Off To See The Wizard, Still Nibbling At the Novel Idea

 

We’re off to see the wizard!

💬

 

I kicked the side of Lou’s bed and did a little cake walk up and down the room, admiring myself in her dresser mirror.  I must admit I looked good. My black hair hung straight down to my breasts and I was slender and tall.  Not bad.

A muffled sleepy voice leaked out of a pile of quilts.  “Leave me alone Jen!”.  Lou is not like me.  She is soft and nearly blond and sleepy.  But she is still a kid, they sleep a lot. “Get dressed Lou” I yodeled.   “Places to go and things to do!”  She hated my morning routine. I sang her a cheesy rendition of Lucille, h/t Little Richard.  Hey, no new music for us.  All we have are my parent’s old records. She wrapped the quilts tighter.

None of this had anything to do with going to school.  There was no high school within 25miles and we don’t drive, of course.  No one does.  I don’t miss school, but it is weird.  We read books.  Next thing on the agenda was food. I ran down the stairs two at a time to the kitchen.

This morning it was boiled eggs and tea.  I had a dozen pinkish eggs from the lady next door who had some kind of hens who laid pink ones.  No wonder I am so skinny, I thought.  No sugar today! You can’t even find it in the store.  The tea consisted of mint leaves from the back yard, dried in the sun.  It’s ok.

So, I boiled those eggs!  I snapped on the radio.  No internet for us.  In fact, I don’t know if it still exists.  Oh it probably does, for important state and military types.  Since we have no internet, we have to go into Milltown in person to get a bit of supplemental money in the form of these little one-use bills.   There was a bit of a report of some guy in town attracting crowds and getting people all excited.

Lou’s rumpled head appeared, the rest of her bod still wrapped in one of those quilts mom had made years ago.  She sat on the bottom step and looked at me blearily. “I wish mom and dad were here…, you can’t cook. You never make anything good.”

“We have to go the state office today, so dress like you wanna take a long walk Lou.  Also, there is some kind of insurrection or something going on.  I want to see what that is.” She went back upstairs. I could hear drawers and doors slamming.  Good.  She was moving.

 Next chapter they meet a dog!