Uncle Sal and the Hidden Habit (Episode 47)

Uncle Sal hung his periwinkle stovepipe hat on the hat rack and slid into the booth across from his sister. The bags under her eyes had grown since the last time she saw her. She stirred her tea with a Jimmy Carter spoon and barely looked up as Sal entered the booth.

"What's the matter now, Mary Evelyn? Every time I see you, you look like someone whose pet turtle just died."

"Well, it's that younger sister again. I mean, we had that problem with the...noises from her room. And then she just got sullen for a while."

"Yeah, yeah. And she wouldn't even play the weekly canasta game. What's she up to now?"

"Well, she might have worked her way right out of the convent this time. And it's too bad. She's got such a good heart."

"Maybe so, but without ever having met her, I'd say she's just too wild to be in a convent. But you didn't answer my question."

"Well, she got sullen for a while. And then, one day, she was back to normal. I don't know if one of the other sisters had a chat with her or what. But she was her usual happy self again. We found out this week why she's been so happy. She's been sneaking out at night. She won't say what she's been doing, but we can only imagine. Every night, she's been sneaking out and coming back in sometime early, and I mean early in the morning."

"I gotta say, I can't blame her. Prolly gets awfully stuffy in that convent, 'specially for a young woman. How'd she get caught?"

"We have this umbrella stand by the door, shaped like a cat. You know, it hasn't rained in a while so no one has needed to use it. Well, one night, Sister Mary Katherine came in kind of late. She couldn't sleep and she went for a walk even though it was drizzling. Well, when she put her umbrella into that umbrella stand, it didn't make the usual sound it makes when an umbrella hits the bottom. Sister Mary Katherine looked inside and she saw a habit. Well, this young sister, she's the only one small enough to fit in it, so..." Mary Evelyn's voice trailed off.

"That's pretty sharp. She was going out every night and when she came back, she'd pull her habit out of the cat."

This episode featured:
Dallas Royer as Uncle Sal
Claire Voyence as Sister Mary Evelyn
and
Jellybean Merengue as the Jimmy Carter spoon

Tune in next week when Uncle Sal says, "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willets?"

[29 June 2008]