And Then We Danced

Thoughts

"Ok, now tilt your side a little to the left", Maddie instructed.

"Um, I can't, otherwise it will fall an entire story to its death", I explained in a strained voice.

My mom and I were both on the stairwell, each gripping one side of her bed frame. My mom was above me, carrying it backwards, and I was at the bottom, holding almost all the weight, with absolutely no eyesight whatsoever. Maddie was at the top of the stairs, trying to explain how to position the bed so it would fit up the stairs without actually breaking something.

"Oh yah, I meant to the right. My bad", Maddie apologized.

I tilted my side of the bed to the right and took one small, but very fulfilling step up one of the stairs.

"Ok, now what?", my mom asked, repositioning her grip.

"Erm..." Maddie hesitated. Even though I couldn't see her, I could tell she was biting her lip. "Juliett, lower your half a little, and Peyton, raise yours as much as you can."

We both did as she asked, and I rested the bed frame on my shoulder. It dug into my skin a little, but at least I could see now. "Now what?", I asked through gritted teeth.

"Ok, now just take it up, one step at a time", she said. "I'll let you know if you need to move or turn it, if it comes to that."

I took another step up the stairs, and I could feel the weight lift off of my shoulder a little as my mom did the same. It was a short lived relief, though, because the wood was soon reunited with my shoulder blade.

"You know, this is actually what I'd hoped I would be doing right now", I said, taking another step up the stairs. "I mean, I love getting lumbago and splinters in my neck".

"Ok, ok, tilt it a little to the right again", Maddie said.

I moved the bed frame off of my shoulder and tilted it to the right, just as Maddie said to.

"Peyton, could you actually lift your end a little?", my mom asked.

Under normal circumstances, I would have said something I'd later regret. But thankfully, we had company, so I bit my tongue and decided to go with an empty threat instead. "Mom, I swear to god if you start this now..."

"Guys, you're kinda losing focus here", Maddie pointed out. "Just... keep it where it is, you've only got a few steps left."

I took a deep breath and lifted my foot, taking one step at a time. We both owe Maddie the world. If she hadn't politely told us to shut up, we'd both be mentally lashing out at each other right now, with the bed in shattered pieces on the floor.

"Ok, I'm at the top", my mom said, her voice a lot less strained then before.

I took a slightly relieved breath. "Yippee, only about five steps left for me." I took one of the five, and almost dropped the bed, not quite used to pushing all the weight up myself.

"Um, Peyton, do you need help?", Maddie asked, peering at me on her tippy toes.

"Uh huh", I gasped, desperately trying to get a better grip on the wooden frame.

Maddie quickly made it down the stairs, gingerly stepping past the bed. She grabbed the left corner, and I could instantly feel some of the weight being lifted. I stepped a little to the right, and we both took another step upstairs.

We went to take another, but we slammed the bed into the railing on the stairs, almost breaking a lot of very fragile and expensive things.

"Mom, your kinda in the lead now. Feel free to guide us a little", I said, pulling the bed off of the railing.