plate of cheese

by lisajude

Posted to Utterances on 2001-05-09 15:02:00

John is eleven years old. it’s a sunday and there are guests at the house: in the parlour, kitchen, garage and lawn.
John obeys his mother and stiffly moves about from room to room, offering old fellas and wrinkled women bits of cheese and cracker from a depression-era green platter.
ready for a break, little john hears the voices of his three brothers in the parlour. sister patty is plunkin out on the piano and uncle Ike’s tellin a joke. john doesn’t make it in time for Ike’s punchline, but heaves a little boys sigh of relief and places the half empty depression- era green platter on the very edge of the piano….. it (the green platter)
barely keeps its balance.
Mom shouts out from across the room,
“John Geraghty! That is rather precarious place for that platter!”
Johnny moans “mommm, i offered some to everyone.”