The Brooch

A Heart Beneath The Ocean Floor

Afternoon crept up, like a time machine on blast....

The chime of the cuckoo, cooed in the hall, one minute past two. And on the second floor of that cozy white cabin house, on Appleton road, on a bright and sunny day mind you, that melodramatic sun, dazzling effortlessly, shined through that cool and breezy room, like it was a blazing spotlight in the sky....

A distressed Mama Woods and a flustered Maple, had been in that simple, old fashioned second bedroom, filled with natural light, room on the left, for a near three and a half hours.

"Time out!" Mama Woods said twisting and dancing like a flamingo on the beach.

"Mumma no!" Maple hissed as her mama jumped off the twin sized bed, like a leap frog, on a frying pan!

"Child I gots ta go!" Mama Woods squirmed as she shimmied out that bedroom door.

"To where?" Maple fussed chasing behind!

"To the pot!" Mama Woods said racing down that rickety old stairs!

Mama Woods dashed straight down that connecting white staircase, with the dark wood banister, as if she were Tinkle Bell on blast! She nearly shook off all the family portraits that were angled elegantly, on the side of those stairs, as she raced past the spacious living room, around the corner and straight into her bedroom bathroom.

Like a mad woman on fire, shutting the door, she  locked out all life, barricading it down, as if her life depended on it! Course you know it was for her own personal privacy. What she needed to do was for no one's business. And no one, not even Daddy Woods, ever saw, Mama Woods go to the pot! Not if their life depended on it. You do know how she is after all. Privacy is of the utmost importance! At least in Mama Woods eyes. Can you blame her?

But rest assured, Maple wanted to blame her right then and there! Fact is, she wanted to holler at the top of her lungs at her Mama for running out on another hidden secret! Probably the juiciest of them all!

But for the time being, Maple didn't put up a fight as she found herself suddenly agreeing with her mama. They did after all, have something in common. As she too, raced to the bathroom upstairs, like lightning on fire from the sky, as all that hefty and hearty morning breakfast, her mama made her eat, had now caught up to her. Someone get the matches!

Sooner, rather than later, the time had come...

The bathroom break was over. Mama Woods came out of her room and stood at the bottom of those steps, hanging with a tight grip on the banister. She stood there as if there were a million steps to nowhere. But knowing she had to once again, face the music, Mama Woods, reluctantly made her way up to that turquoise, painted bedroom on the left.

With every step she took, her heart raced faster, knowing Maple was in that room waiting to hear the rest. But Mama Woods was in no particular hurry to divulge her...

Finally coming to that closed white painted door, with a stained wooden trim, Mama Woods stood as quiet as a mouse as she leaned on that door.

She could hear, her daughter anxiously breathing. She knew exactly where she was waiting. Right there on that cozy and comfortable, cushioned window seat, with her childhood favorite stuffed animal collection. As they set just perfectly, and effortlessly leaning against two fluffy pink pillows. She knew she was sitting there outlooking the spacious and woodsy backyard. It was a perfect spot to see the tall trees that shaded Daddy Woods vegetable garden and Mama Woods blooming rose bushes. And the seat, was right across and not far off from her comfy bed that overlaid her matching bedroom bed comforter. As it matched her turquoise walls that was only a few steps away from her nightstand where her Lamp, her clock and her Bible always flawlessly set. And of course it was the opposite side of the room, of her bed, where Maple's book collection, sat just above her writing desk and easel for painting. To say the glance of that room was peaceful, was a sure bet. But on that day... it was a room where Mama Woods felt her second trial awaited. And Maple was the judge...