In Writ & Lust (In Progress)

2 When Christmas Vegan

Lennon pulled the wet clothes from the machine and debated whether she wanted to dry and fold them at the laundry mat or take them home to finish the job. The washer had decided to have a sensor problem and picked just before the Christmas holidays to do so; but, her dryer was working fine. She had hoped it would be fixed by now but it took some time to coordinate when she planned to be home and when the technician could come. With three boys - well, one husband and two sons - it didn’t take long for the laundry to pile up and in less than a week she had several loads that needed her attention.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall and she knew she had enough time to dry and decided it would actually be quicker to stay and dry them all at once versus one at a time over a couple hours at home. She loosened the clothes tangled with each other as she gave them a toss in one of the commercial dryers, selected her temperature, then shoved quarters in the slot. She pushed the button and waited. Her college days had taught her to wait till the drum started turning, she refused to admit how often she thought she started the machines and left for errands only to return and find it hadn’t started after all.

The machines soundlessly rolled into motion, her clothes tumbling over themselves. Satisfied, she turned to leave, hoping to finish a few more errands before they finished drying. She exited, holding the door open as a young man struggled with his own load. He nodded his thanks as she slipped past.

Despite completing most of her errands while the clothes were washing, she still had one last present she had ordered and needed to pick up from Kohl’s. Once she got this gift home and wrapped she’d be ready for Christmas.

Mostly.

She still had dinner with her parents to prepare, which included needing to do a little more research for recipes that would accommodate their vegan lifestyle as well as still entice her sons’ picky palettes.

Unbeknownst to her family she had been testing a few recipes on them in the past several weeks and already had a good recipe for vegan pumpkin pie and vegan pumpkin cookies. Obviously, the vegetables were easy; but, she still had to do something about turkey. After hours of computer research she didn’t feel any better prepared. She knew her parents wouldn’t care if she still made a turkey or ham for her family and they would just eat everything else, often telling her that part of the yogic lifestyle is to honor where others were in their own life, including if they choose to eat meat; but, she wanted to make this special for them.

Still thinking about dinner, she made her way through Kohl’s main entrance to a service desk.

“Can I help you?” the kid of barely twenty behind the counter asked out of obligation.

“Yes, I’m here to pick up an online order.”

She snapped her gum before uttering, “Name?”

“Lennon Styles.”

The girl returned with a small box, removed the lid then slid the open box across the counter to her. Lennon peered inside. Every seemed to be harder than the one before when it came to shopping for Eric – he could buy anything he wanted or needed, and she had spent weeks searching for the perfect gift. On a whim, she had spent an afternoon searching online and accidentally discovered these Star Wars X-Wing Starfight cuff links, perfect for the Star Wars buff that he was. She couldn’t have been more pleased.

“These it?” the young girl had no tact.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“K. Let me check the price.” The girl disappeared again before Lennon could tell her she’d already paid online when ordering. She stood at the counter, pulling out her smart phone for another Christmas dinner search. The snap of the girl’s gum brought her attention away from her from phone,