Hump Day

Man, I'm sleepy tonight. It was a struggle to get enough words in the bank but I managed. I need to speed up the story and ditch all the narrative. It's hard to give up all that local color and focus on story.

The sun was setting when the three of us finished cleaning up the back garden. Edward had piled all the reclaimed wood into a back room off the entry and lined up the cans filled with nails. “There. Now no one will be coming into the yard and taking away our wood to heat up his nights,” he said, dusting his hands off on the seat of his pants. I liked Edward; he was not the brightest crayon in the box by a long shot but he was a hard worker and seemed to be honest and loyal as well. He and Silas worked well together, silently moving around in the rooms seldom speaking more than a few words but getting things done. We stacked the wooden packing crates in the room too, along with the partial sheet of plywood that had been our table that day. As Silas double checked that the back door was locked and padlocked I said, “Tell me about Uncle Iggy.” He laughed and shook his head. “Uncle Iggy is the black sheep of my father’s family. He learned a trade, never married, and is the soberest of sober citizens. Dad and the rest of his brothers and sisters work at resorts, run restaurants, own beach bars. My Uncle Clive, he even has a band that plays all over this part of the Caribbean. You have probably at least heard them, if not danced to them. Johnno’s has them booked every Sunday night for the jump up.” “Jump up?” “Yeah, jump up,” Edward said. “That is what we call a party with food and drinks and music.” He wriggled his hips and slid his feet to music only he could hear. “Johnno’s jump up is the best. People from all over the island, tourists too, come over to party like one big family.” Edward took my fingertips in his hand, pulled me into his arms, and then swung me out, humming all the time. “You need to come to the jump up, Missus Rose, you and me can dance all night.” I laughed and tried to follow his moves but it was impossible when only one of us could hear the music. “Edward, I would be honored to come and dance with you at the jump up next Sunday.” He swung me out and bowed gracefully as if the music in his head had built to a crescendo. Then he kissed my fingers and said, “That will be lovely.”

Daily count: 1767 words
Total count: 19,906 words

Nighty night.
--Barbara