Even the gulls

Evelyn partitioned the tomato into round slices. “You know, they make a tool to cut it all at once these days.”  Her granddaughter Joan shifted from foot to foot.

“It’s called a tomato slicer.” Evelyn thumped her knife down harder than she had intended. “They had them in my day. I never cared for them.” She set aside the cutting board and picked up tongs for the bacon. A grease bubble popped in the skillet. “Ouch!” She jerked her arm out of the way.

“You could cook it in the microwave.”

Evelyn eyed the girl. “You don’t say.” She got ice for her scalded hand. “Get that head of lettuce out of the crisper drawer and tear some up into a colander.”  Her granddaughter started to speak, but Evelyn cut her off. “And if you tell me they make salad in a bag, I’ll send you home to your mother’s to eat some. Brown, wilted before it leaves the store shelves. No, thank you.”

“Sorry, Gram.”

“I know you don’t enjoy coming here…”

“I do!” Joan shredded the lettuce into the strainer. “It’s … quaint.”

“You think it’s pedantic. ” Evelyn returned to the bacon. “Do you know what I wish?”

“What?”

“I wish I was forty two again and standing in the Gulf of Mexico with the sand swallowing my feet and the tide straining me one way and then the other. I want to taste salt in every breath of air. I even want those damned nuisance birds, the ones that screech all day long and into the evening.”

Joan supplied, “Seagulls.”

“Yes. I even wish for the seagulls.” Evelyn had better luck with the bacon this time, and Joan had finished with the lettuce. The toaster popped up four identical slices of bread, and Evelyn prepared their sandwiches. She cut them corner to corner and handed them to Joan to carry to the table. “Even the seagulls,” she said, and she followed her granddaughter to lunch.

__________________

Things are never pedantic at Trifecta, and it’s a good thing. It takes my mind off of the work I ought to be doing. (Q: How can you tell I’m overwhelmed? A: When I write a lot of blog posts instead of my other work.)

 

About jesterqueen:
Jessie Powell is the Jester Queen. She likes to tell you about her dog, her kids, her fiction, and her blog, but not necessarily in that order.

Comments

Even the gulls — 21 Comments

  1. The oven. 350. Bacon. Mmmmmmmmm. Your baconing will never be the same.

    I loved this response to the prompt. And, thank you for your feedback today. It informed my tomorrow, too.
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    • Thanks, Lance! These two have a ways to go. I can’t decide what’s got Joan visiting Gram here, but it’s got to be something where she’s stuck. Hmm…

  2. You portrayed so well the gap between the generations. The discomfort, the difference in word usage. I could see it all. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Oh no. This is me and my mother, but reversed. She’s of the opinion that if it can’t be cooked in a microwave, it’s not proper food. I haven’t owned a microwave in over a decade. Sigh.

    Thanks for linking up, Jessie. Your being overwhelmed works out just perfectly for us. 🙂 Don’t forget to vote at the end.
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  4. You? Busy? get out of here! 😉

    I am not a cook, so I felt like I was the girl (which has me feeling all bad about myself) but then the seagulls reminded me of my mom who loves them and I smiled. Hey, the microwave ain’t so bad.

    you’re doing a great job , even busy…you ROCK girlfriend.
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  5. Great short piece. Love the dialog. Loved how you used the idea of the tomato slicer (made me smile thinking of those silly things on Amazon and the reviews.) Pedantic is a good word! Do you watch Family Guy? Pedantic is a well used word in one of the episodes. So funny. Anyways, I totally know how she feels about yearning to have the sand between her toes and the salty air. I know I will miss this when I find myself in an office again.
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  6. I’m glad you’re writing a lot of blog posts! And I love this one! I love the BLT’s and the image of Evelyn standing at the gulf at 42, loving that other time and place more. I wonder if there was a time and place she wanted to be at more when she was at the Gulf or if she knew how good it was then.
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  7. Sometimes the pedantic is what we miss the most. I would love to have another day with my grandmothers, both gone many years now.
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  8. Such a wonderfully realized scene between grandmother and granddaughter. I could ‘see’ the kitchen they were standing in. Really well done!

  9. In my 20’s, I lived with my grandma, and we were a lot like these two. I thought she was hopelessly old fashioned, and she thought I was too modern. She’d had a hard life though, and I know there were many times she wished she could be young again.

    I loved this piece so much, for as many reasons as partitions of that wonderful tomato! The beach, and BLT’s and even seagulls. Well done!
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  10. Oh, we just had BLTs the other day… and I bake my bacon at 425 in my toaster oven on a timer so I can walk away 😉 As for Evelyn and Joan, I love them. I lost my Gramma somewhere around Joan’s age, and I always wish I could have known her a bit longer, at least until I stopped being an idiot kid.
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