"Elaine!"
"Maria!"
"Come in, come see the new house!'
"Where are the kids?"
"The kids ... hm, I think they're outside playing. They were unpacking boxes all day."
"That's certainly a lot of boxes."
"I know, right? Opening them all, it's like Christmas! And the present is always something you know you like! I did all the foodstuffs first thing. Would you like some spaghetti? I've got an induction stovetop that I'm told can boil water in two minutes! And spaghetti!"
"Sure!'
" ... ok, I don't have spaghetti. I was sure I did. Maybe I put it in another drawer? I don't know. I'm sure it will show up. I have all these new drawers! They slide in and out ... did I mention it's a WHOLE NEW HOUSE to play with?"
"You did."
"And oh! Like, I just unpacked my old tapdancing shoes. And my horse's tapdancing horseshoes! I have them up in the master closet. Let me show you the master!"
"Nice vaulted ceiling."
"And did you see this water cathedral of a master bath and walk-in jacuzzi? Oh, here, I think it's this closet ... hum ..."
"No tapdancing shoes?"
"I'm pretty sure it was this closet. Maybe it was in the basement."
"You have a basement?"
"I do! With laundry, storage, and a mini particle accelerator! Come, I'll show you."
"Is that a picture of your shaggy dog?"
"Yes, that's Gogol! It was in the box of framed hallway photos. That's the only one I've hung up so far."
"Oh I think I found your kids. It sound like they're playing in the basement."
crunch crunch crunch crunch
"Ashley! Jason! What are you doing?"
"We're tapdancing on spaghetti, Mummy!"
"It makes this lovely crunching sound! Listen!"
crunch crunch crunch crunch
"STOP STOP STOP you've ruined the spaghetti and you're making a huge mess!!!"
"I'm sure we could gather it with a broom and dustpan and still cook it"
"I think it's more like orzo now"
"Oh my new house!"
crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch crunch
This was in response to a prompt on reddit.com r/WritingPrompts, "A strange, but understandable story revolving around spaghetti, a missing object, and tap dancing."