An Evening At Home

It was ten o’clock when Chelsea returned home that night. Her parents were in the living room. Her father was engrossed in the newspaper, her mother was reading a mystery novel…probably something by Agatha Christie.

She stuck her head through the door. “I’m home.”

“Hi, darling,” said her mother. “How’d it go?”

“It was fun, as usual. I always enjoy myself there.”

“Good.”

Her father lowered his paper to smile his approbation, then returned to his reading.

Chelsea next paused by her sister’s room. Stacy was seated at her desk, arms folded across her chest, staring at her computer screen.

“You don’t look like you’re having fun,” Chelsea said.

Stacy sighed. “I’ve been sitting here for two hours. I think I’ve written about a hundred words.”

“Well, a hundred words is a hundred words. Write a hundred words a day, and at the end of the year you’ll have written ….36 thousand words.”

“That’s only a third of a book,” Stacy pointed out. “These days, you have to write 90 thousand words.”

“Well, so it will take you three years.”

“Yeah…three years. Elizabeth Peters can write three books in one year.”

“Well, that’s Elizabeth Peters. You’re you.”

“You’re so comforting, Chelsea.”

“I try. By the way, we’ve got a meeting with Robert Wade tomorrow. Apparently he’s got another job for us.”

“Oh, really? That sounds promising. We’ve just about exhausted the scuba diving around here. Maybe he’ll want to go over to Grand Bahama, or maybe the Turks and Caicos.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so. Well, I’ll let you get back to your writing. Night.”

“Night.”

Chelsea went to her own bedroom. She undressed and ran a nice, hot bath for herself. She spent several minutes soaking in the tub, reading Six Who Found Treasure, by Roger Burgess. Her sister was more likely to read environmental books, like Saving the Turtles or Saving the Whales…even Saving the Sharks, but her interest had always been in finding sunken treasure…whether it be gold or silver bars from a Spanish galleon or a sunken Greek temple, like in one of her favorite movies, For Your Eyes Only.

It would be interesting to see what tomorrow would bring.