said<\/em> she didn\u2019t take the book.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cSo where is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were both just over five and a half feet tall with medium reddish-brown skin, high cheekbones, and bright brown eyes. The identical sisters, distinguished only by the size of their puff hairdo, stood in the middle of the apartment. George, with the smaller puff, picked up a framed photo from the coffee table. It showed the identical triplets, Josephine, Georgiana, and Alice, better known as Jo, George, and Al, in matching bikinis on a beach in Oahu. The smiles were forced, as it was the first vacation they\u2019d taken without their mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wish mom could\u2019ve been there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGeorge, get your head out of the clouds and help me find the book.\u201d Al was frustrated, and it showed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The book in question was a collection of short stories about three magical princesses, Jo, George, and Al, and their feats of derring-do and magical mischief. Every story was based on a real-life situation the triplets found themselves in, spun into a tall tale. As the girls grew older, so did the princesses in the stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSorry, Al. I guess it\u2019s time to start pulling everything off the shelves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe might as well pack while we look.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George nodded her assent and set an empty box beside her. She began taking books off the shelf and stacking them in neat piles in the box. \u201cMom still has a couple of your textbooks from med school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI saw that. And is this one of yours from MIT?\u201d Al held up a book titled \u201cBrownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHeh, yeah, from my undergrad studies.\u201d George\u2019s vision blurred as tears pooled in her eyes. \u201cWhy did she keep all this stuff?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Al was crying now as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They continued in silence, boxing shelf after shelf of books, pictures, figurines, and assorted bric-a-brac. Hours passed this way, and box after box was filled and stacked in the living room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen does Jo get back?\u201d Al asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI texted with her this morning and got chewed out. She was in court and forgot to mute her phone.\u201d George laughed. \u201cAnyway, she should be back tomorrow for the weekend. Are you going home?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m gonna sleep in mom\u2019s bed tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They snuggled together in the king bed that night, as they\u2019d done hundreds of times before, although always with Jo and their mother as well. George inhaled deeply, her mother\u2019s scent still on the pillows. \u201cI miss her so much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI thought of something,\u201d Al said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJo said she didn\u2019t take<\/em> the book. Do you think mom might have given it to her before\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cShe\u2019s the oldest, so maybe. And she\u2019s not above being technically<\/em> correct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThey woke in the early morning to the sound of the garbage truck emptying the dumpsters in the alley. It didn\u2019t take any words for them both to understand that the other was just as tired and annoyed by the rude awakening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAl, make us some coffee?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDepends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George used her sweetest sing-song voice, \u201cI\u2019ll go pick up some pastries from the Donut Haven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDeal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George returned with a small bag containing three raspberry danishes and sat down at the table with Al.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy did you bring three?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHabit. I almost grabbed a bear claw for mom, too.\u201d She wiped the tears that threatened to fall and took a deep breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s okay, Jo will eat it even if it\u2019s stale.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They spent the morning packing more boxes, each item a small memory. Just holding up the occasional knick-knack to show the other was enough to elicit a sad smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lunch time rolled around and passed without either woman taking note. Where they had started out at a steady pace, they were now both moving as if through molasses. The emotional toll was heavier than any physical exertion. George handed Al a cold cola and opened one herself. They sat drinking in silence, eyeing the sizable stack of boxes they\u2019d packed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSisters! I come bearing gifts!\u201d Jo\u2019s sudden entrance startled them both. She set her overnight bag down, and a bottle of wine peeked out of the top. Her briefcase remained firmly in her other hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George jumped to her feet and ran to embrace her, while Al lagged slightly behind. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect you until later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCourt was adjourned early for the weekend,\u201d she said. \u201cCome here, Al, give me some love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three held each other for several long minutes, George and Al in shorts and tee-shirts, Jo in a suit with her hair pulled back into a severe bun. Al grabbed at the elastic holding the bun in place and yanked, freeing her sister\u2019s hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGet changed and let me fix your hair. You gotta quit trying to wear white lady hair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a minute,\u201d Jo said, raising her briefcase. \u201cI have something to show you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs it the book?\u201d George asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI told you I didn\u2019t take it. You\u2019ll like this, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sisters made their way into the kitchen, where Jo opened the briefcase and laid a small sheaf of papers on the counter. While the others looked at them, she grabbed the danish that sat there and ate it. \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d the other two asked at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRaspberry danish, our favorite,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, you ass, this,\u201d Al said, waving the sheaf of papers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMom\u2019s publishing contract. Jackie gave it to me the day\u2026.\u201d She faltered and shook her head. \u201cAnyway, they\u2019re sending the original back in a few days, and plan on publishing next May, in time for Mother\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJackie\u2019s a nurse, why was she handling mom\u2019s legal affairs?\u201d George stabbed a finger in Jo\u2019s chest. \u201cYou\u2019re<\/em> the lawyer in the family, you should\u2019ve been handling it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cQuit poking my boob.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBesides,\u201d Al said, \u201cmom always said her stories only meant something to us, the three princesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJackie apologized for it after the fact, but she sent it off to a publisher without mom\u2019s okay.\u201d Jo sighed. \u201cWhen she told me that, my first instinct was to sue. Until I read the letter mom left me. She wanted it to be a surprise, once the contract was finalized.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three of them chatted trivialities while Jo changed and continued while Al fixed her hair into a matching puff. When the three of them finally matched, Jo asked, \u201cWhat can I do to help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you eaten lunch?\u201d George asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNope. How about an early dinner at O\u2019Toole\u2019s? Then I\u2019ll help pack up whatever\u2019s left.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Al sighed. \u201cThe only rooms left are the kitchen and the bedroom. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m ready to pack up the bedroom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe either,\u201d George said. \u201cI want to spend as many nights in her bed as I can, since it\u2019ll all be gone next week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jo pulled her sisters into a close embrace. \u201cThen let\u2019s walk to O\u2019Toole\u2019s for dinner and drinks. Then back here to pack the kitchen and cuddle in mom\u2019s bed for the last couple nights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As they walked out the door, George said, \u201cCalled it. She was technically<\/em> correct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cYeah,\u201d Al replied. \u201cJo said she<\/em> didn\u2019t take the book.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"prompt: Write a story in which the same line recurs three times. available at Reedsy \u201cJo said she didn\u2019t take the book.\u201d \u201cSo where is it?\u201d They were both just over five and a half …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208],"tags":[234,214,210,209],"class_list":["post-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trunk-stories","tag-contemporary","tag-drama","tag-fiction","tag-short-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pxT7i-AC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2271,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions\/2271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evardsson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}