For Thanksgiving this year the table is wreathed with five burly men and a self-proclaimed princess. Three silver-haired once-upon-a-time teachers and two younger fellows wearing fedoras eat heartily, drink happily, and engage in genial conversation. Pony-tailed, with one blue fingernail, she feels right at home. Childhood Thanksgiving tables had always been filled with the raucous laughter and silly antics of her younger brothers.
Shoulder to shoulder, the diners fit perfectly around the oval table: one at each end and two along each side. Massive platters of food fight for tabletop parking space with dishes and silverware, water and wine glasses.
Earlier she’d carefully placed vintage place cards at each setting, then tucked hand-selected Thanksgiving comics into the folds of brown and gold napkins. She'd wanted this Thanksgiving to be special, combining traditional dishes with new traditions. At the end of the meal her father says, “Bonnie is always the one to—” and then he stops.
She steals a glance at her one blue fingernail. In that split second of silence, a seventh guest silently joins them in the dining room. For Thanksgiving this year— is the first one without Bonnie, her mother.
Author's comments: I thought about this contest all month long, but had nothing to write until that 'split second of silence' at the dinner table on Thanksgiving. In honor of Mom's passing last April, I've been wearing blue polish on just one fingernail. But that, dear readers, is another story.
Daphne Rice, [Portland, OR] a retired elementary school teacher, spends her time between the big city life of Portland, Oregon and the high desert solitude of Burns, Oregon. Rice is a happily married practicing writer. After teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth graders for thirty years, Mrs. Rice retired in June 2007. She loves having the time to write stories, essays, and poetry. Her previous CCF stories include: A Little Bit Irish, Seagrapes, A Burnt Offering, Behold! The Wolverines!, and Evergreen Station.
© 2008 Daphne Rice. Original for CCF. (Rice grants CCF first electronic rights for one month; CCF may archive the material indefinitely and include it in an eBook anthology).
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