Prudent Planning

Just waiting to be proof read.


  Sally the Tea Kettle whistled loudly as she realized her water was almost about to boil over. This was the second time today that she had forgotten what she was doing, and nearly ruined the water she was boiling. She was being undeniably ridiculous about the new Cookie Jar that was recently added to the community of kitchen accessories. But never the less, she was curious. He was interesting to her, and as handsome as a plastic Cookie Jar could be.

  One thought lingered in Sally’s mind. She was an antique, incredibly valuable she might be, but she was still ancient compared to the new resident of the Kitchen. Sally turned around to face the other way as her thoughts starting to get her into quite a cold mood. And this wouldn’t be good you see, someone would be there in just a few moment to collect the hot water, and how would they feel about the elderly kettle if the water was cold? Not good, that’s for sure.

  She concentrated inexplicably hard to keep that water as warm as it could be. As her owner came in, and slowly emptied her, she saw the new and beautifully plastic Cookie Jar out of the corner of her spout; he was awfully close to that ceramic Sugar Container, Jessica! Sally was unable to control herself, in midst of pouring, she started to get angry. Her owner must have noticed her disposition, because within seconds, she was tumbling down to the floor, with an “ouch” coming from somewhere in the vicinity of her owners burnt hand.

  She awoke sometime within the hour. As Sally took in her surroundings, she noticed that she was in her usual spot on the back left burner of the stove; right next to the containers, including The Cookie Jar. She was starting to overheat quickly while being so closes to something so beautiful. The old kettle slowly calmed herself as she tried to numb her mental anguish at the situation. Thoughts of the vile Sugar Container raged through her mind as she evaded the nagging Cookie Jar that immediately haunted her thoughts.

  Against her better judgment, Sally made several shy glances in the direction of the Cookie Jar over the course of the next few minutes. What she saw did not console her growing concerns about Jessica the Sugar Container. As Sally peered over toward the Cookie Jar, she couldn’t help but notice that Jessica seemed to scoot closer and closer over time. Sally didn’t like this, as you can imagine.

  Her thoughts instantly turned inward and darker.

  She had spent the most time in the kitchen; she had always been the nicest of everyone residing there. She didn’t think she deserved this atrocity! She should be able to be with someone she loves, and not have him stolen away by some cheap, new container.

  She thought back to when she was younger, and how situations like this were taken care of. Back in 1826, when she was made in a little village that today is considered Sheffield. Things were easier back then, she started to think. When there was a problem, you would just do away with it.
She grinned evilly as she repeated her though silently – when there was a problem, you would just do away with it. She started to move towards the forward burner right burner, a place she hardly ever sat.

  Jessica was used quite a bit, being the sugar container and all. Her typical place in the kitchen was right near the edge of the counter, so she could be easily reached by her owners when needed. And since her owners were very addicted tea drinkers, she was also conveniently placed right near the stove, where her owners often poured the hot water needed to make a decent tea.
 
  As Sally continued to plan her solution to this ‘jessica’ problem, she started to gain more confidence in its success. When she reached the front right burner, very close to where Jessica was currently residing, she rested. It was daytime, you see. If she did anything now, it would definitely draw the attention of everyone, including her owners. She couldn’t be held responsible for this, and she knew that everyone would see it as her fault.

  But it wasn’t, Sally thought. It was Jessica’s fault. Jessica was the one trying to steal away her love. Jessica is the one who is responsible for this injustice to love.

  So she waited, quietly and intently.

  Thousands of thoughts raced through Sally’s mind while she waited for it to get dark. Would she get caught? What would happen if she got caught? Would the cookie jar be upset if Jessica was no longer around?

  It didn’t matter, she decided. There was only one way to take care of this. She couldn’t compete with the new and ravishingly beautiful sugar container. Therefore, she must eliminate the competition in order to win it, and be able to enjoy the love of the cookie jar!

  Sally was bustling with excitement that she didn’t quite understand or expect. What she was about to do was heinous, and horrible yet she was excited to do it? She was thrilled by the feelings she was getting as the strange people that were her owners came into the kitchen to tidy up, and turn the lights off. 

  As her owner started to leave, he turned around and stared directly at Sally. She was very careful not to move, or act as if anything was out of the norm. He slowly trotted over to her, whistling an annoying, yet unfamiliar tune as he replaced her on the back burner. She started to panic, did he suspect her? Did somebody else possibly suspect her and tell him? She grimaced as she tried to keep calm.

  She did her best to remove the thoughts from her head, and calm herself. She had already made the decision that this is what was going to happen. She just needed to be a bit stealthier about it. After all, she was a tea kettle, not the quietest of kitchen accessories. But she easily navigated in the dark to the front burner again. There was no excess of noise, and she seemed like no one had noticed a thing.

  After waiting several hours, and plodding through her thoughts and imagination, she decided it was time to act. She noticed that Jessica had fallen asleep quite some time ago, and quite close to the stove at that.

  Sally cleverly judged the distance between her and Jessica, she could easily use her spout to just knock her off of the counter. The only problem she noticed was getting back to her original burner before anyone came in to investigate the noise that would be created.

  She decided to risk it; there was no other way that she could see out of this situation with the results she was looking for.

  Without a second though, she twisted quickly, and without looking to even see if the deed was finished, she rushed towards the back burner. Luck was with her despite her vile deed. The sound of Jessica shattering on the floor covered the noise of her rushing to the back of the stove perfectly.
No one would ever know it was her doing.

  She sat very quietly on her normal back burner spot as her owner came running into the kitchen nearly naked, and with a baseball bat being swung in random directions as he spun in circles.

  Once the initial commotion of his whirl-wind attack had died down, he noticed the cause of the noise and quickly looked around then behind himself to assure no one had seen his attempted onslaught. After reassuring himself that he took the best course of action, and there was indeed no intruder within the kitchen, he slowly walked towards the pile of sugar and broken ceramics.

  Sally sat and watched curiously and nearly naked man clean up her mess. She thought it was just delightful that she didn’t even need to do anything. She truly felt on top of the world at her accomplishment.

  She sneaked a glance at the cookie jar and marveled that he did not look upset in the least. Everything looked like it worked out for her. That was, until this nearly-naked man decided to vocalize his thoughts to the empty kitchen.

  “I guess I’ll need to go get a new Sugar container.”

  Sally nearly fainted. She didn’t think the plan through entirely enough to come up with a plan in case the new sugar container was just like the vile and home-wrecking Jessica.

  After several minutes of internal debate and nearly exploding with anxiety Sally decided that there was nothing she could do. She would have to deal with these obstacles and problems as they arose. She decided that tomorrow was a new day, and it was her day to make the cookie jar fall in love with her, no matter what manner of replacement came!
She again failed to think of everything.

  Sally was extremely tired as the next day began. Her late night excursion definitely took its toll. She decided to sleep in, it’s not like just a few hours of time would affect her relationship with the cookie jar by that much. She smiled as she thought about him, wondering what his name was. She was sure it was something amazing.

  She awoke to a sudden jolt of her being picked up.
 
  Sally started to panic. She was being shoved into a box; she didn’t know what was going on. As the light went out from the lid of the box being shut, thousands of thoughts went through her. Did they find out? Did they know what she did? What did the cookie jar think?

                * * *

  “Well, young lady, it seems that this is an 18th century tea kettle that would have been used by some very rich or incredibly fortunate people.”

  "Oh and how much is it worth?”

  “I would have to say, at least 300 dollars. It’s in very good shape, despite the one minor scratch on the spout.”

  The elderly lady clapped her hands excitedly. She had bought the tea kettle for just 30 dollars on eBay. Her gray and curly hair bounced uncontrollably as she nodded her head in excitement. Her eyes shined through her large, square glasses that could only be described as personal windshields for her aging eyes.

  “And miss, I could give you 350 dollars for it right now, what do you say to that?”

  “Oh, I’d love to sell it to you!”

  She grinned at the man, thankful he was taking this antique off her hands. She only hoped her sugar containers would stop breaking once it was gone!