Robyn Batch 10 - Pecan shortbread

HAPPY 100th POST!

71. Broken:  Robyn cried out in pain as she collapsed to the ground.  She had known she was coming down wrong and now she could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her foot, mostly centered around her outer toes.  Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to rise but ended up back on her butt on the floor with a grunt.  She focused on her breathing until Madame Jacobs arrived to help her up and to one of the chairs at the edge of the practice room.  Ice was applied, medication was taken, mothers were called, and two weeks later she danced, broken toes be darned.

     Seriously folks, anyone have a better name for her dance teacher?  Updated her dance teacher's name to Camille Elizabeth Smythe-Jacobs on 16.June.2013.  And I'm only guessing how it feels to break toes as I have never broken any bone.  I've sprained my ankles and jammed fingers more times than I can count but no breaks!

87. Life:  “To life, to life, l'chaim!  To Zeytle, my daughter!”

    “My wife!”

    “Life has a way of confusing us, blessing and bruising us!  Drink l’chaim, to life!”

    Robyn and her fellow chorus members danced around, arms linked, laughing and singing.  They had stayed after school for an extra practice before the performance, and now they were amusing themselves while waiting for their parents to pick them up by singing show tunes.  So far they had jumped through CATS, Fiddler on the Roof, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Seussical.

     This may or may not be based on true life.  I admit to nothing.  Lyrics belong to Sheldon Harnick and those associated with Fiddler on the Roof.

98. Pride:  Stephanie soared through the song she had been given, nailing every note and emoting through every line.  When she took her bow the panel of judges and the staff that were hanging about all applauded.  It stung Robyn to note that the response was louder than it had been for her own audition a few minutes earlier.  Logically she knew that the older girl had more experience and was devoted to only one craft, but emotionally it still rankled Robyn to not be the clear favorite, and to someone who simply viewed it as another job (not that Robyn would ever admit to such petty feelings).

     One of my biggest pet peeves in high school was people joining choir just for the A.  They had no passion and because they weren't emotionally invested in the songs they goofed off and brought down the morale of the choir.  They were snide and snarky and didn't take things seriously.  Some days I wanted to tear out their hair for making me want to tear out mine.

99. Prejudice:  Robyn looked Jericho up and down.  Henry had just told her that the young man would be their new contact and she wasn’t sure how she felt about that.  She had heard stories about Jericho, how his father was never up to any good, always off on some half drunken scheme (after a failed marriage Keith Moran was looking for something to make him feel successful again but his sons had to bail him out, which only made him feel worse), and his brother was in some bigger city, dabbling in crime and living off the good graces of the bad (OK, Gaven lived on the edge but most of his income was from honest car repairs).  Jericho himself had been a loner for the most part in high school, not fitting into any clique (all those people who didn’t know what they wanted and put up idiotic fronts to fit in).  He now went to college but she wasn’t sure how he had gotten there (scholarships and grants, and how would it change her opinion if she knew he was majoring in accounting and passing all his classes with As and Bs).  She had seen him around town in his old, classic, black Mustang or riding his slick motorcycle (earned penny by penny from odd jobs and restored with loving care).  She questioned why Henry would hire him, or at the very least trust him alone with her (because he knew how to treat women and once she was seen with him any bad element would leave her alone, though the ‘good’ element might be another matter).  She had seen the handful of girls Jericho had dated and quite frankly she wasn’t impressed (girls who hid their insecurities better than most, or had an idea where they were going).

     The parentheses were not there to begin with but I think they add a nice flavor and depth.  What do you think?

154. Tower:  It would probably always be Robyn’s favorite trip ever.  She had been newly sixteen and therefore able to fly by herself so her aunt and uncle Buchanan had invited her, and her alone out of family, to go on a European tour with them.  Robyn  said yes in a heartbeat and spent the next month doing all she could to convince her parents  she would be responsible and good and obedient.  In the end they had relented (they were going to say yes anyways but Robyn had been so helpful they decided to milk it) and Dawn and Elizabeth could barely understand the words in her squealing phone call but perfectly read the tone and dissolved into squeals themselves.  The family of four plus their two add-ons (they also invited their best chum Adiana) toured Ireland, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and ended in France, with a view of the Eiffel Tower and crepes every morning.  She had grown closer to her aunt, uncle, and cousins and made memories to last a lifetime and a half.

    Who else wishes they had family in Europe now?