She was about to pack up her things and run home so she could catch Eloise when she landed, but just then a stupid fish tried to eat her worm. The pull on the fishing rod almost was too much for her and she was just able to hang on. If she had a knife, she would have cut the line. But as it was, she had to take the time to haul the fish in. It was a big one and fought for all it was worth. In the end, however, Grazella won.
It was a beauty . . . probably eight or nine pounds. She smiled because she knew her daddy would be really happy. It was one of the last times she did . . . you know . . . smile.
She packed up her stuff and she and her dog ran all the way home. Sparky wasn’t really happy about that; he didn’t much care for running. By the time they reached the house, they were both exhausted and in desperate need of water.
Grazella went into the kitchen and gave her mother the fish. “Grazy” that was her momma’s nickname for her, ‘this is a beauty. Your daddy is going to hug you to death.”
Normally Grazella would hang around and help her mom clean the fish. But now she was in a hurry. “Gotta go, Mom. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Where you going?”
“To Eloise’s” she yelled as she raced out the door.
Somehow, she had enough strength to run to her friend’s house. When she got there, she looked around but didn’t see anyone. “Good” she thought figuring she was in time to catch her friend when she landed.
Behind the house was a big oak tree. Grazella jumped up on a limb and waited. The minutes ticked by and the girl was beginning to worry . . . . but then she saw her. Eloise came swooping down and flew right into her bedroom window. “SHE CAN FLY” Grazella yelled at a squirrel who was watching her from a hole in the trunk of the tree. He apparently had no opinion about that either way.
Grazella jumped down and ran into the house and right up to Eloise’s bedroom. Without knocking she burst in and there was her friend . . . wearing her regular clothes.
“I saw you.”
Eloise was shocked by her friend’s sudden appearance . . . and accusation. Then she calmed down and smiled. “Saw what?” she asked innocently.
“I saw you fly. How can you fly? Is it magic? Can I fly, too?”
“You saw me fly . . . are you sure?”
“YES” Grazella yelled. “Don’t you lie to me, Eloise Erheart. You’re my best friend and you shouldn’t lie to me.” She was about to cry.
Eloise knew that in one hour, her friend would forget that she ever saw anything. So, for next sixty minutes she asked Grazella to tell her everything she saw . . . leaving out no details. Then she kept asking question after question. At one point, she excused herself to go to the bathroom, then to make tea, then to check on a newborn colt. And, before you knew it, the hour was gone.
“I’m so forgetful, Grazella, what were you saying?”
At this point, the other girl could only remember seeing Eloise’s reflection in the lake. Everything else was gone. “I saw you flying.”
Now it was Eloise’s turn to be shocked. Why hadn’t her friend forgotten? “Fly . . . that’s the silliest thing I ever heard. Where was I flying?”
“At the lake . . . I saw your reflection in the water.”
So . . . a person would remember if they saw her reflection because they weren’t looking directly at her. This was a problem. And as much as she hated to do it, she had to lie to her best friend.
“I think maybe you were daydreaming, Grazella. I really don’t know how to fly.”
That day, their friendship ended. And every time she told people that Eloise could fly, they would call her Crazy Grazy. On that day, Grazella became what she is today . . . not a happy person.
*****
The Saturday after their adventure to Florida, Egg was back at her Grammy’s. The rainy weather had ended and spring had sprung with a vengeance. Flowers were blooming, birds were chirping and bees were buzzing. It was just a perfect day.
Egg had two reasons for being here besides the fact that she just liked spending time with her grandmother. First, she wanted to update her diary with the details of their trip to Disneyworld. And she wanted Grammy to listen to the new Fandango Sally CD. It was about time for her to learn about really good music. All her grandmother ever played was songs by some guy name Frank…um…Snotrum. No, that wasn’t it. Oh well, it didn’t matter. Whoever he was, he just couldn’t sing very well.
Egg and her Grammy were sitting at the kitchen table. Egg’s diary was in front of her. “Okay, so here’s what I have so far . . .” and she read from her journal.
“Did I miss anything?”
“Ummm . . . the only thing I can think of is how dizzy we were after the Tea Cup ride.”
“Oh, yeah” and the girl made another entry. When she was finished, she closed the book and said “Okay, Grammy. Now come into the living room and listen to my music” and they walked into the other room. “Sit down right here” she pointed to a big comfy chair, “and listen very carefully to the words.”
“Sweetheart, just don’t play it too loud. My old ears might explode.”
“Oh, silly . . . that can’t happen. Anyway, this one’s the official song of the Hameggattic Sisterhood and it’s called Don’t Mess with My Sister, Mister.”
“Catchy.”
“Ready . . .” and she turned on the music and the older Eloise smiled . . . but she didn’t really look happy.
When it was over, Egg asked “Well is that like the best song you ever heard?”
“I truly can’t find the words to describe it.”
“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, the next one is . . .”
“Love, just choose one more. I really can’t handle the whole album in one sitting.”
“Well, okay . . . hmmm . . . which one should I pick. Oh, I know. This one’s called We Can Do It. Ready or not . . .”
“That was delightful” exaggerated the older woman.
“I knew you’d like it.”
“I can see where all you young people get your energy from . . . it’s the music.”
“Grammy . . . you really do understand. You’re just too cool” and she gave her a hug.
“Sad to say, my little one, it’s time for me to drive you home. I had such a pleasant time. Be sure to collect all your stuff . . . especially your music.”
So Egg grabbed her diary and CD and put them into a little bag she brought to carry them in and she and her Grammy walked out to the car.
“Sweetheart, before you get in, please check the mailbox. I’m expecting an important letter.”
So Egg ran over to the double mailbox stand, put her bag down and opened the box. Sure enough, there was an armful of letters and magazines in there. But when she went to scoop them up, her foot kicked over her little bag and her diary flew out.
With her arms full of mail, she reached down without looking, grabbed her bag then ran back to the car. She got in and they drove away.
*****
A few minutes later Crazy Grazy ambled out of her house and over to the mailbox. She opened it and took out a single magazine . . . TV Guide.
She looked at the cover, which had a picture of Superman on it. “Well, at least this guy can fly” she muttered to herself. After fifty years, she was still upset about her ex-best-friend. As she turned to walk back to her house, she noticed Egg’s diary and bent down to pick it up. She examined it, figured it belonged to her neighbor’s grandkid and was about to put it in her mailbox.
But being bored, and just a snoopy old woman, Grazy changed her mind and took it with her back to the house.
She went to the kitchen, put on some tea then sat down to read whatever silly nonsense the kid had written. She thumbed through the book hardly reading anything . . . until one word caught her eye. She stopped and read the entry…
Sunday, August 26: It’s like a dream . . . an unbelievable dream. My Grammy gave me a flying suit last night and now I can fly . . . just like she did when she was my age.
; “I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT. I’M NOT CRAZY. SHE CAN FLY, SHE CAN FLY.”
Books 5
Fried Egg
Book 5 of
Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood
© Copyright, 2016, by Robert Iannone,
All Rights Reserved.
.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Still Crazy (after all these years)
Chapter 2 – Itchy and Scratchy
Chapter 3 – Fog City
Chapter 4 – Me, Myself and I
Chapter 5 – Don’t Tell Tinkerbelle
Chapter 1 – Still Crazy
(after all these years)
“Grammy, I think I left my diary at your house” said a very upset Egg.
“No, dear one, I’m sure I saw you put it in your little bag along with your music CD.”
“I looked in there already. Maybe it fell out when I was walking to your car or maybe in your car. Could you please check for me?” She had just returned from a visit to her grandmother’s house.
“Of course I will.” The older woman knew how important the diary was to her granddaughter. “I’ll do it right now and call you back.”
“Oh, thank you, Grammy.” Egg hung up the phone and plopped backwards on to her bed. She sighed loudly and started to think about the streak of bad luck she was having.
First, the little chest that contained her flying suit fell off a shelf and bonked her on the head.
That caused her to lose her memory for two days. In fact, it was only when her grandmother read to her from the diary that her memory came back.
Then the chest was mistakenly sold by her mother when they had a garage sale. If it hadn’t been for her dream friend, Dazzle, they would never have known it was being auctioned on eBay.
And, now her diary was missing. Well, her dad once told her that bad things happened in three’s. So hopefully this would be the last of her misfortunes. That thought reminded Egg of those books her sister had read. They were written by some guy with a funny name . . . Lemonade something.
So, to take her mind off her misplaced diary . . . her most valuable possession in the whole world after her flying suit and jewelry . . . she daydreamed of writing a book. “Hmmm, I can have a make-believe boyfriend (she involuntarily shivered at the thought) and call the book Egg’s Benedict” But she could never write about such a gruesome subject. “Okay, maybe The Secret Egg.” The secret, of course, was that she was Flying Girl. But that wouldn’t work . . . then everyone would know her secret and it wouldn’t be a secret anymore. She could never let that happen.
“I know, how about that Chinese food Mom made me eat - Egg Foo Yung. It almost sounds like Egg Flew Young which, of course, I did . . . I mean I do. How clever is that . . .” but before she could finish congratulating herself, the phone rang.
She jumped up and grabbed it. “Hi, Grammy”.
But it wasn’t her. “Hi, Egg, it’s Brad. Is your sister there?”
Brad was her sister Ashley’s boyfriend. “Brad, you can’t talk to her right now. I’m expecting my Grammy to call about my diary” and she hung up before he could say anything. Not a second later, the phone rang again.
“Brad, I said . . . oh, sorry Grammy. Did you find it?” She had already convinced herself that her grandmother would.
“I’m terribly sorry little one, but I didn’t see it anywhere.”
“OH, NO” Egg moaned in distress. Then she remembered something that gave her a little glimmer of hope. “Grammy, did you look by your mailbox? You asked me to check if your important letter had been delivered.”
“I did, didn’t I Hold the phone for a minute and let me go check.” It actually took about forty-three seconds, but to Egg it felt like most of forever. “Sorry, my love, but it’s not there either.”
“Oh, Grammy . . . that book contains just about my whole life.” Truth was she only had it for about two years . . . but it was certainly the most interesting two years.
“Egg . . . do you write about Flying Girl in your diary?” It wasn’t really meant to be a question because she knew her granddaughter did. She was just thinking out loud.
“Well, of course. It’s the most important thing in my life. Why?”
The older woman paused to consider one unpleasant possibility. “There’s a chance that Grazy picked it up if you dropped it by the mailbox.” She and her neighbor, Grazella Grackle shared the mailbox stand.
“I’ll walk over and ask her as soon as we hang up.”
“Grammy, what do I do if I never find it?”
“We’ll find it, my love, I promise.”
That made Egg feel a million times better. Any time her Grammy told her that, it always came true.
*****
Eloise Erheart (that was Grammy’s real name) walked the short distance to her neighbor’s house and knocked on the front door. She had only been here a few times in the last fifty years. But when she was young . . . about Egg’s age . . . she and Grazy were the best of friends. Inseparable, actually.
Then one day that all changed. It was the day Grazy had seen her fly.
Well, she actually only saw Eloise’s reflection in the lake behind her house. Because it was a reflection, the suit’s magic didn’t work and the girl didn’t forget what she had seen. She confronted her friend who, of course, denied it. That was when their friendship ended.
From that day on, whenever she told someone that Eloise could fly, they would laugh and call her Crazy Grazy. And as time went on, she became a very unhappy person.
While waiting for the door to be answered, Eloise thought about all of this and it made her very sad. Anytime you lose a friend, especially a best friend, it’s just about one of the worst things that can happen to you. And when you are the one that causes the friendship to end . . . well, that makes the whole thing just that much more tragic.
After a moment, the door opened and there was Alvin, Grazy’s husband. In his hand was a sign . . .
“Well, hello Eloise.” Alvin liked his neighbor and was sorry that she and his wife were no longer friends. He tried to help them reconcile . . . but Grazy would have none of that.
“Morning, Alvin. What are you doing with that sign, if I may ask?”
“We’re selling the old place. My son and daughter-in-law in Alabama invited us to live with them. They have six or seven kids . . . I kind of lost count . . . and they could use our help. And, we could use the company.”
Eloise was shocked at the news. Grazy had lived next door for her whole life and now she was moving away . . . and they would never patch things up. It made her feel just terrible. “I’m very sorry you and Grazy are moving. But I understand how lovely it will be to have your family around.”
“Mighty nice of you to say. So, what can I do for you today?”
“My granddaughter dropped her diary by the mailbox. I was wondering if you or Grazy had seen it?”
“Hmmm . . . now that you mention it, I do believe that my wife found something. She’s been locked in her sewing room jabbering to herself about lord knows what. She seemed pretty agitated but won’t tell me what’s got her upset.”
“May I talk to her?”
“You can try. Go right in; meanwhile I need to plant this sign out front.”
So Eloise walked into the house . . . almost as familiar to her as her own . . . and made her way down a long hallway to the sewing room. She knocked and then said, “Grazy, it’s me . . . Eloise. May I talk to you?”
“GO AWAY.”
“Please, Grazy. I’ll only be a minute.”
Eloise waited and finally the door opened. There stood Grazy with Egg’s diary in one hand, and a newspaper in the other.
“You lied to me. YOU LIED TO ME. I was your best friend and you lied to me. How could you do that?”
Eloise knew that this was going to happen. But, just like fifty years ago, she was sworn to keep the secret of the flying suit . . . even if it meant deceiving her best friend again. “If you’re talking
about what my granddaughter wrote in her diary; it’s just the overactive imagination of a nine-year-old girl.”
“Ha. Not this time, Eloise. Now I have proof.”
“Proof of what . . . that a person can fly? Does that make any sense to you?”
For just a moment, Grazy felt unsure of herself but that passed quickly. “See this . . .” and she held out the newspaper she was holding.
“Yes.”
“I called these people up and they’re sending over a reporter to read the diary. If they like what they read, they’re going to buy it from me for $1000 and then they’ll put it in their newspaper for the whole world to see.”
Eloise felt faint . . . this was a disaster. “Grazy . . . I’m sorry that we’re no longer friends. It hurt me terribly to lose your friendship; you meant the world to me. You know that I’ve tried over the years to mend fences with you. Now, I’m asking you . . . in the name of all that we once meant to each other . . . please return the book. It doesn’t belong to you; it’s my granddaughter’s most valuable possession and she’ll be devastated if she doesn’t get it back.”
Grazy was taken aback by the emotion in Eloise’s voice. For a moment she looked at her ex-best friend and felt the same love that she had felt a half a century ago — and her eyes began to water. She pushed away those feelings and said, “I can’t. I won’t.”
“Grazy, please.”
“Go away, Eloise.”
“Grazy, I’ll do anything . . . please return the diary.”
“Anything?” For a moment, the other woman was lost in thought. “Meet me at the lake in one hour.”
Boxed Set: Egg and the Hameggattic Sisterhood: [The 12 book 1st adventure + the series prequel] Page 23