By 8PM that night, Chick was relaxing in her favorite chair and sipping a glass of sweet Sangria. Bone tired and woozy from her three different flights home, she was, per usual, vowing never to do it again. I’ll just be content at home and work in the garden, she thought, forgetting that she always felt this way upon returning from a trip. Gee, I hope I didn’t forget to pay my house insurance, she thought with a start, as she spied the huge stack of mail her friend Lacey had piled on the hall table. She gathered it all up, along with a plate of……Yes!…..It was homemade peanut butter fudge.
“How sweet of her!”, said Chick out loud, as the delicious treat melted in her mouth. She flipped through the mail, hoping not to see anything marked Final Notice. There was a letter from Bernadette in New York, a postcard from her old friend, Michael, the usual assortment of junk mail, pleas from charities Chick gave to when she had any extra money, and…..What was this? A square pink envelope with a Toledo return address, and above it, P. Little. Why, that’s my name, thought Chick, confused. She stared at the unfamiliar address, finally flipping it over and, using her fancy silver letter opener, slit it open.
‘Dear Chick’, the letter began. ‘I know this will come as a shock to you after so many years. My name is Precious Little and I am your sister. I’ve spent considerable time tracking you down since I first learned of your existence. I believe, in fact I am certain, that you are the right Chicken Little. I was unable to obtain a phone number for you, nor an email, hence, this letter. I am very anxious to speak with you, in part because I will be in Gainesville on the 24th of this month and I see that you live nearby. I do hope you are free to meet with me that morning before my conference, as my schedule after that will be crowded. My phone number is 502.971.4960. Please call me. I am looking forward to meeting you. Your loving sister, Precious.’
“Oh my God! OMG!”, yelled Chick. She swallowed the rest of her wine in a huge gulp, her feelings a mixture of disbelief, pleasure and dread, with a tad of suspicion thrown in. “How could this be? I’m 63 years old! And I have a sister I’ve never met and she found me? How?” Maybe it’s a scam targeting senior citizens, Chick thought suddenly. Older chickens could never be too careful. Well, I’ll just call her and…….Wait a minute. The 24th?. What was the date again? Of course, she had just returned from Mexico, today, the 23rd. And that meant her sister, Her Sister!, would be arriving tomorrow morning.
“Oh, my God!”, Chick said again, falling back on the much overused phrase of the day. This was all entirely too much. She had to tell someone. Chick picked up the phone and punched in Goosey on speed-dial.
“Helloooo”, answered her friend in her best professional realtor voice.
“Hey, it’s me! I’m back from my trip and I have big news!”, screeched Chick into the phone.
“Oh no, honey, please don’t tell me you’re going to move to Mexico! I just knew it! Oh,I don’t want you to leave!”, wailed Goosey.
“No, no, Goosey, it’s not that at all. It’s……it’s……I have a sister!”, Chick blurted out. “And she’ll be here tomorrow!”
Next: Precious and Chick
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