All Moved In

Previous scene: "Where It Starts"


"One more."  Lynn carried the last box into the house from the one-car garage. Eva scooped Sophia, their overweight orange tabby cat, out of Lynn’s path.

"Finally," Eva sighed.  Lynn dropped the box onto the kitchen table and Eva set Sophia gently on the floor.

"We've been here a year," Lynn said shaking her head, "and we've only just now gotten to this last box."

Eva pointed at the calendar hanging over the microwave. “No, yesterday was our own-our-own-home one-year anniversary.” Eva poured herself and Lynn a second cup of coffee each.

“A year and a day.” Lynn slurped her coffee.  "Oh!  Oh!."  She breathed across the hot liquid in her mouth and fanned her mouth as if that would help it cool down faster.  "That's gotta cool down."  <Lynn's not one to sit around and wait.  She'd rather be doing something than nothing.>  She set her coffee on the counter nearby and picked at the packing tape holding the box closed.

"Wait!" Eva popped, "Natalie will be here soon.” She glanced at the clock on the wall above the door. “Thirty minutes. Let's wait 'till she arrives to open it."

"Ugh.” Lynn plopped into the kitchen chair and hung her head over the back of it.  “Why?  Don't you want to be done with this?"  <Lynn was eager to fold up that last cardboard box and leave it in the recycle.>

"Come on. Natalie has been helping us get moved in this whole time. This is a mile-stone moment and she’s earned the right to part of it. Besides, she’s my best friend."  Eva pleaded with puppy dog eyes and pouting lips that made Lynn smile.

"Ok. ok.  You win.  I can't resist that face.  I’ve waited this long.  I guess can wait another thirty minutes."

A cup of coffee later, Natalie walked through the front door.

"Hey, Nettie!  We were just talking about you."  Eva announced.

"Good things I hope."

"Of course," Eva spoke in her most innocent sounding voice.

"Seriously," Lynn broke in, "You see this box?" pointing at the obvious box resting on the kitchen table.  "This, my friend, is the last box before Eva and I are officially moved it."

"Nice," Natalie replied.  "Let's see what's in it."

Lynn grabbed the kitchen shears from the butcher block on the counter.

“Want to do the honors?” She offered the shears to Eva who sliced through the old tape holding the box shut.  She pulled the halves of the lid open.  The crumpled newspaper protecting the box’s precious contents held its shape.

Eva, Lynn, and Natalie each grabbed at the wads of newspaper, carefully unwrapping the treasures hidden within them.  Trinkets, ribbons won at competition, a mishmash of mementoes from more childish days.  Peeking through the newspaper, Natalie spied the cassette-tape case turned planchette she and Eva made back when they were in high school.  She gasped as she pulled it from the box.

Eva’s eyes grew wide. "I forgot I put that in here,” she said as she dug deeper through the newspaper to fish the homemade Ouija board off the bottom of the box.

"I kinda figured it got thrown into a fire someplace," Natalie said.

"So," Lynn drew the word out slowly, "What's the story?"


Next scene: "Dreaming"