Emmelia - episode 2

Emmelia - episode 2

Emmelia sat quietly in the library. She was reading an article in a fascinating magazine entitled 'The Superiority of Turnips'. Her sister Elizabeth sat nearby, sipping tea and working a cross stitch tulip on a cushion. "How is Mr. Smithers doing these days?" Elizabeth asked. "I heard from Aunt Hilda that he was having some medical trouble." "He's doing all right, his condition is nothing serious," replied Emmelia cheerfully. "He's been very happy because his business is going well. I'm very pleased for him." "Oh, I'm so happy for you," said Elizabeth. "It sounds as though it's going well." At that moment a loud crash sounded from the other end of the large room. A thick book, "The exhaustive guide to the inner workings of generic clocks" had fallen off the top shelf of the bookshelf and lay open on the floor. Emmelia looked up in time to see Mr. Smithers scaling the top shelf of the bookshelf, stepping carefully over books and holding on to the decorative woodwork to keep from falling. His eyes locked on the large brass chandelier hanging about six feet away from the bookshelf where he stood. Emmelia's eyes widened. Elizabeth saw her expression and turned around to see Mr. Smithers. Elizabeth gasped. "Oh my! What on earth is he doing?" Emmelia sighed. Poor man. Perhaps the stress of organizing eight consecutive stress management seminars had finally taken it's toll on his mind. Mr. Smithers pulled up his pants, stuck his arms out in front of him, squatted, and leapt from the bookshelf.

He flew through the air for a short moment, and then landed in a tangle atop the chandelier. The brass decorations rattled and clanged, and the chandelier swung away from the bookshelf. Mr. Smithers' shirttails flapped loudly as he swung back and forth. He wooped and shouted like a young boy and pounded his chest like some prehistoric jungle man. Elizabeth screamed and her face turned white. Smithers' tie flapped in the breeze behind him and he shouted "Would you look at this, Emmelia? When we had this installed the workman said not to hang anything off it because the ceiling beams wouldn't hold! And look at this! I'm hanging on it and nothing at all has happened!" Elizabeth's face turned from white to a deep purple and she sank to the ground slowly.

Emmelia turned her head to watch him swing back again. 'Oh, the poor man.' Elizabeth thought sadly.I never thought it would come to this. Mr. Smithers swung back and forth gleefully, still shouting and trying to spin the chandelier around. "Oh, Emmelia, dear," he shouted. "Won't you run and fetch the camcorder dear? This would make a lovely presentation for the next anti-stress convention at the Henry Watsonburger Center!" Emmelia sighed. 'I really should put up that jungle gym in the basement.'