Okay, here’s part five of the Yarn Wars. So far I have 12 parts written and I think I’m nearing the end. I hope you like it!
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Seattle was creepy at night. The big buildings towered above Kira, and the Space Needle looked like some weird UFO perched atop a stick. Kira shuddered as she tried not to think of what had just happened. She concentrated on quietly climbing the hill.
At the top, there was a bench – perhaps for people to sit on to recover from the climb. Kira gladly seized the chance and plopped herself down on it. She pushed her hair out of her face and wondered when Harriet would appear.
Kira heard a creak behind her, and she whirled around. Then she relaxed, seeing Harriet walking up.
“I’m glad you came,” said Harriet, sitting down on the bench.
“I can’t be social,” blurted Kira.
“Social behaviors are always a waste, I agree,” Harriet sympathized. “But I suspect things are far worse than you are letting on.”
“It’s my mom, Barbara Lovelace-” Kira started, but couldn’t bring herself to say the awful words. If she said them, it would have to be real, and it couldn’t!
“Has she left?” asked Harriet.
“Yes,” moaned Kira. “And I don’t know how to get her back. She might be…she might not be alive anymore.”
“I’m so sorry, Kira,” said Harriet, looking away. “She was a good person. I’ll miss her.”
“You knew her?” asked Kira incredulously.
“Oh, yes,” said Harriet. “I was best friends with her mother.”
Kira stared.
“Surprising, isn’t it? Our worlds aren’t as different as the government would like us to think.”
“My mom told me to ask you about how the wars started,” Kira prompted. “She said that you would know.”
“She was right,” Harriet agreed. “I will warn you, though: it’s not for the faint of heart.”
“I’m stronger than I look,” said Kira defensively. “I can cope.”
“Okay,” said Harriet, “let’s start back when I met your mother.”
Harriet met Linda, Kira’s eventual grandmother, when she was ten years old. The two became friends almost immediately, and were inseparable.
Harriet had been crocheting since she was five, and Linda had just learned it. They crafted together every weekend at their local yarn store, that had a Yarn Club. It just so happened to be on Cherry Street.
“That’s why I told you to meet me here,” Harriet told Kira. “We’re sitting on what used to be the front step.” She continued with her story.
One day, Harriet and Linda were at the Yarn Club crafting away when a government worker came into the store. He ordered everyone to put their equipment down and come outside. Naturally, everyone complied, and they followed him into the road.
Once they got there, the man announced that crochet and knitting were not to mingle anymore. Everyone on the north side would learn to knit, and everyone on the south side would learn to crochet. The two sides would stay separate, since the two techniques weren’t supposed to be together.
Harriet and Linda listened to this announcement silently, but when the government worker had finished, Harriet still didn’t understand.
“Why do they have to be separate?” she called out right as the man was leaving.
He turned and glared at her. “It is none of your business, young lady.”
Harriet was quiet. The man left. Linda came over to Harriet and said, “I saw something on the news about knitting and crochet being separated. But I didn’t think it was true!”
“Is it against the law to cross over then?” asked Harriet, trying to brush off the unjustice of the situation.
“No, I don’t think so,” said Linda. “But I don’t think anybody would like you to.” She looked at the retreating government car.
“What I don’t understand is WHY they would do it!” Harriet protested. “There’s no reason. Everything was going just fine.”
Linda suddenly gasped. Her face turned pale.
“What?” asked Harriet, worried.
“You do realize what’s going to happen to us?” inquired Linda, her lower lip trembling. “You live on the south side! I live on the north side! We’re going to be separated!”
“We can’t be!” moaned Harriet. “It’s not fair. Why should the government decide who you’re friends with?”
“And I’m going to have to learn to knit,” added Linda. “Which I don’t mind, as I wanted to learn it someday anyway. But now I won’t be able to crochet anymore.”
“Why would they do it?” asked Harriet again. “There was no problem. This is all so random. People aren’t going to go along with it.”
“I think they are,” said Linda, looking off behind Harriet.
Harriet turned around. She saw a government car pulling up and a woman getting out. She was armed with a gun, which made the girls take a step back. The woman came over to the yarn store and nailed a plaque-like thing to the door. Then the car pulled away.
Without saying anything, Linda and Harriet walked to the door.
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I also thought I’d mention that I will be on vacation from August 17th to the end of the month, so if you have any pressing questions, speak now or forever hold your peace wait a bit. I’ve decided not to schedule any posts as I’m really calendar-challenged. And yes, I will post about it when I get back if you’re interested. 😉
Well, I’m off to crochet a Pinkloid from ea1701. 🙂 Have a lovely day!
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