Chapter 3

Hard to believe, but I've finished Chapter 3!  Now it's time to send in the first three chapters along with my outline for the rest of the book to my instructor and see what she says.  Here's to hoping I'm on the right track and there is not a lot of revision in my future!

s soon as Savannah was in sight of her house, she knew something was wrong.  Her mom’s van was parked in the driveway which was strange since her mom worked until five and didn’t get home until after that.  Stopping in front of her driveway, Savannah looked apologetically at Trudy.

            “You know, I think today might not be the best day for you to come over after all.”

            Trudy looked surprised and a little disappointed.  “Why not?”

            “Well, it’s just that my mom is home early and that never happens.  I have a feeling my brother is in trouble again.”

            “Oh.”  Trudy nodded her head in understanding.  “Well, if you want, we could meet early in the morning before school to do our homework?”

            Savannah was relieved that Trudy didn’t ask more about her brother.  And even though she knew she shouldn’t be, she was glad that Trudy still wanted to meet up with her later.  “Sure, that sounds good.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

            As Trudy headed down the street for her house, Savannah squared her shoulders, preparing for what awaited in her own. 

            When she first stepped through the door, Savannah was surprised at the quiet.  Not seeing anyone around, she thought maybe she had been wrong about her brother.  Maybe her mom had just come home sick and was sleeping?  But Savannah found that theory hard to believe.  Her brother had been in trouble at school more times than she could count in the last couple weeks, and her mom had been into the school to talk to the teacher twice already.  Not that Josh was a perfect student before her dad left.  He had his fair share of problems at school last year in Kindergarten.  But at least then her dad was here to get Josh back on track.  School just didn’t seem to be Josh’s thing.

            As Savannah passed the sliding glass door in the kitchen, she noticed movement outside.  Peering through the glass, she saw her mom and brother in the yard; her brother carrying a bucket of something that looked heavy.  He hefted the bucket with both hands and half dragged, half carried it to the back of the yard, the bucket bouncing against his legs the whole way.

            “Hey, Mom,” Savannah greeted as she came out the door.  The yard felt hot with no shade.  Even though spring had started out slow and cold, the last week had been warmer each day.  Her mom looked back at her from where she stood supervising her brother, arms crossed, and let out a huge sigh. 

            “I’m glad your home, Savannah.  I’m going to need you to take over here for a little bit.  I need to take a break in a nice dark room.”  The crease between her brows seemed deeper than usual. 

            “What happened?” Savannah asked, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.

            “Well, your brother here decided it would be okay to tell another student he would bring ‘a real gun’ to school.  Can you believe that?”  Her mom laughed, but there was no humor behind it.

            “Why would he say that?”  Savannah was truly puzzled by this.  Her brother was a troublemaker, but he wasn’t violent.

            “Oh, I don’t know.  Something about a class pet that he wanted to play with, but another student already had.  When he asked her for it, she refused so he pretended to shoot her with his finger.  When she laughed at him, he said he’d bring a real gun.”  Her mom shrugged.  “So he was suspended for the rest of the day, and tomorrow too.  It’s silly, really.  I mean he’s in first grade.  Do they really think he would bring a gun to school?”
            Savannah agreed with her mom, but she knew it was because her dad was in the Army.  She was sure her brother’s principal assumed they had guns lying all over the house that Josh could just pick up and bring to school in his backpack, which of course wasn’t true.  Her dad did have guns, but they were all locked away and only her mom and dad knew where the keys were.

            “Josh, quit playing over there and bring that bucket back for more rocks!” her mom yelled.  She turned back to Savannah.  “I’ve decided to put him on hard labor while he’s home.  Nothing like a little sweat and tired muscles to help him remember a mistake he’ll never make again.”  She brushed a stray blonde curl out of her face and her shoulders sagged a little.  “Can you please watch him for a bit while I go in and take a break?  He just needs to keep moving rocks from this pile to the back fence.”

            Savannah nodded and watched as her mom headed back into the house, shoulders slumping. 

As soon as their mom was gone, Josh dropped the bucket and came over to Savannah, dropping to sit on the ground beside her.  He wiped his head and said, “I need a break!”

Savannah knew her mom wouldn’t want him taking breaks, but she sat down next to him anyway.  “Why’d you say that at school today, Josh?” she asked.

Josh frowned and turned his body so his back was to Savannah.  He crossed his little arms and hung his head.  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbled.

Savannah came around to sit in front of him.  “You were pretty mad at that girl, huh?”

Josh looked up at her with tears in his eyes.  “She’s so mean, Savannah!  She’s always hogging Pinky and never lets anyone else hold him!”

The corner of Savannah’s mouth twitched up in a half smile.  “And Pinky is?”

Josh dashed the tears from his eyes and his face lit up.  “He’s our pet rat and he’s so cool!  We called him Pinky because he has pink eyes and this long pink tail.  It’s so soft!  Some of the kids think he’s creepy because of his eyes, but not me.  I think he’s awesome!  He even lets you hold him and he doesn’t even bite.”  Here Josh finally stopped his rapid description to take a breath, and his face fell again.  “But stupid Rosemary won’t let anyone hold him.  She’s such a boss!”

“I’m sure your teacher makes her share the rat so everyone gets a chance to hold him,” Savannah soothed.

“She tells Rosemary to share, but she never listens.  Ever since Rosemary took Pinky home last weekend she thinks he’s her rat.”  Josh’s lip jutted out and tears began filling his eyes again.

“Well, maybe your teacher will let you bring Pinky home this weekend.  Then you could hold him all you want.”  Savannah thought this idea would perk her brother up, but instead he continued to sit crossed arms and legs, pouting.

“I already asked Mom and she said no.”  Josh’s shoulders shook as a new bout of crying started.

Savannah pursed her lips.  “Well, maybe she’ll listen to me.  You’re not exactly her favorite person right now.  I’ll try asking her, okay?”

Josh’s crying quieted a little and he nodded his blond head, spiky hair unmoved by the motion.

“Okay.  Now, why don’t you get back to moving those rocks before Mom sees you sitting here?  I’ll go in and talk to her.”  Savannah retrieved the dropped bucket for her brother and watched as he started putting rocks into it before she went in to talk to her mom.

Savannah found her mom sprawled across the loveseat in the living room, feet hanging over the edge of one side and her arm thrown across her face covering her eyes.  Savannah thought maybe she was asleep because she looked so still; even breathing making her chest move up and down in a slow rhythmic way.  Her mom must have sensed her presence, and she stirred slightly, peeking from under her arm at Savannah.

“He’s still working?”  She asked this as though she were hoping she didn’t have to go back out to make him get back to work.

“Yea, he’s still working.”

“Good.”  She sighed and settled deeper into the loveseat, hiding her eyes again.

“Mom, Josh says he asked you about bringing the pet rat home for the weekend.”  Savannah started tentatively, not sure how her mom would react.  Throwing her arm off her face now, her mom hefted herself upright and looked at Savannah.

“Yes, and I told him no.  First of all, I don’t want a rat in this house.  But more importantly, I’m not going to reward him for his bad behavior.” 

“But I think it would be good for him; give him something to take his mind off Dad being gone.  He really seems to like that rat.”  Savannah knew the set of her mom’s face and expected her reasoning would not sway her mom’s decision, but it was worth a try.

“Savannah, Josh is just going to have to grow up a little quicker than he wants.  It’s time he stopped acting like a heathen because he’s mad and just accept that Dad will be gone for awhile.”  Savannah wasn’t sure her mom really believed those words.  There was little force behind them.

“I could help with the rat, and it would only be for the weekend.  Maybe it would cheer him up and help his behavior at school.  I promise you wouldn’t even have to see it.  It could stay in his room.”

At this her mom shuddered a little and her face became even more set.  “I’m sorry, Savannah, but I told your brother no and that’s the end of it.”  She stood and headed back toward the kitchen.

Savannah watched her mom leave and was angry at her.  How did she expect her to help Josh if she wouldn’t even let him do the one thing right now that seemed to cheer him up?  It was only a little rat, after all, and her mom wouldn’t even have to see it the whole weekend.  She understood that her mom wanted to punish Josh, but at the same time he also needed something positive to turn his behavior around.  Standing there in the living room by herself, Savannah crossed her arms and set her chin.  Her mom had told her to help her brother and that’s just what she would do; even if her mom didn’t like how she went about it.

Savannah walked back into the kitchen.  Her mom was busy getting dinner ready, but she was keeping an eye on Josh out the window.  Savannah passed her and headed out the sliding glass door to the back yard.  As she headed over to her brother, lugging another heavy bucket of rocks, she could feel her mom’s eyes on her back. 

“Keep going, Josh.  Mom’s watching.”  He glanced over his shoulder and his little brows creased in a frown. 

“What did she say about Pinky?”  He looked at Savannah hopefully, sweat running down both sides of his face into his ears.

“She said no.”  Savannah saw his shoulders droop and he looked like he would drop the bucket and start crying again.  “But don’t worry.  I’ve got another plan.  Tell your teacher that you can bring Pinky home this weekend.  I’ll stop by your school Friday to help you bring it home.  We’ll hide it in the shed out here in the yard.  Mom will never know.”  She said this all quickly, before she could change her mind.  Josh’s face brightened, but there was uncertainty in his eyes.

“Are you sure, Savannah?  Mom’s already mad at me and I don’t want to haul rocks for the next week because she finds out I brought Pinky home anyway.”

“Like I said, Josh, don’t worry.  I’ve got this.  If Mom finds out I’ll take the blame.  But she won’t find out anyway.”  Savannah wasn’t sure she really had this, but she wanted to help her brother and she knew it was the right thing to do when she saw his shoulders relax and the first real smile come across his face that she seen in a while.  “Now, get back to work.  No reason to make Mom suspicious.”  Josh nodded quickly and went back to hefting the heavy bucket of rocks to the fence.

Savannah turned back toward the house and saw her mom watching them.  She wasn’t sure this plan would really work, but it was only for the weekend after all.  And maybe it would help Josh turn his behavior around.  Still, Savannah couldn’t help feeling a sense of dread as she headed toward the house, her mom watching the whole time.

Chapter 2

I can't believe it's coming together so easily!  Granted this is still a rough version.  I'm sure there will be plenty of revising to come, but I'm pretty happy with how it's coming out so far.  Now to tackle Chapter 3 so I can send this in to my instructor!  This is the last chapter that has bits and pieces of scenes I previously wrote.  From here on out it's all new.

avannah slid her lunch tray down the metal bars in front of the lunch choices that were displayed behind the clear plastic sneeze guard like so many science experiments gone bad.  Here a metal container of steaming yellow goo, here a mass of overcooked and wilted greenish-brown vegetables, here some kind of mystery meat covered in gravy, and finally the ever present fake mashed potatoes.  Savannah quickly moved past each container and finally took a small, cold roll, a banana and a carton of chocolate milk.  Savannah looked at the measly lunch on her tray and wished that she wasn’t such a picky eater. 

            Just the night before her mom had pointed out the difficulty of cooking for her. “How can I cook anything when you don’t like the main ingredients in most common meals?  Spaghetti, tacos, chili, hamburgers, you won’t eat any of them!”   

            “I eat tacos.  Remember those shrimp ones you made?”  Savannah had replied.

            Her mother sighed heavily.  “Yes, Savannah, you do have a taste for expensive food – shrimp, salmon, steak.  But you know it’s not in our budget to eat those things every night.”

            Savannah had learned that there were a lot of things “not in our budget”, but no one ever said that military families were rich.  In fact, Savannah had come to realize there were a lot of things that no one could say about military families.  Such as living in one place your whole life, or having your family together.  She remembered with disappointment all the moves her family had made.  But it was her dad’s departure to Iraq that sent a stab of worry through her. 

Just two weeks before he had filled his foot locker with all the things he would need to be away in a foreign country for a year – uniforms, boots, desert gear, a laptop, tons of movies, an IPod loaded with music, books and a few snacks he liked and knew he wouldn’t be able to find over there.  Her dad had insisted that the family not come to see him off at the departure ceremony.  He said it would only be harder to say goodbye there, so Savannah and her mom and brother had tearfully told him goodbye at their house, then watched him leave with one of the other soldiers who came to pick him up.  Those first few hours that he was gone the house seemed so quiet and empty to Savannah.  She didn’t know how it would be possible not to see her dad for an entire year.  Her mom had tried to be upbeat, and fixed a nice dinner that even Savannah liked.  After that, the days seemed to drag by until he finally called and said his company had made it to Kuwait and they would be there for a couple weeks before moving on to their base in Iraq.  This news did much to perk up Savannah’s mom, who had been teary-eyed and nervous since her dad had left.  Even Josh came out of his bad mood for a bit and played with his plastic Army figures. 

As Savannah made her way to a table in the cafeteria she thought of Josh and how hard the next year would be for him.  She remembered her promise to her mom to help him through it, but she just wasn’t sure what she could do for him.  The only thing that would really make him happy was having their dad home again. 

Finding an empty table, Savannah sat down and was just about ready to peel her banana when she heard a familiar, unpleasant voice shout to her from nearby.

  “Hey, Savannarexic, I think that’s more than you had for lunch yesterday.  Careful, you might get fat!”  Eileen was smirking at her from a few tables over.  Eileen’s friends Jonetta, Shelley and Lisa, better known as the “Brat Pack” by Savannah, giggled approvingly into their lunches.  “A banana, and a roll?  Are you sure you can finish all that?”  Eileen laughed loudly at her own joke and turned back to her own lunch. 

Savannah was determined not to let the Brat Pack get to her.  They had been bothering her ever since she moved to the school in the fall, although she wasn’t sure why she was the target of their meanness.  She had enough to worry about with her dad being gone and her brother upset over him leaving.  Eileen’s mean comments didn’t deserve to register a blip on her screen right now.  That decided, Savannah ate her lunch as quickly as she could.  When she rose to take the tray back to the kitchen, she was suddenly surprised by the sound of clapping.  Confused, she looked around and saw Eileen and the Brat Pack standing up and applauding.  Soon, other students stood and began clapping too.  They hooted and whistled.  One boy shouted “Look!  She finished all her food!”

Savannah felt her face go hot.  The tears pushed behind her eyes, threatening to spill, but she refused to let them.  Instead, she stiffened her back, stared down the other students, and then turned to leave her tray at the kitchen and get out of the cafeteria as quickly as possible.  The sound of applause followed her all the way out and down the hall. 

#

Head bent low over the math assignment on her desk, Savannah looked up through the brown curtain of her bangs to steal a glance at the new girl.  Well, she technically wasn’t new anymore since she’d moved to the school a month ago.  The girl, Trudy, sat at her desk with a concentrated expression as her pencil hovered just over her math paper.  Her long blonde hair draped over her shoulders and her straight bangs hung just to the middle of her green eyes.  Blowing the bangs out of her eyes, Trudy appeared to attack the next math problem with her pencil, jabbing and scraping the lead over the paper, the concentrated look on her face getting even deeper and creasing her brow.  Breathing out a huge sigh, Trudy flipped the pencil over in her fist and began furiously erasing then quickly began writing again without even wiping away the bits of used eraser. 

Savannah looked back down at her own math paper and saw rows of neat numbers, each problem carefully numerated and the answers circled with heavy pencil mark.  Math had always been Savannah’s favorite subject, mostly because it was easy for her.  She liked the way that numbers didn’t surprise you.  They were so predictable with their patterns and formulas.  It didn’t matter which way you wrote 4 + 4, the answer would always be 8, and that certainty was comfortable.  Savannah glanced up through her bangs again at Trudy who had taken to chewing the end of her pencil as she looked down unblinking at her math paper, as if winning a staring contest with it would reveal the answers she needed. 

The girl sitting just in front of Trudy turned around, took one look at Trudy’s paper and smirked.  Eileen’s shiny black hair hung in perfect waves down to her shoulders, a hint of eye shadow on her eyes and gloss on her lips gave her the appearance of being older than the 12 she was.  She pointed one pink tipped fingernail at Trudy’s paper.

“Here’s your problem,” she said in a voice loud enough for everyone in the nearby seats to hear.  “You forgot to ROUND the numbers before you multiplied them.” 

The word round rolled out of her mouth and hung in the air like the echo of a fireworks shell after it explodes.  Muffled laughter broke out nearby and Eileen settled her face into a self-satisfied smile.  She looked from side to side to acknowledge the laughter coming from her friends. 

Encouraged, Eileen continued her lecture.  “Of course, we learned how to do that over a month ago, but you weren’t here then.  I guess your last school never taught you that?” 

Trudy’s cheeks bloomed pink, but from embarrassment or anger Savannah wasn’t sure.  “Oh sure, they taught us that,” Trudy said, eyes narrowed at Eileen.  “They also taught us how to be respectful, which it seems your teacher hasn’t gotten to yet.”  Savannah recognized a slight drawl in her voice; the kind that you get after spending just enough time in a southern state to pick up the habit. 

Eileen’s glossy lips turned down in a little frown.  “Well, I was only trying to help,” she muttered and quickly turned back around to her own work.  Savannah couldn’t hear Trudy’s mumbled response as she returned to chewing on the end of her pencil and staring down the math problems on her page. 

A slow smile began to spread across Savannah’s face.  She had never seen anyone put Eileen in her place so neatly before.  After the scene in the cafeteria that Eileen had instigated, Savannah was glad to see someone who could stop her in her tracks.  Before she could stop it, a small giggle escaped from Savannah.  The look on Eileen’s face from Trudy’s comeback had been truly funny.  Savannah smothered her laugh and glanced over at Trudy only to see her staring back.  Trudy smiled at her, and then turned her attention back to her math paper.

#

            When the bell rang signaling the end of school, Savannah couldn’t be happier to pack up her things and head home.  The scene in the cafeteria had put her on edge, just waiting for Eileen’s next cutting comments.  Even though Eileen had been strangely quiet since her run in with Trudy during math, Savannah didn’t feel like waiting around for her to come out of her stupor.  Shoving her English book into her backpack and zipping it closed, Savannah turned to head for the classroom door, and almost ran into Trudy.

            “Hi,” Trudy said.  She smiled and cocked her head to the side like she was trying to figure out how Savannah would respond, or if she would just run out the door instead.  When Savannah didn’t immediately reply Trudy kept talking like there had been no uncomfortable silence between them.  “I saw what happened with Eileen in the cafeteria today.  She can be such a brat.”

            At that, Savannah smiled.  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” she said. 

            Trudy’s smile widened.  “Has she always been that mean to you?” she asked. 

            “Well, yes, since I started in the fall.”

            Trudy looked surprised.  “Oh, I didn’t know you were new here too.”

            Savannah’s smile faltered a little.  “Yea, I’m always the new kid.  But I’m used to it.”  She shrugged on the last words.

            Trudy glanced at Savannah’s Army backpack slung over her shoulder.  “Oh, so you’re in the Army too?  I thought maybe you were just one of those kids that liked Army stuff.  You know, living in a base town it’s pretty easy to get those things.”

            Savannah only heard the first part of what Trudy said because she was stuck on the words ‘you’re in the Army too?’  She wasn’t sure why she’d never realized it, but she hadn’t thought about Trudy being an Army kid.  “Yea, my dad works on helicopters,” Savannah finally said. 

            “Oh, cool!  My dad flies around in helicopters a lot.  He’s a medic.”  She turned to look around the classroom, but it was empty.  “Looks like Eileen took off before we could chat more.”  She grinned.  “Hey, are you walking home?  Maybe we could walk together.”

            Savannah hesitated.  Trudy seemed nice, and she had managed to shut Eileen up for the afternoon.  But Savannah remembered her promise to herself not to get too attached.  She knew once her dad came home they would probably be moving to a new town.  And she doubted she’d have time for anything now with her brother needing her to help him while their dad was gone.  “I don’t know,” she looked apologetically up through her brown bangs at Trudy.  “I’m kind of busy.”

            Disappointment flashed briefly across Trudy’s face.  Then seeing Savannah’s backpack again, she bit her lip thinking.  “No, I understand.  It’s just that, you’re pretty good at math, right?  I’m pretty horrible at math and I wondered if maybe you could help me with my homework tonight?  I saw you’re bringing your English book home.  I can help you with the questions to the story if you want.  We already read that story at my last school before I left.”

            Savannah considered for a moment.  It would be easy to help Trudy with her math, and she did need help with those story questions.  One night of homework together wasn’t really committing to a friendship anyway.  Savannah adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and said, “Sure, I can do that.  You want to come over to my house?”

            “That sounds great!”  Trudy smiled widely at her.  “I just have to be home by five for dinner.”  She turned to head out the classroom door.

            Savannah heard that slight drawl in Trudy’s voice again on the word five.  “Where did you live before here?” she asked, falling into step behind Trudy.

            “Oh, we lived on Ft. Bragg.  You know, in North Carolina?  We were there for about three years.  The last six months we were there my dad was in Iraq, so when my dad told us we would be moving here to Tennessee when he gets back, my mom decided we would get here early and look for a place to live.”

            Savannah was stunned.  “You’re dad’s been in Iraq for six months?”

            “Well, almost eight now.  He’ll be home around the time school gets out.  It’s been pretty hard having him gone, but now that we’re past the halfway point it’s finally going faster.”  She looked sideways at Savannah before asking, “How long has your dad been gone?”

            Savannah’s eyebrows shot up.  She wasn’t sure how Trudy had guessed that her dad was in Iraq also.  “Only two weeks.  He just left.”

            “Oh, wow.  Sorry.  That’s got to be the hardest part, when they first leave.  But trust me, it does get better.” 

            Savannah nodded, looking hopeful.

            As if she sensed it was time to change the subject, Trudy said, “Now, tell me all about Eileen and those friends of hers.  What’s their problem?”

            Savannah rolled her eyes.  “You mean what’s not their problem?” 

            Trudy laughed, listening as Savannah filled her in on the Brat Pack.

Chapter 1

Wow!  I can't believe I actually wrote the first chapter of my book!  This is a new accomplishment for me and one I'm incredibly proud of - and astonished by!  I have to have the first three chapters of my book written to turn into my instructor for my writing course by the beginning of August.  Chapter 2 is already started and I'm hoping to finish it by the end of today.  Then to tackle Chapter 3 which at this point is just an outline.  Not sure if it's my new office in the basement or the quietness of my house (kids in Oregon), but Chapter 1 nearly flew out of me!  Here's hoping to post Chapter 2 by the end of the day.  By the way, the first half of this chapter is a combination of other pieces I've already written and posted here, but the last half is all new.


 



avannah sat on her bed, legs crossed and bent over her math book.  Her Jack Skellington sweatshirt was too big for her slight frame and hung loosely off her shoulders.  The white skeleton face of Jack on the front was cracked in many places because of all the washings the sweatshirt had been through.  The black of the sweatshirt was faded to a dull hue.  Still, she loved how the sweatshirt fit, like a snug security blanket that she could almost hide in.  The same could be said of her long bangs that hung down past her eyes.  Ragged brown edges that hadn’t been trimmed in a while often covered her large doe eyes, dark brown and fringed with long black lashes.  Both her bangs and her clothes suited her just fine, allowing her to feel hidden.  Not that she was really a wall flower.  She just chose to keep to herself, watching the world pass through a brown fringed curtain. 

Savannah decided it was easier this way, to be unnoticeable.  She had learned after three moves that observation was better than action.  After all, what had action ever gotten her before but sadness at leaving friends and unfinished dreams?  There was the junior choir she’d had to give up for the last move, leaving before she could sing her solo at the spring concert.  The move before that it had been a Girl Scout troop left before she could complete the bridging ceremony to Junior Girl Scouts.  And before that it was a ballet career cut short.  Okay, maybe there had never been a career in the works, but after leaving her first ballet teacher she never enjoyed ballet as much.  Besides, Savannah rationalized that it was better to sit passively on the sidelines when you moved every couple years.  Two years was just enough time to make good friends and get too involved, and that made moves even harder. 

Now, six months into this most recent move, Savannah had stuck to her guns, not joining in any activities and mostly staying to herself.  Of course, it was hard to make friends of girls when you dressed more like a boy.  Savannah looked up from her math book and glanced at the Tony Hawk shoes she wore, remembering the day her mother had bought them for her.

“Are you sure you want these shoes?” Her mom had asked.  “They’re boy shoes you know?”

“I don’t care,” Savannah had responded, “I like them.” 

Her mother had looked at her uncertainly.  “Aren’t you worried the girls will make fun of you if you wear these?” She asked.

“No,” Savannah replied simply.  And in reality she was not worried.  It didn’t bother her that some girls might think it was funny that she wore boy’s shoes. 

In the end, her mother had relented and bought her the shoes, and Savannah had worn them every day since, along with her Jack Skellington sweatshirt, much to her mother’s disapproval. 

“You have a closet full of nice clothes that your grandparents and aunts sent you for your birthday.  Why don’t you wear some of those instead?” her mother always asked.

“I do!”  Savannah insisted.  She did wear many of the shirts she had received as gifts.  It’s just that they were always covered by the Jack Skellington sweatshirt.  Anyway, Savannah didn’t like most of the things her grandparents and aunts had sent her:  shirts with flowers and frills, and little skirts and button up pastel sweaters.  It was like her family still thought of her as the six year old that had left five years ago.

Savannah unzipped her camouflage backpack with “Army” emblazoned across it and shoved her math book inside, then took out a green spiral notebook.  Opening the notebook she flipped through several pages until finding a blank one, then began to write.

Diary,

It’s day number 184 here.  Thanks to Mrs. Hale teaching us percents I now know that means I’m only 25% through this move.  Of course, that’s if we end up staying here two years.  Nothing much to report today.  Eileen and the Brat Pack seem to have lost interest in me.  Probably because they are bothering the new girl now.  That’s just fine with me.  At least they’re leaving me alone, and that means I can go back to being invisible Me.  Just waiting for the next move to hurry up and get here.  Only 546 days to go…

Savannah looked at the three little dots left hanging at the end of her last sentence.  She found out from Mrs. Hale that those three dots have a name – ellipsis.  She liked how the dots seemed to hang in space, just waiting for the next words to get there.  Kind of like how she had to wait.  But how nice to be a patient ellipsis on a page of words instead of an impatient 5^th grader watching the time stretch out in an endless road ahead of you.  Or maybe more like a never ending circle, or better yet, an ellipse. 

Sometimes Savannah thought of time like it was laid out on a giant oval race track with January 1^st the starting line and each month connected to the next in a curve of 12 blocks that shaped the oval path.  The black and white checkered line at December 31^st marked the finish line of the year.  But unlike the Nascar races her dad watched on TV where the first driver across the line celebrated by burning out and driving to Victory Lane where they thanked their sponsors and fans, there was no Victory Lane in time.  No matter how many times you crossed the finish line at the end of the year, there was always a new starting line the very next day and little reason to celebrate.  The ellipse of time left you hanging a lot like the ellipsis at the end of a sentence.  But at least those three little dots made you feel like there was hope, like something better was coming to finish the sentence.  Savannah knew she was like that ellipsis, just waiting for something better to come along and finish her.   

“Savannah!”  Her mom’s call interrupted her thoughts and brought her back to reality.  “Come down for dinner!”

Savannah sighed and closed her notebook.  She wondered what her mother had fixed for dinner and dreaded the ideas.  It didn’t matter how many times Savannah complained about the foods she didn’t like, her mother still insisted on serving them to her at meal times.  That’s because her mom had a theory that you had to try a new food at least 15 times before you start to like it.  Savannah wasn’t sure about that theory and wasn’t anxious to prove it to her mother. 

“There you are!” her mother said when Savannah came into the kitchen.  “I need you to set the table for me while I finish up.”  Savannah looked over her mom’s shoulder at the pot of bubbling chili on the stove. 

“Ugh.  You know I hate chili!” Savannah whined.  Beans, tomatoes and ground beef together were a trifecta of her least favorite foods. 

Her mother sighed, exasperated, and pushed a blond curl out of her eyes.  “Well, you never know.  Maybe you’ll like it this time.”  She pulled a pan of butter and honey cornbread out of the oven and took it to the table.   Savannah was glad to see the cornbread since that would be the only thing she ate tonight.

“Mmm, chili and cornbread.  A perfect dinner for this cold day, Helen!”  Savannah’s dad, Kyle, came in from the garage, letting a cold blast of air in.  He had just returned from work and was still dressed in his army fatigues. His dark hair was close cut in the military style and his cheeks were red from the cold outside.  He stopped to kiss Savannah’s mom on the cheek as he walked past. 

Helen smiled up at him.  “Well, after 15 years, I think I know a thing or two about keeping you happy.”

Her dad laughed.  “True enough!”  He sat down at the table and started serving chili into his bowl.  “Man, it was cold out on the airstrip today.  Jimmy forgot his coffee cup outside and by the time he remembered it was already half frozen.”  Her dad’s dark eyes twinkled.  “I’m pretty sure that’s how those fancy coffee places first came up with those frozen coffees.” 

He laughed and nudged Savannah as she walked by to sit at the table with him.  She just grimaced and shook her head.  “Dad, you’re such a goofball,” she said. 

“Well, better to be a goofball than a nutball, I always say.”  He laughed out loud and grinned at her as he scooped out the center piece of cornbread from the pan.

“Where is Joshua?” Savannah’s mom asked, looking annoyed.  The crease between her light eyebrows grew deeper as she fiddled with her makeshift bun of curly blonde hair that had fallen loose.  She turned her blue eyes to Savannah and sighed.  Her mom sighed often, but Savannah didn’t think her mom even noticed how much she did it.  “Savannah, could you please go find your brother?”

Savannah was pretty sure she knew where her brother was, and when she went looking, she found him right where she expected to.  “Josh, come on, it’s time for dinner.  Didn’t you hear Mom call?”

Joshua looked up at her from his place on the floor, little green army men strewn around in various locations and positions; a miniature war being played out in the basement.  His spiky blond hair and pale face reminded her of a photo negative of her dad.  He frowned and looked back down at the soldiers closest to him.  That’s when she noticed her old Ken doll was propped up next to the soldiers, a helmet from a GI Joe doll sat askew on his head.  “I heard her, but Sgt. Ken was right in the middle of giving orders for the next attack.  ‘Ok, soldiers, move to your positions!”  He said this last part with a fake deep voice.  Josh moved the little green soldiers to their positions and then nodded with satisfaction. 

“What’s for dinner?” he asked as he walked past her to the basement stairs. 

“Chili,” Savannah said, and stuck out her tongue in disgust. 

“Awesome!” Josh said and raced up the stairs.

#

            Savannah played with the chili in her bowl, swirling it and stirring it.  Every now and then she would get a little broth on her spoon and pretend to eat.  She reached for another piece of cornbread, the yellow cube glistening with honey and butter.  Her mom sighed and Savannah looked across the table to see her mom frowning at her.

            “Savannah, I wish you weren’t so picky.  How do you expect to grow if you don’t eat?” 

            “Leave her alone,” her dad said.  “I wasn’t much of an eater when I was a kid either, but look at me now.”  It was true, her dad was tall and strong, and there wasn’t a food he turned his nose up at.  But Savannah found it hard to believe she would EVER like tomatoes or beans. 

            Her dad sighed heavily and pushed his bowl back.  Savannah looked up surprised that it wasn’t her mom sighing this time.  He rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat.  Savannah knew he had news to share, and she had a bad feeling that it wasn’t good news.

            “Commander informed us today that we can expect to deploy to Iraq soon.”  He made the announcement without preamble.  A hush fell over the table; not even a spoon clinked against a bowl.  Savannah’s mom was the first to speak.

            “Well, Kyle, we’ve all known this was coming.  We just wish you didn’t have to go.  Did they tell you how soon before you leave?”  Her voice was strong and clear, but Savannah could see the worry in her blue eyes.

            “There’s no set date yet, but he told us it would be in a couple weeks.”

            The clank of a spoon hitting a bowl made Savannah jump.  Her brother’s chair scraped noisily back from the table and he took off running.  Savannah hadn’t seen his face, but she knew he was crying.  Ever since the mention over a month ago of their dad being sent to Iraq, he had been upset and worried.

            Savannah’s dad sighed again; an uncharacteristic sound for him.  “I’ll go talk to him,” he said, and left the table to find Josh.

            Savannah and her mom were left at the table alone.  The echoes of a happy family dinner now vanished.  “Are you okay?” her mom asked.

            Savannah couldn’t look at her mom.  She knew if she did she would start crying too.  She was glad for her brown bangs that hid her eyes.  “Of course,” she said softly.  “Why wouldn’t I be?  I mean, we knew it was coming.  That’s part of being an Army family, right?”  She said the last part with bitterness in her voice.  Being an Army family was definitely not what it was cracked up to be.  Moving every couple of years, and now her dad being sent away to a war zone just made her realize that even more.

            “It’ll be okay.”  Her mom tried to sound convincing but Savannah knew even she didn’t believe her own words.  “He’ll be back before we know it.  You know, Savannah, your brother really needs you to be strong.  You know how he looks up to you.  Can you do that for him?”

            Not able to stare into her bowl of cold chili any longer, Savannah looked up at her mom and brushed away a stray tear.  “Sure.  Yeah, I can do that.”  But in reality, she wasn’t so sure she could.