Needle Lake by Champine Justine

Author:Champine,Justine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Dial Press
Published: 2025-03-27T18:27:29+00:00

15

I don’t remember leaving the lake or walking back down the mountain. I don’t remember the road back home, or going through the front door of the shop, or taking my coat off, or stomping the snow from my boots.

The next thing I can remember is sitting at the dining room table with Elna and Jen and my mother. There was the prime rib on a big platter in the center. Rolls, pureed potatoes, green beans in a soupy casserole with sliced almonds on top, roasted onions, yams topped with broiled marshmallows, thick gravy in a ceramic boat. I remember Jen cutting the meat, laying a slice onto everyone’s plate, and a scraggly little pine tree in the corner with some colored lights strung around it. Cut that day from Jen’s yard, I heard my mother say. I could smell the sap, the blood from the beef, the butter in the potatoes, cinnamon and vanilla from the kitchen mingling with the gas oven.

And there was Elna, sitting upright and smiling, her shoulders tall and straight. I remember the way her face looked. A clear, pretty smile. Polite questions. Bright eyes. She ate a whole plate of food and then got herself seconds. I could barely choke down half of mine. Jen was watching me from the sides of her eyes, I noticed, so I took a big bite of potato and let it sit in my mouth, waiting until my stomach felt calm enough to manage a swallow.

While I was waiting, my mother asked, “So what did you girls get up to out there?”

Before I could even blink, Elna spoke. “Ida took me to the five-and-dime,” she said.

“Oh?”

“We had a nice stroll down there in the snow. I hardly ever get to see any snow.” Her eyes were wide and sparkling. A sweet, girlish look fell across her face.

“Well, plenty out there now for you to enjoy.” My mother took a big drink of her beer and placed the glass down with a thud. I winced at the sound.

“Hang on just one moment,” Elna said, getting up from her seat. She scurried down to the spare room, returning a brief moment later with her hands full. In one hand was a small resin paperweight shaped like a pyramid with a penny suspended inside. In the other, a thumb-sized bottle of perfume. She placed the items before Jen and my mother. “I asked Ida to take me somewhere I could get you both some Christmas presents. I just wanted to say thank you for letting me be here, Aunt Anne.” She stood at the table’s edge as she spoke, leaning forward with both her hands pressed flat on the surface. It reminded me of the way a detective would stand in a TV show, questioning someone but being nice about it. The three of us sat there, looking back at her. I got the feeling no one quite knew what to say.

Finally, my mother spoke. “That’s very sweet of you, Elna. Thanks.

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