Friday Nights

Bobby was sneaking into Greg’s room, Cindy was just a step behind, their eyes wide and faces full of mischief. With breath held, the pair pinned a piece of paper onto Greg's backpack, in hope he’d not notice it when he went to school the next day. The camera finally panned round to what the note said: I AM A LITTLE SUNFLOWER. Bobby and Cindy giggled.

“I wish I had a bedroom in a loft.” Alaster was lying upside down on the couch, his legs hooked over the back, watching a new show on TV. The Brady Bunch. It was about a blended family, whatever that meant.

Little brother Jack was not listening, he was concentrating too hard on the next shot, he needed to get this next marble to bump Alaster’s prior shot out of the tied-wool-loop 'safe zone'.

Jack’s hand was bunched in a fist, thumb poised near forefinger, and marble carefully held. He needed to flick it with extreme precision on a perfect trajectory to smack the cats-eye on the side, propelling it out of the loop. If he managed this, he’d get to keep his brother’s favourite marble.

Inhaling deeply, he held his breath and then took his…

“Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” some Brady kid yelled on the television just as Jack took his shot. His humble onion-skin marble skewed off, bouncing across the linoleum, and disappearing under the fridge.

“Not fair!” Jack leaped up and ran to hunt under the fridge. (There was plenty of other stuff under there, for they had no 'Alice' keeping house), “I want my shot again!”

Laughing, Alaster swung his legs off the couch, and snatched up his prize marble again.” No, you had your chance, hard luck loser!"

That had been 54 years ago. Jack Bishop, CEO of Bishop Industries, stood looking out the window of his top floor office with a bemused smile on his face. He reminisced fond memories of the Friday nights he and his brother had shared, while in his hand he thumbed the prized cat’s-eye marble. It had taken a long while, but eventually he'd won it.

Putting the marble back into its display case, Jack took out his phone to give Alaster a call. It had been too long.



Wordcount:375
Prompts:
54 years ago
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!
Friday nights
I am a little sunflower
blended family