Scenes from a Family – #JusJoJan 2023

Welcome to day twenty-six of Just Jot It January for 2023. Today’s word is family.

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Scenes from a family

Everyone reads in silence.
The only sound is the crackling fire where tiny sparks fly onto the hearth and turn to ash.
The old upright piano sits silently on a slightly warped wooden floor.
Granddaddy’s handmade rockers fill the room. I choose the one with the rockers that make me fearful I will tip over backwards.
I never do.

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My grandmother sits in the red leather recliner.
Her dress reveals the edge of her stockings rolled at the base of her knee.
An old pie tin rests crooked on her apron-covered lap.
She pares the apple, the peel in one long red ribbon that never breaks.
We sit around her feet, each waiting for our slice.

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Mom and Dad laugh and show us how beatniks dance.
Dad changes the album.
Chubby Checker’s voice emanates from the small blue record player.
We all do the Peppermint Twist.
Round and Round and Up and Down

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My brother and I squat on the dusty gravel lot.
Cardboard from an old Mallo Cup wrapper makes a great road.
Little metal cars with bent axles
Navigate the bumpy twists and turns.
There are miles and miles yet to go.

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Written as part of Linda Hill’s JusJoJan.

Prompt word today (family) submitted by J-Dub from J-Dub’s Grin and Bear It.