by Julie Helms

Created on: September 02, 2011   Last Updated: September 24, 2011

“Look, this clock is the only thing I am taking from the house.” Nancy stated, trying to contain her exasperation.

“You were the favorite. You got everything handed to you. You can't have this too,” spit out Jenny.

Ignoring that blatantly false summation of their growing-up years, Nancy reasoned with her sister. “Jenny, you are getting the house and everything in it. Why can't I have Dad's grandfather clock without you feeling cheated?”

“Because that's all you do is cheat,” hissed Jenny.

Nancy shook her head. The will gave her the clock, so there really was no dispute. She thought back to when she was a little girl and her daddy showed her how to carefully raise the weights once they neared the bottom and how to gently start the pendulum swinging if it had stopped. She had even taken charge of dusting and polishing the wood.

When her father's dementia had set in, Jenny deceitfully got him to change his will, excluding most everything from Nancy. Interestingly, the one thing her dad insisted on was that Nancy get that clock. Even through the webs of his dying mind that thought persisted. So the grandfather clock remained in the will for Nancy.

Despite Jenny's protests, the beautiful, hand-carved grandfather clock was brought it to its new home.

The following evening, Nancy and her husband were out of town. Jenny showed up at her house with some thug of a friend in tow. They broke in, Jenny's one-track mind focused on the thing that she had been denied.

The “friend” was strong enough to move the clock by himself, but he was drunk. As he began to maneuver the clock out of its corner, he lost his balance. Both he and the clock hit the ground with a crash. The glass front on the face of the clock was smashed and a large fissure ran down the wood on the side. The clock had been split top to bottom.

At first Jenny flew into a rage at the loss of the only thing in life that could make her happy. But then she began to think. Then she chuckled.

“That's okay, if I can't have it then neither can she!” They drove off, laughing stupidly, throwing chunks of wood out the window as they went.

Learn more about this author, Julie Helms.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.