Little Miss Grinch

“Paisley, I need you to stay out back and keep an eye on the turkey while I’m making the apple pie!” Her mother shouted from the kitchen knowing Paisley had her headphones on her ears, purposely to ignore everyone. Their Thanksgiving dinner is in four hours, and her mother is currently stressing over there about the pies she woke up at six a.m. to make today; sweet potato pie, cherry pie, veggie pot pie and last, but the most important being the apple pie. It is her mission for these pies to please all their family members tonight that will bring complimentary food to the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Paisley could not be acting more of such a rebellious teenager right now, she paid her mother no mind or reply as she walked outside into her backyard and observed the turkey getting cooked. Just the way she liked it, honey brown and crunchy crispy skin. She could already feel her mouth watering at the tasty thoughts.

“Hey Sweetie, mind if I borrow your headphones that go in your ears later? Your Uncle Scott said he’s bringing his karaoke machine tonight and well, enough said,” Her father laughed at the mental image of his brother in law trying to sing to the beat of Shake Your Body by Michael Jackson.

“Sure dad, they’re on my dresser,” Paisley was glad she had been given many pairs of headphones over the years, for this reason. If it wasn’t a gift card for something, she received a pair of headphones, a safe choice she always thought.

“Thanks, Paisley-pie.”

She made a horrid face at the childhood nickname that her family still loved to call her by, she had a retort ready for her father but he had already walked off. Paisley sat on a lounge chair with her navy blue oversized sweater, hood pulled up and pajamas underneath listening to an acoustic song with a sweet melody. You wouldn’t even come to think that this miss here was a little Grinch, with her deeply displeased blue eyes and offhand demeanor.

:::

The dinner went rather smoothly and everyone had their fair share of pie. In comparison to two years back when cousin Jessica brought her previous boyfriend, Tyler, and exploited the engagement ring he had given her to everyone before dinner even started, this night was quite uneventful. Aunt Shelby squealed so loud in delight, Paisley was sure the neighbors thought of their family as a bunch mad-men. Uncle Sam sent Tyler death glares all through dinner. He was not aware that Tyler had asked his daughter for holy matrimony. The tense air around them was suffocatingly awkward, except for aunt Shelby’s ignorant babbling about a summer wedding. That Thanksgiving dinner everyone who ate cousin Cassie’s egg salad left home earlier than expected because of the runs. So, not everyone came back for leftovers that year.

The next day after a good dinner and lovable family get-together the buzz about Black Friday sales were what had Paisley groaning in the morning that weekend. She wished it would just stop there but knew Cyber Monday sales the day after would most than likely be the cause of another wake-up call, or yell, from her mother and younger preteen brother about getting ready to shop as their lives depended on it. Unlike yesterday when she unplugged her alarm clock to sleep in until noon today she was up and mostly ready, with eye boogers still in the corners, to get pushed and elbowed by middle-aged fanatics in all stores at the mall by five a.m. running around like headless chickens.

The weeks after Thanksgiving was spent recovering from the amounts of repeated food eaten. Even if Paisley would rather forget and eat Burger King or anything other than leftovers. There comes a point to where leftovers are the epitome of repugnance. Paisley spent those weeks watching late night episodes of the loony toons as she did as a child in the mornings. The much-welcomed nostalgia came through but so did the drowning waves of homework she hadn’t finished the night before.

“Wake up troll, mom said she needs help wrapping presents.”

Paisley simply turns over to face the wall instead of her nuisance of a brother. She dismisses him with a weak shake of her hand motioning to what she thought was the door, “Dimwit,” she said yawning and stretching out her limbs. With a small shove, she pushed her brother away and stepped towards the bathroom.

Cutting bits and strips of tape and stacking gifts under the Christmas tree was her least favorite tasks during this Saturday morning, or at all. It just reminded her of all the missed birthdays and late ones. She wasn’t even going to try hinting at it to her family this year, turning eighteen wasn’t a big deal at least where she lived it wasn’t. When she turned fifteen she had previously decided she didn’t want a sweet sixteen party to announce her coming of age, both metaphorically and by law, just a sleepover with her friends, Jane and Riley. They gushed about silly crushes, ate ice cream and confetti cake, never once complaining. Before that, it was the same, late hugs and good wishes, late phone calls and texts from friends and family. The fussing and bustling throughout made these two months fly by quickly, at least that’s what everyone thought. Paisley thought differently, she wanted it to be over sooner so she could skip through the missed calls and tears.

When she was younger she used to lock herself in her room and cry a bit before falling asleep. After her sixteenth birthday and the new year passed, she walked to the park near her house and just stayed there in thought, then left a little before her curfew was up. Nowadays she didn’t converse with Jane and Riley, but they still communicated in school and asked about homework through text messages. As Paisley walked over one more time to the Christmas tree she notices their dog, JoJo, playing with the ribbons that had fallen on the carpet floor bringing her back from her thoughts.

“C’mon JoJo, go play outside,” The dark-haired beagle barked and happily ran out as Paisley opened the sliding door to the backyard following behind. She threw the neon ball from the toy box out into the yard pretty far and JoJo sprinted to get it back, after a few more tosses and chases Paisley’s arm was tired. She found his leash and JoJo excitedly waged his tail looking between her and the leash with bright brown eyes. Paisley giggled as she clipped the leash to his black leather collar and he licked her chin. JoJo took a head start to the fence door with her struggling a bit after him. Once she had a good grip on the leash they strolled around the front yard, she caught a glimpse of her father and uncle having an angry discussion with strings of LED lights in their hands.

She guessed it was about the ladders, an argument that began over the phone. A trivial matter such as who had the taller ladder to help string the lights at the top of the house. Of course, neither remembered the exact measurement of their ladders or the house. Which in return led them to bring out both ladders and try to reach the top, with her fumbling brother beneath them trying his best to help. It was quite the sight to see, laughable even. A jogger who passed in black and neon orange clothing stopped to stare.

“What the..?”

Paisley walked away shaking her head at them, stepping around the young jogger who only gave her a short glance.

Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them. -Dr. Suess