THE ROOM WITH A TABLE

Georgia Pooler

5th Grade • Agassiz Elementary

Chapter 1

“Hey!” Jane shouted. She and her sister, Donna, were chasing each other through the woods and Donna was far ahead. “Wait up!” Jane was frantically trying to keep up, but Donna managed to find a little extra energy and use it as a power up; either that or Jane was just really slow.

“In your dreams!” Donna shouted back, barely breaking a sweat.

As Jane finally managed to catch up, her sister came to a sudden halt and looked as if she had seen something inexplicably beautiful. This was the perfect opportunity for Jane to catch her breath. Jane was almost able to control her breathing, until she found out what Donna was staring at so shockingly and it took her breath away. Beyond them was the most beautiful skyline that she had ever seen, with the city in the center, and all around it were forests, lakes, and Jane could even see the ocean behind it.

“Wow,” Jane said, a little starstruck, she was still trying to take in what she was seeing. She always lived in the forest, surrounded by trees, not overlooking them.

She turned to see Donna's reaction, but there was no Donna. Instead Donna was speeding to the house, and Jane just gave

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up knowing if she ever tried to catch up, she would wind up losing her breath with her sister proudly looking at her with a devilish smile.

When she got to the house, she stepped on her porch and stared at the porch swing as it slowly rocked back and forth in the soft breeze. Inside the house, her mother was setting up the dinner table that was slowly chipping away as the wood got weaker and weaker. Jane's mom always said that when half of it is gone, they would get a new one, which wouldn't likely happen. As she turned her head she saw Donna carrying the dinner plates for mom to put on the table.

“Well, it's about time!” Donna said as she glided across the room with her plain white socks almost tripping her as a wrinkle formed in them.

“There's no need to be shouting unless you're in a crowd,” her mom said. Jane and Donna always listened to their mom, partly because there was no dad to give orders. Donna went quiet as she shifted her weight when she sat down. Jane held back her laugh as best as she could, but Donna must have noticed because she glared at her as if Jane just committed a crime and blamed it on Donna.

“Yeah Donna, there's no need to shout,” Jane teased.

“And there's no need to tease either,” her mom said and went back to placing the food on the plates. All of a sudden, her mom froze and started coughing frantically, this time she knelt down and shut her eyes tight. Jane and Donna were used to this, although the coughing had started getting worse, although it wasn't contagious, because Jane and Donna would've gotten it by now. Then her mom got up, dusted off

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her floral dress, and beamed at them and said, “Well, that was... unexpected,” and walked over to the dining table. Donna and Jane shared a look of concern, but they trusted their mother and carried on with the night.

Chapter 2

Later that night Jane was peacefully sleeping when all of a sudden she awoke to a loud THUMP. Jane honestly thought that it was Donna due to her “nightly tossing and turning” as she liked to call it. However, she completely changed that thought when Donna peeked through her doorway and said, “You okay? I heard a loud thud and thought it might've been you.”

It felt as if someone punched Jane in the stomach when she managed to ask, “You heard that too?”

“Wait, that wasn't you?” Donna's voice cracked in the middle of the sentence as they both shared a worried look.

Jane jumped out of bed ignoring the fact she was terribly sleepy and it was the middle of the night. “Mom?” she said as Donna was behind her and Jane was peeking through the door in their mom's room. As Jane entered the room she heard a soft grunt. While Donna was following behind her Jane had to step back in order to calm herself.

“What is it?” Donna asked in a slightly shaky voice.

“Mommy?” Jane said, ignoring Donna's attempt to get her attention. Laying down on the floor, sweaty and pale, was their mom.

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Donna hurried to her mom's phone and dialed 911 as Jane was checking her mom's pulse, and thankfully, she was still alive. “Hello?" Donna said in a shaky voice, “Um, our mom just passed out on the floor and she's feverish and we don't know what to do so plea—” She stopped, paused, swallowed down her sadness, and finished off with a traditional “Okay, thank you.” She hung up and started having a meltdown on the floor.

Jane was stunned, she had never seen her sister like this; she was always more of “haha I'm pretty amazing and you're average” to her. Without thinking, she hugged her sister tightly, not caring about the fact that she hated when she touched her, but to her surprise, Donna hugged back.

Donna stepped back and wiped her tears on her pajama sleeve as the ambulance pulled up to the house.

The very next morning, Jane woke up on a day like any other. She was shaking from the night before, hoping it was all a dream and nothing more. She made her way to her mom's room and noticed that Donna was doing the same thing, and sadly, their mom was nowhere to be found.

All of a sudden, the house phone rang and surprised both Jane and Donna. This time, Jane was the one to answer. “HHello?” she stuttered.

“Hello. This is the local hospital calling to tell you that your mom is currently with us at the moment; however, she will only stay with us for a week.”

“Wait, did you say a week?” Jane said, glancing at Donna to find her sitting at the dining table biting her nails, staring at her with a worried look.

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“Yes ma'am, I believe I said a week. However, she is extremely lucky due to her condition. Just try and stay calm.” The front desk at the hospital hung up and left Jane and Donna all alone, for a week.

Chapter: 3

The first couple days that Jane and Donna were at home without their mom were pretty ok. Donna threw a fit because Jane didn’t think that it was a good idea to visit mom. Jane also got really mad because Donna left the morning before and Jane thought that she was out to see mom.

On the third day Jane and Donna barely talked to each other unless they had a fight. As Jane came into the dining room to get the last cereal bar, she noticed Donna sitting at the table staring off into space.

“What is it now?” Jane said, knowing every time Donna had that look, she was thinking about mom.

“Well....” Donna started, looking at her with sad eyes, “Don't you miss her?”

“That's a silly question, of course I do,” Jane replied, startled and a little offended by the question. “Why would you say that?”

Donna stood, staring at her with a cold glare, but then it softened as she said, “Well, I don't know, it's just...aren't you sick of fighting? Like all the time?” Donna sighed as her eyes became glossy. “I mean, do you think mom would be proud of us right now? Fighting over the tiniest things, like we need her

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every possible second to help us?”

Jane was stunned. She opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped herself realizing that she actually agreed with Donna, so she said, “Who am I kidding? She would probably be upset right now, but every time we think she’ll yell, she just gives a suggestion.” Jane paused, carefully wording her next sentence. “I can't say she's proud of us,” Jane said. “All I can say is that she taught us to be in the real world alone, and she taught us to love each other like sisters should.” Jane sighed. “And I think that now would be a pretty good time to start.”

“What do you mean?” Donna said, a little confused.

“Well, you know, we should do more things together,” Jane shrugged.

“Continue....” Donna said with a furrowed brow.

“Like clean up or cook together,” Jane replied.

Donna looked a little shocked. “Oh my goodness that's not a bad idea.”

“Wait, what?” Jane said. “No no no, I didn't mea—”

“I know, but it's not a bad idea!” Donna insisted. “She always cooks and cleans, and since she's not here why can't we do it?”

Jane considered this for a moment. “I didn't think you would take me seriously, but I actually think that's a good idea.”

“Well, when do we start?” Donna asked, more joyful then this entire time without mom.

“Since you seem really energetic, then there's no time like the present.”

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Chapter: 4

Jane and Donna got to work right away, and Jane was surprised to see Donna this happy. They decided to start off with the cleaning.

“So, you seem weirdly happy,” Jane said.

“What do you mean?” Donna said, confused.

“A couple minutes ago you were just fussing about missing mom.”

Donna put her hands on the counter they were cleaning, and stared out the window. “Well, it's just, I need to get my mind off her by doing something, and this is certainly something.” Donna gave a happy sigh. “It's getting late, let's get some rest and continue this tomorrow.”

“Well, okay,” Jane said.

The next day went by quickly. Donna and Jane cleaned the kitchen, polished the dining room table, and started their mom's room, which was emotional and messier than usual. Jane really wanted to go back to the skyline they saw the day mom got sent to the hospital.

It was now the sixth day, the last day until mom came home. Jane and Donna were baking a cake, and finished six steak tacos with avocado, lettuce, sour cream, and beans. Jane also got carried away and ended up making chili that wasn't spicy, and Donna said it was actually good. “One more day,” Donna said as she was mixing the batter in a blue bowl.

“Can you believe it?” said Jane. "We were so afraid at the start, but...well....” She paused.

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“What?” Donna said.

“Have you noticed the connection between us?” Jane responded.

Donna stopped mixing. “Well, you do have a point. We never really did this because mom told us to. We did it because of her, not for her. Okay, let's get this in some pans and in the oven.”

“Don't forget the frosting,” Jane said.

“Uh, I was born to know everything about sweets,” Donna said matter-of-factly. It was true.

“Well then, I guess we should start making the frosting, and also the toppings, or chocolate chips,” Jane said.

“What if we just stick with chocolate chips?” Donna said, chuckling.

The Final Chapter

It was early in the morning when Jane woke up. She got dressed quicker than she expected and raced to the window showing the driveway, or in this case, where they would finally see their mom again.

Donna was sitting at the dining table as Jane was speeding by. “Well, this is it,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Jane said. “You sound kind of sad.”

“No! No no no no. I'm not sad, just... worried.”

“Why?”

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“Because what if things go back to how they were!”

“You mean with mom?”

“No, not like that, well, yes, kind of, but not because I don't want mom home!”

“Then what do you mean?”

“What if we go back to fighting again and — and it's like this never happened?”

Jane went to Donna's side and put a hand on her shoulder. “That won't happen,” she said.

“How are you so sure?” Donna asked.

“Well, considering what we've been through, why would we ever go back to that?”

“Well, I guess you're right,” Donna said as she thought about it more and more.

Just as Jane was about to speak, she heard the dirt on the driveway being rolled over by wheels. Jane and Donna perked up like dogs that heard a cat's meow as they raced to the door.

Donna hesitated as she saw the ambulance pull up. “This is it,” she said as she pushed open the door and ran outside with Jane close behind.

Getting out of the ambulance was none other than the lady who cared for them all their lives, who picked up what they put down, literally and figuratively. There, running towards. them, was none other than their own mom.

Jane tried to see more clearly as she pulled her mom tight to her chest, but her eye sight wasn't working as well as it

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should’ve through the blur of tears. “Mommy?” Jane said as she looked up, still hugging her.

“Yes?” her mom said sobbing through a smile.

Donna hadn’t said anything, she was just hugging her mom, crying just as hard as her family. Donna finally stepped back along with Jane and said, “We were so worried.”

“I'm sure you were no more worried than I was waking up in a hospital without you.” But then she paused, noticing the word. "Were?"

Donna nodded. “Jane and I got through it together,” she said as she put an arm around Jane. “We even made you a surprise, didn't we Jane?”

“Heh, yeah, we sure did,” Jane said as she wiped her tears on her wrist.

“What?” her mom said. Donna and Jane led their mom inside, and she put a hand over her mouth as she gasped, “Oh, oh my goodness,” she said as she saw the cleaned house.

“That's not all,” Jane said, opening the fridge, revealing the cake, tacos, and accidental chili.

Her mom almost cried again when she said, “You did this? All by yourselves?”

“The chili was an accident,” Donna said.

Jane, Donna, and their mom sat down around the dining table and knew that the table would stay just as strong as their love for each other, even though it doesn't always seem strong, it will always hold the weight of their challenges.

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