all but a couple of the older guests had finished eating, and the others were obviously or not so obviously impatient to get up and get a drink or mill around or do whatever else they wanted to do.
shirley found a bunch of really old photographs that grandma took a hundred years ago, they are kind of cute if anybody wants to look at them.
it was just an expression - they are probably i don’t know, sixty, seventy years old. you would be surprised how clear they are.
all right, if you have them with you, we may as well look at them.
gloria reached into the big old fashioned purse at her feet and took out a pack of about thirty old polaroid photos enclosed by a rubber band.
oh, these are so cute. and you are right, look how clear they are. better than what you can get on your phone these days.
who is this? it is just a baby, like it was just born.
look on the back, grandma wrote on the backs of most of them.
oh, it’s uncle joe!
uncle joe was one of the older guests, and the one least known to the others. he had returned to the area about two years earlier
after living “out west” since he was a young man - probably in california although no one knew for sure. he was not a communicative sort, and was the only member of the party referred to as “uncle” or “aunt” by the others.
look, joe, weren’t you cute!
joe stared at the little photo for a few seconds.
yes, he stated in his loud clear voice, who would have thought that such a sweet looking child would grow up to be a serial killer.
a brief silence fell on the table.
was joe trying to be funny? in what little they had seen of him, humor had never seemed to be his game.
well, since everybody is just about done here, maybe we could get up and get some of the pies and cookies gloria and mindy brought.
oh, i love mindy’s lemon chiffon pie! did you bring it, mindy?
actually, it’s lemon meringue pie, but yes, i did bring it.
great! it’s the best!
No comments:
Post a Comment