Glaciers by Alexis Smith

Author:Alexis Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Tin House Books
Published: 2011-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

That night after dinner, while the Carpenter worked in the garage, the Astrologer brought Agnes, Isabel, and their mother to her bedroom. They all sat on the bed while the Astrologer went into her closet for something. She emerged with a small wooden box. It had been decoupaged with colorful images of flowers from old greeting cards: violets and pansies and forget-me-nots.

This was Grandma Gigi’s, she said, resting it on the bed. She took a framed picture from her dresser and handed it to Agnes. Isabel leaned in to look. It was a matte print from the 1930s of a woman about their mother’s age. The family resemblance wasn’t obvious, but the shape of the eyes and the nose looked like their mother and their aunt, and somewhat like Agnes.

The Astrologer went to her closet again and pulled out a dress—the dress Gigi wore in the photograph—brown silk with ivory beadwork along the collar, long sleeves cinched at the wrists, pleated skirt. It looked so small—too small for either of her mother or aunt to wear—but small enough that Agnes might.

They spent the evening looking through old photographs and reading letters. Before they went to bed, their aunt opened up the little decoupaged box and revealed a few pieces of jewelry nestled carefully on a silk scarf.

She let the girls gaze into the box, then told them to pick one thing each for themselves.

The girls looked at their mom, then at each other. There were glittery costume brooches, a mother-of-pearl bracelet, and a gold watch. But Agnes chose an amber pendant that the Astrologer said had been a gift from Gigi’s third husband, Vern. Isabel chose the smallest thing in the box, a garnet ring. It was too large for her, but she put it on her middle finger and spun it round and round.

That night as the sisters lay side by side on their mattress, they talked in hushed voices about what it must have been like to live back then, and how lovely the clothes were, and how exciting to have an adventuress in the family. They said that someday they would have daughters, and they would save precious things for them, too.

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