The ride to the travel agency began as a quiet one. Usually the radio was turned up in Tessa’s car, but this morning, she was thinking about what she would talk about with Mr. Harshore. She knew he most likely would not be very open about the death of his sister. Of course, it was incredibly difficult to think with Rachel sitting in the passenger seat, because, if the radio wasn’t on, Rachel would hum her own music. This continued for about ten minutes until Rachel looked over to see that Tessa’s knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly. She stopped humming, and Tessa slowly released the wheel from the death grip. Eventually, the silence began to bother Tessa as well, so she reached behind her seat, pulled a photo from the file, and handed it to Rachel. “This is Mr. Harshore,” she said. “We have to find him at this agency to talk to him about his sister, Martha.” Rachel stared at the picture, committing it to memory. As Tessa glanced in her rearview mirror, she eyed Rachel’s squinting face and let out a laugh. This broke Rachel’s concentration, and she looked at Tessa for an explanation. “Sorry, Rach, but you just looked so… uh, cute, with your face all scrunched up,” she said. Rachel glared at Tessa, but the look quickly turned to a smile. “I just want to make sure I know what the guy looks like,” she said quietly. Tessa smiled at her friend’s devotion, and looked at the signs telling which street on which they were driving. After a few blocks, she turned onto Palmer Street. The sign for Harshore Travel Agency loomed up ahead of the car. Rachel leaned over to Tessa and said dramatically, “There it is. And therein lies either your triumph. Or your defeat.” Tessa looked at her for a second, and then said, “What do you mean?” “I dunno, it just sounded cool in my head. Thought I’d say it for fun,” replied Rachel. Tessa gave a weak laugh, put the car in park, and thought to herself that, really, Rachel was right.
So, thankfully, my aunt's friend has the last of her chemo next Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who has been lifting her up to God.
Hey, the Pottawatomie County Fair is this week in Onaga. Patrick got a purple ribbon on his Geology project (that's the best ribbon), and tomorrow, we get our photography judged.
