The Weekend at the Cottage

“Rachel, we’re here to relax,” chides Sarah as she snatches the phone from her friend’s hand before dropping the phone into her bag, safe from Rachel’s sight. 

“Go help Jane with supper,” Sarah orders, grabbing a broom. 

Rachel groans and heads to the kitchen, where Jane is peering into the oven and smelling the air to see if the chicken is all cooked. 

“Mm,” says Rachel, forgetting her bad mood, “That smells good!” Jane smiles and slides mashed potatoes into a bowl, then sets it in the middle of the table. “I also baked my famous apple pie,” Jane calls over her shoulder as she arranges the food until she is convinced that it looks nice and neat.

  ​Soon, the chicken is ready and cooked, and Sarah comes in for supper. Jane pours everyone a cup of ice - cold iced tea and everyone takes a sip before digging into the chicken and pie. After finishing the wonderful dinner, the girls go outside to talk about what activities they will do tomorrow, or Saturday. They decide to go for a boat ride and catch some fish, but their conversation is quickly ended when a faint sound of a phone ringing echoes in Rachel’s pocket. She pulls out her phone and turns off the buzzer, then smiles sheepishly.

She is sent to bed, and Sarah hides the phone in her suitcase under the bed.

  ​The next day, they hop into the huge boat and set their supplies next to them. Rachel calls the back of the boat and puts her book on her lap. She carefully pulls out her phone and mutes it to make sure she won’t have to give up her phone again.

Jane takes the middle row and sets her camera on her lap. She starts to snap photos of a bluebird eyeing them suspiciously.

Sarah takes the front seat and starts to row. She has binoculars hanging from her neck. Her swimsuit scratches her skin as she starts to pull the paddles with force. Jane passes out stale bread and fruit, and reminds everyone that this is their breakfast.

Their stop is the pond that is far away. They all get comfortable for a long ride ahead. Sarah soon realizes that the river is calm and will push the boat on its own, so she slides into the second row and helps Jane find the right things to take pictures on. Rachel sneakily texts her boss and work friends while the two are occupied with photos, or so she thinks. Sarah snatches the phone from her hand, and drops it into the cool and inviting river, and soon the sparkly pink case is out of sight.

Rachel groans and slumps on the bench and starts to flip her book pages with vengeance. She growls and mutters to herself while Jane and Sarah happily ignore her and snap photos of a fish swimming near the boat.

  ​“Let’s fish,” announces Jane after thirty minutes. Rachel sits up and grabs her fishing rod and says loudly to irk Sarah, “I’m going to catch the first fish!” Sarah scrambles back to the front seat and argues, “No I am!” She starts to eye the fish swimming around her worm and sighs. “Probably not.” Rachel thinks she has the lead when she sees how plentiful the fish are until Jane pipes up, “I got one!” The fish is huge and just right for the three of them. Even though she is deeply disappointed she didn’t win the contest, even Rachel has to agree the fish looks delicious.

  ​Finally, after another hot thirty minutes, they reach the pond. The pond is crystal clear and perfect for swimming. All three jump in to realize that even though the sun is beating down on the pond, it is still freezing cold. To warm up, they agree to swim a few laps and play before going back to the cottage. They play Marco Polo, race, and float on their backs until their toes are blue. They climb back onto the boat and decide to warm up their shivering bodies before letting Sarah steer the boat back home. 

Rachel lays down on the boat, bored and shivering. Sarah is now rowing the boat, all warmed up, and Jane is reading a book while covering herself with three huge towels to block out the sun. Rachel looks for her phone, then realizes what happened and sulks again. Jane drapes her with a fresh towel and starts to read out loud to her. The birds chirp a song, and with the heat wrapping around her like a blanket, Rachel falls asleep in seconds.

Bump. 

“What was that?!” cries Rachel as she jumps awake. She realizes that she has fallen asleep and asks while inspecting her arm, “Did I get sunburned?”

“No,” Jane replies. “I covered you with towels. And we’re back at the cottage.” Rachel nods and asks out of the blue, “What about my phone?”

Jane rolls her eyes and responds, “We got your phone and Sarah hid it.” She helps Rachel out of the boat and onto the land. She expertly ties a rope to the boat and ties the rope to a sturdy tree branch nearby. 

“Come on,” Jane says impatiently as she grabs all of the towels and heads to the cottage. Rachel runs back home, not even offering to help Jane. She quickly takes a shower and finds her phone behind the toilet. “Yes!” she mutters, and turns on the phone. She mutes it again and starts to text when Jane knocks on the door. “Lunch is ready,” she calls, then adds, “It’s not the fish. The fish is for supper.” Rachel rolls her eyes, then slips her phone in her jeans pocket. She grabs a long shirt to cover the lump and unlocks the door. Jane looks at her unusual fashion suspiciously before they both go down and into the dining room.

  ​For lunch, Jane has prepared chilled cucumber soup and a small sandwich to go with it. The soup cools down the trio as they slurp away. Since the heat is now unbearable, they all close the curtains and decide to relax and have free time. Unluckily for Rachel, Sarah notices the lump underneath the thin shirt and pulls out the phone. “Argh!” groans Rachel. Sarah sighs and sneakily drops the phone in the tea bag pot, where all the tea bags are stored. Jane notices but keeps her mouth shut, and asks, “What do you want to do?” They think for a while and decide on drawing, which none of the girls are good at and would love to try.

  ​Soon, they have paper laid out in front of them and they start drawing. They all decide to draw the delicious - looking ruby red apple in front of them. Their drawing techniques are extremely different, however. Sarah quickly draws without a second thought, Rachel draws cartoon -like characters and erases more than she draws, and Jane sketches softly, as if the paper is complaining. Soon, they finish as the clock strikes four, just when Jane starts to make supper. Before she rushes into the kitchen to cook the fresh fish, they compare their unlike drawings. Sarah’s is smudged and represents a cherry, Rachel’s drawing looks like a cartoon apple you would never eat, and Jane’s looks like a soft peach, just ready for a set of teeth to bite into. That reminds Jane, and she runs out of the room.

  ​Jane starts to cook the fish and sprinkles a little bit of pepper. She squeezes some lemon on the fish so that it won’t smell and to add that twist of flavor. She can hear over the fizzling of the oil Sarah’s commanding voice telling Rachel to help Jane with the fish. “I don’t need any help, please,” Jane calls as she pokes a hole with a toothpick in the fish. It bubbles and she shakes her head. Not ready yet, she thinks. She decides to make a quick salad and chops lettuce. She expertly squeezes ranch sauce onto it and adds croutons. “Done,” she says out loud and realizes the fish is also all cooked. She slides the just - right cooked fish onto a flowered plate and dances into the dining room where her two (grumpy) friends are sitting.

“Dinner is served,” she bubbles, trying to lighten the mood. Both Rachel and Sarah smile at her then glare at each other as Jane quickly gives everyone the same amount of fish. Everyone is taking huge bites and there is no talking except for “Mm” s and “Yum, I’m so full.”

  ​After dinner, they sit by the fireplace and eat the delicious chocolate cake that Jane has made. Both Rachel and Sarah are in a good mood after a good meal and dessert, and soon they are all playing Scrabble. When the first cricket starts to sing, they close all the windows and head upstairs for another night of sleep.

  ​The next day, they decide to have free time. Jane takes out the bread, the yawns and puts it away. She takes out the cereal and pours it into her bowl of milk. Sarah walks in, ready for a nice breakfast when she spots groggy Jane taking bites of cereal. “I guess you excited yourself yesterday,” Sarah chuckles as she spreads jelly on toast. She pushes away the bowl of cereal and hands Jane the bread. She also makes a cup of coffee to wake Jane up, who has a sip and suddenly is wide awake. However, after a couple of minutes, when Rachel comes down the stairs ready for a fresh day, Jane is snoring on the table and she is carried back to bed.

  ​Sarah decides to read her favorite book, The Wind in the Willows, in the living room. She sips her cold lemonade to stay cool and slides an ice cube down her back. “Ah,” she says, “No distractions, no Rach-” she suddenly jumps up and scrambles up the stairs. She makes such a ruckus that she alerts Rachel. She stuffs the phone underneath her pillow, and pretends to be examining her clothes when Sarah bursts into the room. Sarah quiets when she sees that Rachel is not using her phone and that Jane is still in dreamland.

  ​Soon, it’s lunchtime and Jane is awake. She pulls on a pretty summer dress and brushes her hair, then braids it and ties the ends with a matching ribbon. She skips down the stairs, puts on her kitchen apron, then makes homemade burgers and perfectly salted fries. She also makes fresh ice-cold lemonade and calls, “Lunch is served!”

Everyone is happy, since they had such a great meal after a measly breakfast. Jane notices a rip in one of Rachel’s shirts and starts to hem it, working slowly but accurately. Sarah sits next to her and starts to enjoy her book while sipping her saved lemonade from lunch, and Rachel fans herself while she practices yoga on the mat. The minutes tick by and soon Jane is done and Rachel puts on the shirt. Jane starts to knit, doing it quickly now and threading different colors to make a pair of soft, warm socks for winter.

The hours creep by super slowly, and the sun grows stronger and stronger. They girls are so silent that you could hear a feather drop from a mile away. Rachel is a down-ward dog when she hears a low whine. “Arf, arf,” barks a dog outside their door, and they decide to keep the abandoned dog.

“It’s dog dirty,” jokes Rachel as they carry the small dog into the bathtub. The dog loves the bath and they scrub flower smelling soaps all over it.

“Its name is Buttercup,” says Rachel and clucks her tongue. “Here, Buttercup.” The dog growls and moves towards Jane, who is making dog treats. She feeds her one and she barks happily and twirls around in a circle. Sarah’s stomach growls as she says sheepishly, “Buttercup’s not the only one hungry.” Jane laughs and starts to mush tomatoes.

“Next on the menu, homemade pizza!”

  ​However, when they’re eating the yummy meal, they are gloomy. Sarah and Rachel don't even ask for dessert as they slump up the stairs. They fold their clothes and put them away in their suitcases. They call a taxi and slump on the porch stairs and rub the dog, who also looks just as depressed as they feel.

“I’ll miss this place,” Rachel says soberly as she tries to pet Buttercup. Buttercup nips her little pinky and growls loudly. “Fine, doggie, fine,” she snaps.

  ​“Let’s come back here someday,” suggests Jane as the taxi pulls up. Everyone agrees, even Buttercup, who barks and wags her tail happily.