Yeah, I know it's short. And yes, I know it's crappy. The only reason it's going up on here is cause I can show my teacher that I did, in fact, do the assignment if it's up on here. Disclaimer: Don't own of Mice and Men. Do own Jenny and the puppy though. ~ Larka
'Of Mice and Men' Epilogue:
The house was small, only one floor high. The off-white wall had been tinged gray from lack of use, the wooden floors creaked when pressure was placed on them, and the door hinges were in need of a good oiling. George stood in the middle of the kitchen, running one finger along the dust covered counter-top. He could hear Candy rummaging around in the next room over. A ghost of a smile crossed his lips as he heard the clatter of claws on the old floors followed by a lot of barking. "Shut it, you damned pup!" Candy shouted. "George, Slim's here. And he's brought a girl with him."
George walker out into the front room, frowning slightly. Slim hadn't said he'd been brining anyone. The front room was large, with one wall facing the drive. A door, wide open for the moment, was smack in the middle of this, with two large windows on either side. In the center of the room were Slim and Candy, chatting away. Slim had one arm around the waist of a girl who was standing beside him. She had shoulder length, red-gold hair that looked like it wouldn't even wave, much less curl, and blue~green eyes of a lovely shade that danced with mirth as she watched the yellow, floppy eared puppy prance about. A smattering of freckles dusted the tops of her cheeks and ran across the bridge of her nose. She was pretty, in a rugged, country girl sort-of way. One thing was most certainly for sure, she wasn't Curley's wife.
"There you are George." Candy chimed in, waving him over. "I was wonderin' where you'd got to."
"I was lookin' 'round the kitchen." George told his new house-mate. "Close to an inch of dust over everything in there." He looked at their conversational companions. "Hey, Slim. Thanks for coming by."
Slim smiled. "Anything for friends." He said. "I hope you don't mind, I brought my girl, Jenny, along to help out. She's better at the whole organization thing than I am." They all smiled at the memory of the mess their bunk house used to be. "I figured she'd also be able to help keep the pup here out from under our feet." Slim gestured to the four-legged fur ball that was now snuffling around their shoes.
"I love animals." Jenny spoke up now, smiling at the little creature. She had a sweet, uplifting voice with an accent that could get very annoying if used in long-winded lectures, but was currently a refreshing change from Candy and Carlson's monotonous tones.
George rewarded her with a small smile. "Well, any help is welcome, Miss Jenny." He told her. "I'm not sure if I have anything for you to do right now, but…"
"You said there was dust in the kitchen right?" she interrupted, startling him. "I'll just clean up in there and then get dinner started while I'm organizing. That way, we can all eat at a reasonable time." She said, smiling graciously at all of them before peaking Slim's cheek (which she had to stand on tip-toe to reach) and walking through the door George had entered.
"She's something, ain't she?" Slim said dreamily, sounding more like a love-struck teenager than a fully grown ranch worker.
"Somethin' is right." Muttered Candy. "I'm gonna go get the next box. Come on you!" he barked at the puppy, who followed Candy out the door.
"I met her down at the market a few months ago." Slim said to George. "She was buyin' a lot of food 'cause her Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins were coming over in the coming week. She had a lot of bags, so I asked if she needed help….." George nodded as Slim continued to speak, his mind wandering. Would Lennie have met a nice girl like her? Someone who didn't care what he was like or that he had problems? What then? "…But enough 'bout me." Slim had ended his tale. "How're you holdin' up?"
George jumped as he realized Slim was no longer speaking, but watching him expectantly. "Oh, uh, I'm doin' okay, I guess."
Slim raised an eyebrow. "Now, I don't believe that for a second." He told George sternly.
George sighed. "I don't know. I keep wondering what would Lennie do if he were here. Go on asking 'bout the rabbits, probably." He chuckled a little. "I guess I must be having what them priests call a 'moral crisis' or somethin' like that."
Slim smiled sympathetically. "I guess I can't say it'll get better, can I? The pain'll never go away, George, but it'll get easier to bear. So much so that eventually, you'll stop noticing it."
Now it was George's turn to raise an eyebrow. "When did you become a philosopher?" he asked.
Slim shrugged. "Must be Jenny's rubbing off on me." He said.
"Yeah." George looked between the door of the kitchen, behind which they could here humming and then back at Slim. "Speaking of Jennie, she got any sisters?"
"Sisters, female cousins, and each one has two brother on either side of 'em." Slim told him. "Wooing on of 'em is no mean feat, but them girls can hold their own. I saw one beatin' up on her cousin from scaring away a young lad." He grinned. "Remind you of anyone?"
George smiled as well. "Curley, how's he doing? And Crooks? Haven't seen him in a while neither."
"Crooks is still the stable hand, complains every damn day 'bout it too." Slim rolled his eyes. "The man's loosing his mind out there all by hisself. Curley's…..well, Curley's coping. That's the only way to describe it." Slim's eyes got a far away look. "I took him with me to Jennie's for Thanksgiving, I asked first o'course. He clicked with many of the brother's. They got so drunk that Jennie's ma threw them out on their asses and made 'em sleep in the barn." Slim chuckled. "I'll never forget the look on their faces in the morning'." There was a crash from outside, followed by a load of swearing. Slim grimaced. "We'd better go help out Candy for he breaks anything." He said.
George nodded. He felt lighter than he had in weeks. They walked out to the door and George looked around for the yellow pup. The little creature was digging beside a bush, both paws working in tandem so that it made the little thing bounced up and down, yipping happily. George shook his head. "Lennie!" he called. "Lennie, leave it!" The puppy gave him a look of sad-eyes and ran over to him, still covered in dirt. George smiled. Life was good.
Silly, short little thing. Okay, so I know I messed up and didn't get the Second chapter of 'Finding Faith' up before school started. Obiviously, otherwise this wouldn't be on here. The thing is, I've edited the thing four times and it won't flow right. I've got one of my friend's helping me with it. She's in my Hnrs American Lit class, so she might put her epilogue up too, you never know. ~ Larka