Triplets - Part 8

Good morning!

Welcome to September! Doesn't that sound strange? I love the fall months, but I wasn't ready for September yet. It is still supposed to me June or something. But, as a 4-year-old told me Wednesday, "we can't grow any backwards." ;) He meant he couldn't get smaller again, but it also means we can't get our months back even if they seem to have gone missing or we feel that we were cheated with only half a month. ;)

But, September is an exciting month! I start teaching again next week. Then next Friday we are joining my brother's family, my grandparents and aunt at "Wonders of Wildlife" for the day. It should be fun. The kids are looking forward to it, and so are the rest of us. September also holds the start of the Five Fall Favorites. That means I have to get the final things planned and ready. Exciting! It also means a new project.

I was asked by my pastor to write two short Christmas plays for the children at church. Usually the pastor's wife writes all our Christmas plays, so I'm a bit nervous. Prayers would be appreciated. I have ideas, but turning them from ideas to plays might be a challenge. I've never actually written a play before. Stories yes. Plays no. I think I may have to write them as stories first and then turn them into plays. If you have any tips on play writing, let me know.

Well, I'll let you get on with the story. There is only one more part after this.

Triplets

Part 8

    Stepping outside into the darkness, Vienna was thankful for the reassuring presence of Mr. and Mrs. Shannon. It had been agreed not to use the car, which was in the garage, as they didn’t want to bother their neighbors. Though she tried to keep her eyes away from the mysterious brick building and its glowing light, Vienna couldn’t help stealing a glance at it. “Mrs. Shannon,” she asked, her voice hushed, “why is there a light in that old building?” She looked over her shoulder at her grandma’s friend.
    “What light?”
    Vienna whipped her head around. The light was gone. “There was a light just a moment ago in that upper window under the roof. Sofia? Geneva? Didn’t you see it?”
    Sofia nodded. “Yeah.”
    But Geneva shook her head. “I had my eyes closed so I wouldn’t see it,” she confessed.
    “Are you sure there was a light?” Mr. Shannon pressed. “Because I’ve never seen one in that old place before.
    “We all saw it on our way to your house,” Sofia said. “It was spooky.”
    “Let’s not talk about it,” Geneva begged, her voice wobbly.
    Mrs. Shannon quickly changed the subject. Arriving at the house, the girls quickly unlocked the door and hurried in, thankful they weren’t alone. It took only a few minutes to throw some clothes for the next day, their pajamas, and toothbrushes into plastic bags, and the triplets were ready.

*

    Tired but restless, Vienna rose at last from the mattress on the floor. The steady breathing of her sisters told her they were both sound asleep in the twin beds across the room. Stealthily she crept to the window that overlooked the silent street and pushed aside the curtain. She gave a slight shiver, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the cool air coming from the ceiling vents or from something else.
    Outside the world was hushed and still. Even the one street light she could see appeared to have dimmed, as though it were about to fall asleep. There was no light on in the old brick building, and Vienna would have been inclined to believe she had been mistaken about seeing it had not Sofia and Geneva seen it too.
    “Why was there a light?” She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it did. Slowly her gaze traveled the length of the street and then rose to the star-studded sky above. As she looked, Mrs. Shannon’s prayer came back to her mind. She had sounded so sure, so confident. It hadn’t been a memorized prayer, that was obvious, but did she really believe there was a God? Could she be right? That would mean her dad was wrong. “He’s been wrong about a lot of things,” she sighed. “Maybe I’ll ask Mrs. Shannon about it tomorrow.” Not really thinking about anything specific, Vienna stood at the window until she grew tired and her whirling mind slowed down. Then she went back to her bed and fell asleep.

*

    Vienna sat on the shady front porch of the Shannon’s home. It was early afternoon. The triplets had been to the hospital and seen their grandma that morning. Arrangements had been made for the girls to stay at the Shannon’s home until Grandma was released.
    “I hope it won’t be long, girls,” Grandma had whispered with a tired sigh.
    The girls had brought over more of their clothes, and now Vienna sat alone, her eyes resting on the old building. Ever since they had first discovered it, the image of its brick walls had lingered in her mind, refusing to leave. Suddenly, drawn as though by invisible strings, Vienna rose, left the shady porch and began to walk. The building was only one house down and across the street.
    “Vienna!”
    Pausing in the middle of the empty street, she glanced back. Sofia and Geneva were standing on the porch. She beckoned them and they came, slowly, reluctantly.
    “Why are we going back to that creepy place?” Geneva asked.
    “I don’t know. Let’s go see if someone cleared away some of the vines and things where the door should be.”
    “I’m not going in that stuff,” Geneva stated. “We don’t know if there’s poison ivy or not.”
    Sofia said not a word.
    Together the three sisters followed the road to the far side of the shed.
    “There!” Vienna’s voice was excited. “See, someone was in there last night. They’ve cleared a little path to the door.”
    “They must have done it after we left,” Sofia said, eyeing the path with a mixture of interest, curiosity, and hesitation. “But what are they doing with the old place?”
    “I don’t know. I think we need to take turns watching and see when someone comes. Then we can come ask them.” Vienna had looked all around as she spoke, hoping to find someone coming even then, but all was still.
    “Not me!” And Geneva’s eyes widened behind her glasses. “I’m not going to go talk to some stranger alone!”
    “I didn’t say we had to do it alone,” Vienna said with a smile. “Come on, let’s get back to the Shannon’s house. We can see this far from their windows.”
    “Yeah,” Sofia added, “from inside where it’s cooler. Come on, I’ll race you both back!”
    “And trip on your shoe laces?” Vienna asked, pointing.
    “Oh, bother. I’m going to have to find a job so I can get new laces.” And Sofia stooped to retie her shoe.

    It wasn’t until after several hours of watching and waiting, that Vienna, the only one who was willing to keep watching, saw an older man approach the building and turn into the newly cleared path.
    “Someone’s there!” she called.
    Geneva looked up from a book she was reading on the floor. “Well, I’m not going back there.”
    “Where’s Sof?”
    “Upstairs, I think, with Mrs. Shannon.”
    Squaring her shoulders, Vienna turned from the window and, stepping over her sister’s legs she hurried across the room,, and opened the front door. “I’ll be back.”
    Sitting up so suddenly that her glasses slid to the end of her nose, Geneva stared at her. “You . . . you’re going there alone? To that creepy place? Don’t you remember those noises? And there might be poison ivy! Vienna!”

Which triplet are you more like?

Do you have anything exciting happening this month?

Have you ever written or been in a play?