But Janey refused to believe there was such a thing as trick cuffs, so I had to get really good at picking the lock, my Grandpa Earnest having had to come over the first two times it happened. Last time I had successfully learned to do it myself with just a hair pin.

Which was just another amazing use for hair pins. I learned from my Mom’s Dad to always wear one on you because they had so many uses – I actually wore four in my hair, two pinned on each side, because I was always using them.

Jane returned and dropped the cloth over my hand and did the wave of her wand again, saying the magic words, and then striking the cuffs.

Now, when the magician that came to our town once a year for the Harvest Festival explained to one of my aunties after she made out with him in the harvest maze, you’d hit the trigger on the trick cuffs and they’d pop up into a pocket in the cloth, so when you quickly grabbed the cloth, you were grabbing the stuff cuffs.

But these were not trick cuffs.

And that was not a cloth with a pocket.

So I sat there on my knees for a full five minutes while Janey continued to hit the cuff with her wand, growing increasingly frustrated.

When my Mom told her to try again later and practice some more, I shook off the cloth and reached up to pull out one of the hair pins that pinned back my dark auburn hair, holding it in my teeth to carefully pick the lock. It took about five minutes, pressing and dragging, before it gave a muted click, straightening suddenly to form a stiff, straight item.

I handed it back to Janey as I stood, patting her head as she stared down at the cuffs with a mean glare.

I went back out to the porch and sat down, picking my knife back up to return to carving along the edge of the porch, continuing the ongoing designs my family was doing. My mom had started it, and it ended up being something that we all sort of worked on when we had some free time.

I worked there in silence for a few hours, listening to the songs on the radio my mom listened to while cooking with Simone, one of our outside family dogs laying on the porch next to me. I thought on the stories I was working on, something I usually did when sitting out here. Usually I had a notebook with me, but I had just finished filling my last one and Dad was going to bring me one home from town when he came home from work.

When I saw him coming up the path a little while later, the dog keeping me company stretched before he hurried down to greet Dad, head bumping Dad in the back of his hips until Dad reached back and patted him.

Dad slapped down a fresh notebook and a box of pencils in my lap in greeting before he sat down next to me with a heavy sigh. Mom came out then with a drink for my Dad and a plate of candied apples, my parents kissing briefly before my Mom patted my head in passing on her way back to the house.

“How you doing, kid? Ready to start the lab work?” Dad asked as the dog groaned in a stretch before he flopped back down behind us on the porch.

I shrugged, sighing as I munched on a candied apple slice. “Sure, I guess – I know Blue’s not going to be happy about it, but, you know. Just means that things are changing.”

“You’ve always been good with change.” He grunted with a nod, sighing then.

“I adapt.” I said around my mouthful, swallowing my treat.

“Yeah you do.” He patted my back. We were quite for a while before he said “You know I’d like you to apply to the university while your in the city. You’re so smart, Ren.” He said before he chewed on his own slice.

“I’d rather write plays.” I said before I took another bite, Dad chuckling.

“Well your good at it,” Dad said with a sigh, licking his lips, “Maybe I’ll get one of your sisters to the university instead.” He said wistfully as he looked out at the sunset. “They’re all smart girls – Mimi’s got a real clever mind with biology. Maybe she’ll be a doctor...”

I nodded. “When they come to visit me in my amazing apartment in the city, I’ll make sure to show them the university.”

Dad laughed but nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” We were quite for a while before bad spoke again. “You know, when you go to the city for the-” He cleared his throat, “Record keeping thing, it might not be a bad idea if you stay an extra couple months to try and see what else you can learn there to, you know.” He shrugged a shoulder. “To sharpen your craft or whatnot.” He reached up then and adjusted the hat on his head, frowning as he looked to me. “So you don’t have any regrets about coming home to soon.”

“Yeah?”

Dad shrugged again, “It’s important to make sure your happy and whole before you settle down and start having kids. If you don’t know who you are, then you won’t be able to share yourself with someone, I don’t think. I was lucky...your mom and I grew closer together, and have fallen in love with the people we’ve grown up to become, but…” He frowned, “Not everyone has that leisure, and getting married before you know who you are…” He looked to me, “You just gotta know who you are before you can honestly offer yourself to someone.” He said with a firm nod. I nodded a little as well, because that sounded about right. “So I think...maybe you should stay in the city for an extra couple months, learn if you can, you know...live the kind of life you want to.”

I nodded and we were quiet after that for a while.

When dinner was ready, we went in and ate with the family, Dad helping mom with the dishes while I went up and got our overnight bags and the basket of goodies my mom had put together for Big Blue. When I had then loaded up in our carriage, we went around and said our goodbye’s to the girls and then headed out to go pick up my Grandpa Earnest a short carriage ride away.

A couple of my Aunts and their families were still living with my Grandpa Earnest and Grandma Rita so it was always busy at their house, but Grandpa was ready to go when we pulled up as he said he would be when I went to see him this morning. After brushing off his pants, he climbed into the front seat of the carriage next to my Dad while I was spread out in the middle seat, my legs hanging over the arm rest.

My grandpa turned to give me a smile, his skin stiff around the scars on his face, his jaw misshapen from the terrible break it was given the night they took my uncle Laurie. He reached back and briefly took my hand before he patted my Dad on the shoulder.

And then we were off.

Grandpa Earnest couldn’t talk anymore – he could make some noise because he still had vocal cords, but his jaw had been replaced and so, while he could eat and chew soft foods, anything that involved using your lips was to much for him.

So he communicated by writing on his little notepad.

I heard my Dad mumbling to him as I drifted off in the middle seat. The hope was I could sleep on the way there so I could hang out with my cousin Joshua – he was for sure my favorite out of all my cousins. He was always with Big Blue outside of a few instances that required him not to be in the room, but those were pretty rare.

So I was going to try and soak up as much time as I could.