The Skeletons' Tea Party

on holidays and family conflicts

This piece was written as part of my year-long creative writing challenge. Every Monday, I use a random number generator to select a new writing prompt and share my response by the following weekend. You can learn more about the project here.

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Write a story about something that you don’t like.

or

Free Write.

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The skeletons in the closet are all sitting down to tea. 

They’ve arrived in holiday finery to warm chilly bones by the fire, 

metacarpals cracking to the tune of Bing Crosby,

while snowflakes drift past the window outside. 

The slosh of the liquor bottle has summoned them, 

a funeral bell rung in reverse. 

Shots splashed into the eggnog, 

another bottle of pinot noir uncorked.

Patiently they’ve waited all evening, 

until the last of the guests are lounging on the sofa—

heads bowed, fingers clasped, 

silent glances exchanged between them, 

while the heady scent of bourbon fills the room.

A lull in the conversation precedes their act, 

the hovering note before a symphony. 

“Do you remember,” a cousin asks 

and all the milk-white cranials lift in unison. 

“That’s not how it happened,” her brother replies. 

Hollow eyes dart back and forth between the faces of the living. 

“I thought it was,” the sister chimes in.

The eldest skeleton takes a sip of her tea. 

“You don’t know the whole story,” an uncle says 

and joints creak as they all lean in.

(to be continued…)

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I love the holidays. I also dread them. As much as I want this to be a relaxing, joyful time of year, it always seems to be marked by family tension. Unresolved issues bubbling to the surface. Late-night, emotional conversations. Grief winding around our ankles like a cat.

Our extended family is going through a reckoning, so there’s been lots of holding space for everyone’s emotions this year. That on top of the normal holiday stress and a new baby has me feeling more wrung out than usual.

I started writing this piece last year to try and capture some of these feelings. It’s still in progress and I’m sure I’ll be continuing to add to it over the next month.