Chloe Jarren

Two About Three

Three people awoke. A maid would make them bathe, and a fifth slept in the pantry.

They were all entirely incompatible.

They never washed their bed nor allowed anyone else to do so.

Even so it was all completely disagreeable, but in the dining room that morning they were polite.

For breakfast Judy served them pancakes. Judy had been long in the kitchen and then went around the table with a large plate of the pancakes and placed three of them on each of the plates. A second help was also in the room and also had a plate. The second help was a small woman named Mary and a warm plate of butter was on hers, which she put in the center of the table, then quickly took a seat at the fourth place of the table where there was not a plate.

After a few hours of this breakfast, Mary was left alone at the table with the leftovers.

***

Three women are sitting at a tea party.

The one with spooky hair gets up and touches something on the wall. What it is is Gertrude's invention, a bicycle-like, metallic device. It is easy to see that Gertrude was not serious at all with her thoughts, thought Esther, as she returned to the laughing table, and dealt a hand.

At once she took a very small sip of the bitter tea and looked towards the couch where the dog was picking at a paw. A little farther behind was a small person who was hiding in the darkened corner and was scribbling away at a notebook.

Another woman who was unaccounted for telephoned. In the conversation with Alice, she explained her situation very badly. Anyway, she was also really bad at favors and didn't have a costume. And in fact, she never had a costume, although sometimes her favors were very generous, for example, the double cake.

And the hours passed and the light dwelt more in the corner, which revealed that the boy was wearing lavender, a yellowish lavender cape with satin frills, and his eyes seemed even brighter somehow now that he was standing over them.

What Gertrude said to him then I am almost completely in agreement with, but in response he took a little oar out from behind his back and smashed it upon the table.

Chloe Jarren is a North Pacific American.