Pearle

Pearle

By Pat McManus

The Davis family arrives at their grandfather’s lake house as the sun is setting. The three older boys Dillon, 14, Hunter, 12 and Tanner, 10 run in leaving their 8 year old sister, Pearle, in the back of the car to bring in the towels, groceries and backpacks.

The boys run right passed their grandpa who is making sandwiches at the table and dart upstairs to pick out their beds in the loft where two sets of bunk beds with nautical blankets await.

Pearle rushes in and drops her backpack and the boys’ towels then jumps into her grandfather’s arms. “Grandpa! I’ve missed you! Can you take me on the boat tomorrow – down by the beach? Please!”

Grandpa leans down so he can look into her eyes, “I’m making a picnic lunch for us right now. We’re leaving at 6 a.m. sharp!”

Pearle goes to run upstairs but the boys block her at the top of the steps. “No girls allowed!”

Pearle is fuming, “I hate them!”

Grandpa smiles at her. “Boys come down here. We’re gonna play a little game. And the winner gets twenty thousand dollars!”

The boys look at each other in disbelief and Pearle tries to get their eye contact as she jumps up and down, but they don’t even include her in their excitement.

Mom looks at grandpa, “I hope this ends well.”

Grandpa to the kids, “After your grandma passed away, ya know we sold the house and we made enough to give all of you thirty thousand dollars to use for college or towards a new house when you get older, right?”

Pearle smiles, “Yeah, you’re the best grandpa!”

Grandpa sits down, “But, I want to see you happy now. It’s the only happiness I get without your grandma here.” To their mom, “So, let me do this sweetheart, ok?”

The kids jump up and down begging their mom to please let them play.

“O.k. but the end result is final.”

Grandpa smiles, “Great! Now, twenty thousand is what the winner gets or… you can work together and split it and get five thousand dollars each. Or, you can work on your own and you may not get anything. It’s your choice, but I already know who’s going to win! I just do.”

Dillon throws his hand up, “Yeah, me cause I’m the oldest and fastest!”

Grandpa breathes in, “Everyone has the same chance of winning. Everyone! Now I wrote down who I think is gonna win… either one person or all of you. I’m going to give this little black book to your mom. And at the end, we shall see if your old grandpa was right.”

He goes to the drawer and hands the little black book to their mom, “Here you go and no peeking.”

Tanner, “What do we have to do?”

The boys jump up and down punching each other and messing up each other’s hair. Pearle just stands patiently awaiting the directions.

“I set up a treasure hunt using clues. So, like I said, you can all work together… five thousand dollars each can buy a new computer, new phone, new video games, that quad you wanted, Dillon or that dirt bike you wanted, Hunter or that two thousand dollar baseball camp you wanted to attend, Tanner, or Pearle, you can buy that piano and play beautiful songs for your grandpa. Or… or, you can be greedy and risk it all. And only one person will get it all and the rest of you get zip-o…zero…nothing.”

The boys start looking around the room for the first clue. Hunter, screams, “Where’s the first clue?”

Grandpa takes out a note card from where he was sitting and reads, “You all ran to pick out a bed so you can be snug …but the first clue gets read by who gave grandpa a hug.”

“I did! I did! I always do!” Screams Pearle as she jumps up and down.

“That’s not fair!” Hunter yells.

With a nasty look, Pearle snarls, “Maybe you should’ve hugged grandpa! He is your grandpa!”

He hands Pearle the first clue. She opens it up so proudly, “JUST CAUSE YOU’RE BIG DON’T LEAVE OUT THE LITTLE…YOUR NEXT CLUES WILL BE FOUND UP IN THE FIDDLE!”

They all look around for the fiddle, Tanner screams, “Upstairs on the dresser!”

The boys leave Pearle in their dust as they push and shove each other to get up the steps.

Upstairs, they trip each other and push each other to get to the fiddle.

Grandpa yells, “You must read the clues out loud!”

Tanner manages to release his arm from Dillon’s hold and makes his way to the fiddle. They all see the clue taped inside. They rip off the strings as they all try to grab it.

Pearle gets upstairs and makes her way to them.

Dillon rips it out of the envelope. Pearle tries to help, “We’re supposed to work together!”

“No way!” Dillon grabs the clue.

“Read it out loud!” They all spurt out.

Grandpa yells, “Bring it down and read it out loud.”

They all run down the steps and anxiously wait for him to read it.

Dillon reads it… “YOU DON’T HAVE TO READ THE CLUES OUT LOUD… YOU CAN FIND THEM TOGETHER AND BE QUITE PROUD…. OR GO ON YOUR OWN… THERE’S CLUES ALL OVER THE PLACE… BUT THEY’LL ALL LEAD BACK TO ONE SMILING FACE… NOW DECIDE IF YOU ARE… ONE AND ONE FOR ALL… OR GO ON YOUR OWN AND RISK IT ALL… IF YOUR DECISION IS THAT YOU’RE ALL ON YOUR OWN… THEN TURN ME OVER AND AT THE END… DON’T MOAN.”

The boys all say in unison, “On our own! On our own!”

Dillon says, “Okay, I’m gonna turn it over.” He reads, “YOU’RE ALL ON YOUR OWN… THERE’S NO TURNING BACK! FIND YOUR CLUE ON THE WALL AND PLEASE DON’T SLACK!”

Tanner yells, “What does “slack” mean?”

Grandpa responds, gently, “Whatever your clue says, do it right and complete it. Now go!” Grandpa opens the door and the boys fly out like bats in the night.

Pearle picks up the clue they discarded then sits on the steps. “You should see what they did to your fiddle. I’m just gonna stay here and play with you, grampy.”

“I can’t play until the end of the game, but you CAN still win, angel.”

She sits on the steps saddened. “Wait a minute… it said “clues” not “clue” in the riddle. Are there more clues in the fiddle, grandpa?”

Grandpa shrugs his shoulders.

Pearl races upstairs.

In the backyard, the boys finally find their clues on the rock wall.

Dillon looks at his…COVER THE CHAIRS AND TIE THEM DOWN TIGHT… THEN GO TO YOUR MOM AND FIND YOUR DELIGHT.

Hunter reads his… TIE UP ALL THE FLOATS AND TUBES, MAKE THEM NICE AND TIGHT… THEN GO TO YOUR MOM AND FIND YOUR DELIGHT.

Tanner reads his… PUT THE GARBAGE IN THE BINS AND PUT THE LIDS ON TIGHT… THEN GO TO YOUR MOM AND FIND YOUR DELIGHT.

Pearle gets upstairs and looks deep inside the fiddle and pulls out another clue. She races downstairs, “I found another one!” Her tiny hands rip it open and she reads it as fast as she can… YOU THOUGHT WITH YOUR HEAD AND NOT WITH YOUR GREED… FIND THE NEXT CLUE AND YOU SHALL SUCCEED! GO TO THE PLACE WE ALL COME TOGETHER… IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE WORSE OR YOU’RE BETTER!

She looks at grandpa puzzled. “Where we all come together? You always say that me and the boys yell and scream but we all come together over delicious ice cream?”

She walks over to the freezer and takes out the ice cream a bit hesitant. She opens it up and there it is… another clue. Her face beams with pride as she gently removes it. “I found it, grampy! It says, YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT THE REST AND HELP THE NEEDY, YOU’LL NEVER GET ANYWHERE IF YOU ARE GREEDY! NOW GO TO THE PIANO AND GIVE IT A LIFT… I ALREADY KNEW YOU’D WIN THIS GREAT GIFT!”

She runs into the living room and opens the piano and finds a check for twenty thousand dollars. “I did it! I really did it! Even though I’m little!” Her smile lights the room. “Thank you, grampy, I love you!”

“I’m gonna write my own poem to the boys.” She grabs her notebook and begins writing.

Dillon covers the last chair and ties it tight. Hunter finishes tying all the huge tubes together and Tanner puts the last lid on the garbage can and makes sure they are all secure.

They all arrive to their mom at the same time, screaming and yelling. “I’m done! I’m done! I’m done too! What’s our next clue, mom?”

“Grandpa said to bring you all in when you were done.”

They all walk in and grandpa says, “Dillon, get me my little black book, open it up and you’ll see what comes next.”

Dillon, so proud he was chosen to get the little black book, opens it and reads, “Pearle won! She listened to the clue while I knew the boys would run off as they always do!”

“What?! How did little Pearle win?! No way! That’s not fair!”

The boys look at her with disbelief.

Pearle smiles and rambles, “I read the riddle and it said “clues” not just one “clue”… so after you guys left me as usual, I found another clue that led me to the ice cream… cause ice cream brings us together, and then to the piano and then to the money.” She smiles at them sarcastically.

The boys plop down on the couch, Tanner screams, “No way did she win! That’s not fair!”

“But I do have my own little poem for you boys!”

Pearl clears her throat, rubbing it in with a smile of discontent… “YOU TREAT ME LIKE I’M GROSS AND SAY GO AWAY…. BUT I AM YOUR SISTER AND I’M HERE TO STAY! I WON THIS MONEY FAIR AND SQUARE BUT BECAUSE I LOVE YOU… I AM WILLING TO SHARE!”

The boys jump up and down with happiness. Dillon screams, “Yes!”

The other two boys follow Dillon’s lead with cheers and happiness.

Grandpa gets up and says, “I knew you would leave her all alone… just like you always do. You boys go and play and she sits behind not welcomed and reads…and reads…while she hears you guys having a great time outside. I knew she would pick up on the first clue… it said… “CLUES” IN THE FIDDLE. Not one of you caught that… just little Pearle. I knew she’d look at it again… and she did… and she won.

The mother looks at the boys as if it’s their own fault, “So what do you think grandpa was trying to tell you with this game?”

Dillon, head down, “I shouldn’t leave her out.”

Hunter, looks at Pearle, “I shouldn’t just follow Dillon cause he’s older.”

Tanner, “We should’ve worked together.”

Dillon, to his brothers, “Big deal! We still get five thousand!” He looks at his grandpa, “So, why did we have to do all those things?”

Grandpa smiles, “I just wanted to get my nightly chores done.”

The boys look at him, feeling stupid.

“Whatever.” To Pearle, “When do we get our money?”

Pearle curls up in grandpa’s lap ignoring the boys. “I wrote something for you too, grampy.”

The boys go crazy and run to their mom. She shrugs at them.

As they keep yelling how unfair it is to their mom, grandpa opens his little black book and reads, Thank you, grandpa for believing in me. The first thing I want to buy is an ice cream for you and me. I love you!

Dillon yells at Pearle, “Hello… when do I get my money?”

She hops down, “Just kidding, I’m keeping it all.”

Grandpa smiles, “That’s my Pearle.”