~ ~ On the tenth day of christmas my true love gave to me ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four colly birds, three french hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. ~ ~
I rose early to gather the eggs from the geese, depositing them at my neighbor’s doorstep in a carton. We had arranged for her to slide a check under my door each day in return for the eggs. I was getting $4.00 per half dozen, which wasn’t much, but turned out to be around $4.00 a day since the geese laid daily. When I got home from work, there was yet another letter waiting for me. In it, my love explained that he was sending ten of his friends home to keep an eye on me. A small part of my mind wondered whether that could be considered possessive. The ten friends dropped by my house later that day. Surprisingly, they were young, probably the same age as the dancers I’d met the day before, and were all very tall. The men explained that they’d just moved into several apartments in my complex, and that if I ever needed anything, I could count on them. I felt honored. It was almost like having my love home again. Except in the form of ten men with startlingly long legs. As the men talked to me, an idea entered my head. I asked them to come back in a few hours. When they left, I hurriedly cleaned and fixed some snacks--crackers, cheese, some easy make meatballs, even cookies. I also moved all my bird cages into my bedroom, which I knew I’d regret later. It was a nice day outside, so I walked down the street to the dance studio and personally invited all nine dance instructors over. That was the first evening in quite a while where I had a good bit of proper fun. All twenty of us gathered in my now crowded apartment, where we played video games and card games and ate food and overall had a marvelous time. My secret evil plan even worked--I managed to match up each of the dancers with one of the men, who happened to all be long jumpers. Who knew? On the other hand, who knew my love had such a wide range of friends? After they had all gone I cleaned up what little mess there was and pulled the bird cages out of my bedroom. I’d enjoyed myself, but I missed my love. I hoped he’d come home soon.
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Wow, what a scandalous piece of art up at the top there. I can see his calves :O
Two more days to go, and then I can finally disappear for, like, two more months.
Okay, maybe not. But between class, homework, actual work, reading, and the gym (yes i've joined the gym, finally!!), I might not have much time at all to write. But we shall see, hmm? Things could change.
On a completely unrelated note, I just realized I've gone this whole story without giving names to anyone but the birds.
I hope everyone is enjoying those last few precious days of Christmas break, and I'll see you all tomorrow!
~~Zoë Wingfeather
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