On a hot July day, Grandma trimmed and fussed over the lovely red roses that grow along the picket fence in front of her little Cape Cod house on Larch Street. With great care, she inspected each blossom. Some, she clipped and added to the inventory of cut roses she carried in her straw bag. Others, she left alone. From time to time, she plucked a Japanese beetle from a rose plant and dropped the wiggling insect into a can.
"Hi, can I give you some literature from the Church of Nothing?". It was that nice young man Mr. Ericson, who is quite passionate about Nothing.
Grandma straightened up, wiped her brow and accepted the pamphlet. "Thank you, Mr. Ericson", she said.
Mr. Ericson laughed. "You mean 'thanks for nothing'"!
Grandma laughed politely, put the pamphlet in her pocket, and returned to her roses. Grandma does not attend the Church of Nothing. She thinks it is a bit insubstantial.
Meanwhile, Roderick enjoyed the slow day at the boathouse. He and Mr. Armstrong had cleaned all of the boats yesterday, so there wasn't much to do. They chatted. Mr. Armstrong spoke about white-water rafting, rock climbing, scuba diving and surf kayaking.
Roderick thought about Megan Cupcake in a wet t-shirt.
In the Adriatic, Mr. and Mrs. Zemlinsky cruised lazily on their yacht Natasha near the Brijuni islands off Croatia.
Megan Cupcake opened her secret detailed journal and wrote secret things.
At the Bosendorfer, Molly began to play her scales. Two hands, an octave apart, four octaves up and down the keyboard. C major, C-Sharp major, D major, E-flat major, through the twelve major keys. Then: A minor, B-flat minor, B minor through the minor keys. Then back to the major keys, only faster. And again, faster. Molly's fingers flew; she bent forward, her nostrils flared.
Natasha stood before her mirror in nothing but ankle bracelets. She gazed carefully at her reflection, and wrinkled her nose. "Fat", she thought.
Knuckles slept.
Laddie tired of waiting for Roderick, and went to find him. Laddie is a smart dog. He knew he would find Roderick at the boathouse.
On the Natasha, Mrs. Zemlinsky called for Giorgio, the steward. Her martini wasn't dirty enough. Secretly, she wanted to do dirty things with Giorgio.
Molly finished her scales and began to play arpeggios through the major and minor keys.
Megan Cupcake finished writing in her secret detailed journal and went to see if she could find Roderick. She arrived at the boathouse at the same moment as Laddie. Laddie bounded over to greet Roderick, who gave him a big dog-hug. Megan did not bound over to greet Roderick, and Roderick did not hug Megan, but she walked over to see him with a shy wave. They played fetch with Laddie, who is happy to oblige such games because he is a kind and well-mannered dog.
Natasha donned the blue silken sari she bought last summer in Mysore. The color of the sari perfectly matched her azure eyes. "Should I pose for Henry?", she wondered out loud. Natasha squatted on the floor and consulted the I Ching.
Molly finished her arpeggios and began to play an etude.
Roderick thought Megan looked particularly bubbly, buxom and fetching today. "She's nice to Laddie", he thought. That was important to him. He wondered if she was packing heat.
Grandma felt tired and thirsty, so she stopped tending her roses and went inside to pour a drink and sit down. Grandpa was sitting in a rocker on the porch, snoozing. Grandma set the can of Japanese beetles on the porch, set her straw bag on the kitchen counter and put her freshly cut roses in a vase with water. Then she poured herself a glass of water, sat in the big comfy chair in the sunroom, and drank the view of her garden, which was ripe with blooms.
She felt something in her pocket, and withdrew it. Oh -- a pamphlet from the Church of Nothing. Grandma frowned. Now, where did that come from? She searched her memory, but could not recall. No matter, she thought.
