Treasures
Under The Bed
Mother does
not keep treasures under the bed, for the space between the
floor, which collects copious amounts of condensation when the room
is heated to a barely comfortable temperature (the building engineer
hired specifically to render the house livable may be asked further
details), and the base of the bed is slight, although the gap has
swallowed (temporarily) various sandals, other footwear, and…
Temperance's "treasures" . They keep themselves there.
Little Temperance's treasures must be regarded as objects hidden
beyond the reach of their owner. Mass-produced hair baubles and
inexpensive toddlers' trinkets boast little intrinsic value.
Prudence, the
eldest of five siblings is a responsible sort who stores her shoes,
clothes and other useful possessions in stiff plastic boxes under her
bed, lined up in an order known only to her. Her treasures are not
hidden, but rather concealed, removed from sight.
Opposite
Prudence, Charity and Clarity share a bunk bed, with a trundle,
unused, for three girls in one room is already a strain, especially
on Prudence. Charity and Clarity share neither their sister's sense
of responsibility nor her preference for order. Rubbish of an
extraordinary variety collects under the bunk bed and as none is
trapped in the trundle, but rather under it, Mother's tidying up is
quite an onerous task. Mother resigned herself years ago to the fact
that any attempt to insist that Charity and Clarity, or even one of
them, retrieve even a small portion of the varied rubbish, would be
futile. Neither did Mother convince either one to make use of the
unused trundle for storing close at hand, but concealed, such things
as younger sisters are wont to keep, whether in stiff plastic boxes
or in the vacant trundle.
Clifford,
their younger brother, the lone male, other than Father, who has been
much too old for treasures under the bed since even before Prudence
appeared, two weeks late (though a responsible girl she neither had
nor has a proper sense of timing) keeps all manner of spare parts and
necessary tools in the unused trundle under his bunk bed, which he
had shared with his younger sister until she passed the age at which
a sister, even a younger sister, shares a bunk bed with a brother,
certainly an older brother. He was quite willing to avail himself of
his vacant trundle for zealous storage of bits and bobs of wooden and
mechanical items the owners of which had relinquished all claims.
Mother did not share his enthusiasm for either the bits or the bobs
and was on occasion confounded by Clifford's zealotry. Her pride in
his whirring fans and functioning flashlights were all that prevented
her from taking the broom and removing all traces of her offspring's
cache of zealotry. Possibly her cache of bits and bobs of beads and
sundries had some influence in this respect as well. She denied all
tendencies of zealotry with such a zealousness that Father was
fearful to remind her of them. He was not a meek fellow. However he
preferred to avoid any reference to anything inedible smaller that a
grain of rice, which precluded discussing all but ten, possibly
fourteen, of Mother's beads.
The bottom
bunk of Clifford's bunk bed granted Temperance her first escape from
her infants' berth. Clifford graciously relinquished his claim and
transferred to the top bunk when his younger sister matured enough to
be freed from the confines of her crib.
After an
unfortunate fall immediately upon mounting his bicycle en route to
the festivities at the local pool which heralded the opening of the
school year – Father bid him a good evening and as soon as his back
was turned promptly heard a "thud" as his only male heir
landed on the sidewalk – a tibial fracture necessitated a reversal
of somnolent arrangements. (This inopportune event revealed a small
crater in the boy's tibia, which the doctor – who had recently,
assisted by his adept team, straightened Clarity's scoliosis –
assured Father would be rectified by a bone graft if Clifford
encountered another tibial mishap.)
Temperance
matured further, as did Clifford. Consequently her departure from her
brother's chamber became imminent. Prudence's planned departure from
her childhood home to a newly-weds' apartment would supposedly
release a bed in the elder girls' room. However she and her then
betrothed canceled their nuptials – with no regard for the plight
of her modest sibling.
Prudence, with
the knowledge that she would currently remain at home, purchased
additional stiff, plastic boxes. Charity and Clarity continue to
attract all type and manner of rubbish. Clifford carefully maintains
his hoard of tools and whatnots. Temperance, no longer a toddler, has
ever more hair baubles.
Cats,
and Clifford's Treasures
The original
owner of the house had allocated the space now serving as a laundry
room for a tabernacle. The family demanded a more ample hut and
therefore roofed the cramped tabernacle and designated a front porch
as a spacious venue in which to fulfill the commandment of a week's
dwelling in a temporary domicile. The laundry room itself soon became
a haven for feral cats, Mother's pet of choice. Mother is an
unabashed Crazy Cat Lady who frequently hosts numerous felines of
various sizes and ages, including newborn, in the laundry room, which
is bitterly cold during the winter and inexorably hot during the
summer due to its complete lack of insulation. When the tool cabinet
situated in line with the machines which give the laundry room its
purpose, had been in said room, kittens romped around, and in it.
Clifford claimed the cabinet and availed himself of its contents, the
tools and whatnots, not the kittens, for whom he had no use. Due to
the presence of an almost perpetually inclement temperature and an
almost continuous presence of furry beasts, Clifford entered and
exited the laundry room as quickly as possible, leaving in his wake a
trail of tools and whatnots. Mother tired of tidying up after
Clifford, but recognized that the furry creatures hampered his
attempts at maintaining order. She resourcefully placed the tool and
whatnot cabinet opposite Clifford's bed, thereby limiting the
unsightly trail to the confines of his room, which was rather
advantageous for the boy, who had adopted more treasures than the
trundle could accommodate.
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