Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

“Lena! Almost ready!” Grandma shouted from the
kitchen. “You dress and come down!”
Lena threw her suitcase and her duffel bag on the
bed, so she could keep her eyes on the window. Getting
dressed was rarely exciting to her. She wore practical
clothes, “stodgy, dull, and pathetic,” according to her
friends. She didn’t like people having more reasons to
look at her, to think that how she looked made them
know her. She’d been the show pony too often as a
child.
Tonight, though, there was a little carbonation in the
bottom of her stomach. Carefully she dug under layers
of clothes to find the Pants. They felt a little heavier than
they deserved. She held her breath as she unfolded
them, letting loose a thousand wishes into the air. This
was the beginning of their history, their life as the
Traveling Pants. As she pulled them on she felt the enormity
of making them count. She momentarily tried to
picture herself having big moments in the Pants. For
some reason, she couldn’t shake the vision of Effie wearing
them instead.
She stuck her feet into a pair of beat-up brown loafers
and headed downstairs.
“I made a meatball,” Effie declared proudly from the
kitchen.
“Keftedes,” Grandma clarified over her shoulder,
equally proud. “Effie is a Kaligaris. She likes to cook and
she likes to eat!” She gave Effie a hug to confirm what a
good thing this was.
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