A Sunday Morning in Jewett

I awake, 8 AM, like a dog expecting breakfast. But today is Sunday, and I am on a shop schedule.

Consciousness returns at 11, the house stirring around me. Laughter bubbles up from the porch. I know Kelly is showering, because the hallway smells of Pert. Keri will shower next, and the smell will be lavender. Brandon blows his nose through my thin wall. Ryan will not return until eventide.

It is muggy here on the second floor. It is always, always muggy, and I don't have enough money to pay off the heat.

The kitchen is the cool morning dark, and the coffee pot still drips, although nobody comes to the kitchen until I have whistled the kettle and set up on this couch.

Today is a day for preparation, for crossing things off the to-do list. A day like any other, really.

A Sunday in Jewett.