Enclosed part 3 (short story)

"VIOLET!"

"IT WASN'T ME!" I heard Mitch groan loudly and I slowly made my way over to the door, feeling around to find the handle and then turning it and stepping out into the hallway. "ARE YOU GUYS OK?" Mitch called, his voice coming slowly up the stairs. "Yea!" Violet and I yelled in unison. I inched my way down the hallway and toward the staircase. "I'm gonna find the candles," Violet called out. "Me too," Mitch replied, "Jamie? Do you think you can come down to the first floor? It's best that we all stay on the same floor so no one gets hurt." I nodded, and then, realizing that he couldn't see me, yelled out, "Yea, I'm coming."

"Careful..." Mitch called, his voice drifting off. "Ok, no, wait," clearly he had been remembering all my experiences with klutziness. "Stay right there. I'll come get you." I stopped on the third stair down and kept both hands on the rail as I listened to Mitch's footsteps coming up the stairs. I waited a minute before I felt Mitch grabbing my arm. He slid his hand down to my hand, latching his fingers in mine, and pulled me slowly down the long stairwell. "Thank you," I said when we reached the bottom. He grunted in response, and Violet called out, "I found the candles!"

"You keep them all in one place?" I asked, making out the outline of Mitch's body in the dark and squinting to try and find his eyes. "Yea." He paused, "We have a lot of power-outages."

"Aw." I walked behind him as he walked toward Violet's voice. She lit the first candle and held it up to her face so we could see her. She lit two more and handed them to us, and then we helped her take out and light all twenty three of their candles. "You have a lot of candles," I said. Violet laughed, "Less than we'd like, with a house like this." I nodded, understanding, and followed them to the living room, where we placed the candles in candle holders and sat down on the couches, all holding our own small candle holder that had a handle and overheating from all the tiny surrounding flames. "Now what?" Violet asked after a few minutes of staring at the flames. "What do you guys usually do during power-outages?" I asked after another minute of silence. Mitch smiled, "We play 'I've Never'." I shrugged, "Ok. Let's do that." Violet laughed, "PG rated though, no beer."

"Good. I don't drink."

"Neither do we," Mitch replied, turning his candle in his hands. Violet leaned forward on her couch, placing her candle on the coffee table in front of her, "We usually just scream 'I HAVE!' if we have done it, rather than the beer-chugging." I laughed, "Ok. Let's do it." Violet smiled, "I've never been to Australia with a kangaroo in my bag."

"I HAVE!" Mitch called out. They laughed and my eyebrows rose, "Huh?" Violet laughed at me, sitting there confused. "It's more fun if you occasionally throw in something...abstract." I smiled back. "Ok." I looked at them both, a sly smile on my lips, "I've never lived in a four story house."

"I HAVE!" they cried out in unison. I laughed outright, and Mitch said, "I've never had a boyfriend."

"I HAVE!" Violet and I yelled with a laugh. "But I'm glad you haven't," I said to Mitch, laughing. He smiled. "I've never kissed Mitch," Violet said, smiling mischievously. I blushed, and thanked the Lord that they couldn't see my cheeks well enough to see them redden because of the power-outage. "I have," I said, much quieter than I had said it for the other questions. "Louder!" Violet yelled with a laugh. Mitch was silent. I threw my head back and, with a laugh, screamed at the top of my lungs, "I HAVE!" We all erupted in laughter. "Oh my gosh, the neighbors definitely heard that," Violet said through her sweet little giggles. I smiled. Then I locked my hands together and said, staring at Mitch, "I've never had cancer." Mitch stared at me, Violet gasped, and I smiled slightly. Mitch smiled back, a full smile, his cheeks going up and his eyes narrowing. "I HAVE!" he yelled, at least five times louder than my loudest scream. We all fell over laughing again. "I've never been trapped out of my own street," Violet said. "I HAVE!" I yelled, "And my voice will be completely gone by the end of this game." Violet laughed. "I've never had avocado ice cream," Mitch said, wrinkling his nose. "I HAVE!" Violet and I screamed, laughing. "Nasty," Mitch said, "that stuff is disgusting."

"Actually, it's pretty good," I protested. "Yea, and who are you to judge if you've never had it before?" Violet said. Mitch scoffed, "I never have, and never will, eat that stuff. The name itself is nasty." I laughed, "I've never met a movie star."

"I HAVE!" Violet yelled. She looked at Mitch, "You have too! You were their when we met...what's his name...Adam Sandler!" Mitch laughed, "Movie star. Right. Adam Sandler is a joke."

"Hey!" I protested once again, "I like him!" Mitch laughed at me, "Well, you have no taste in actors." I smiled. "You've really never seen a movie star?" Violet asked me. I nodded. "That's a bummer." I shrugged, "I don't really care. I figure the people around me are probably more interesting in person anyway." Mitch smiled at me. "Ok, well, I've never..." Violet paused, putting her fingers on her chin as she tried to think of something, "I've never...ooh! I've never worn cheetah print underwear while riding a motorbike through the Amazon with John Travolta." Mitch rose an eyebrow, "Neiter have I."

"I HAVE!" I yelled. Violet and I laughed and Mitch shook his head, "Girls. What is it with John Travolta?"

"Hell-oooo! Danny Zuko! Grease! That movie was pure genious," Violet said. Mitch rolled his eyes, "Depends on you definition of the word genious." I laughed, "I've never been to Canada."

"I HAVE!" Violet and Mitch yelled. I laughed as they started telling me about "All the Wonders of Canadia".

Maybe this wouldn't be such a boring night after all.

© 2010