Turkey Troubles
I think I should have been more careful. I don’t regret it. But I should have been more careful, but we really needed that picturesque Thanksgiving turkey. So naturally, I turned my brother into one. In my defense, I was perfectly confident in my ability to return him to his original state. Perhaps the instagram picture wasn’t worth it. I hear the front door open and close and I close my eyes and hold my breath.
“Jamie!” my mother shrieked.
I release and open my eyes. I probably should respond, but I don’t want to. I’ve been hiding in my room for the past hour.
For context, my best friends and I had our “friendsgiving” and needed a turkey for the photo. Unfortunately, we just happened to be short of a live turkey for the picture. Luckily, my world is a bit out of the ordinary and I happen to be in possession of some magical abilities. Nothing crazy like in the stories, but some fun supernatural talents.
Anyways, I saw my little brother doing something he shouldn’t be doing and making trouble as usual. Therefore, I thought of the absolutely brilliant idea to turn him into our turkey. I was positive that I could turn him back once he modeled for our photo.
“Jamie, we should have a turkey in the photo!” Isabella exclaimed as she set up the tripod.
“Where in the world would we get a turkey?” I responded bewildered.
“Oh yeah…”
Isabella looked crestfallen and my other friend Penny sighed, momentarily getting excited at the idea of having a turkey in the photo.
“Besides, my mom would kill me if I let a turkey run around the house,” I reminded them.
Penny nodded, and began to set up the dining table with cloths to look aesthetically pleasing and perfect for our Thanksgiving photoshoot. She placed three vases of colorful fall flowers I helped with getting utensils and placing the dishes on the table. Isabella began to set up the tripod and line up everything when my stupid little eight year old brother rolled in on his roller skates and crashed into the table knocking over vases, spilling water all over the table cloth, and one of the vases shattering on the ground.
“Jason! Watch where you’re going!” I yelled, trying to avoid stepping on any glass.
“You should watch where your table is!” he yelled back, sticking his tongue out before rolling off again.
Rolling my eyes, I stormed off to the cleaning closet to retrieve the broom. I aggressively sweeped the floor and my friends looked concerned, but I was too upset to care. When I marched back to the closet, I passed by the fridge seeing my brother’s hand turkey from his class. Suddenly, I had a lightbulb moment. Dropping the broom and dustpan and running back to my friends, I looked at them with big eyes and a large grin. I probably looked crazy, but my mind was bursting with ideas.
“What’s wrong with you?” Isabella questioned.
“Jason. He can be our turkey!” I cried.
“He’s a human.” Isabella replied deadpan.
“Maybe not,” I only had a slightly wicked grin on my face and my friends seemed befuddled.
I guess my mom found out even though my friends took him out for the afternoon until I could find a fix.
“Jamie Lana Peterson!” she screamed again and I sighed.
Standing up from the ground of my floor, I made my way down the stairs dreading what would happen when I made it downstairs. I can only imagine how upset my mom will be, but hopefully she’ll forgive me once I fix Jason. Finally, after slowing on the last few steps, I turn the corner to the kitchen where I see my mother holding up the dustpan and broom.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Just accidentally knocked over a vase. Forgot to put the broom away,” I shrugged casually and my mother nodded before turning away to finish putting away the groceries.
Linhly Harwell is a sophomore at a liberal arts high school specializing in creative writing. From a young age, Harwell displayed an interest in writing which led to her pursuing writing seriously. Over the years, she has been able to dabble in different fields of writing such as poetry, short stories, nonfiction, screenwriting, and more!
