. Just looking fondly at each other and holding hands."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Belden was fiddling with the family camera on the kitchen table and overseeing the food preparation by her daughter and her daughter’s two best friends.

At least the three girls weren’t into heavy metal as she had granted their request to listen to their favorite performer, Steve Goodman’s Greatest Hits CD.

Trixie turned, startled when she heard the door slam behind her and saw Jim standing there.

She said, "I know after your Chicago visit how much you love Cheez-its. Are you that anxious for them? We have some right here. You better wipe that muddy boot. You must have stepped one foot in that little puddle Bobby made outside."

She got the box of Cheez-its off the counter and handed it to him.

He took one, ate it and tossed the box to the side and said, "What I want is to kiss you."

He gathered her into his arms and kissed her passionately

After they pulled apart, Jim said, "Now the curse is over, now I can treat you right and we can be together forever."

Trixie said, "Now that you’ve kissed me, I can stop having those feelings for you that I can’t even admit to myself and tell the world!"

They kissed again.

The End