The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn’t

By R.J. Byrd

It was 9 a.m. sharp when Becca Townsend ascended the stairs to ensure her sisters were awake. It was Thanksgiving, and they were going to cook dinner together this year. Becca had told her parents she would take care of dinner. At first, she considered ordering everything, but she then had the better idea of cooking it from scratch. It was perfect because her parents were on a trip and would be back that afternoon. It would be a huge surprise. Becca wanted everything to be perfect. She had come home from college with big news to share with everyone.

Much to Becca’s surprise, she saw her youngest sister, Caitlyn, coming out of her room all dressed and ready for the day.

“Wow, you’re up early,” said Becca.

“Yeah, well, I woke up early for some reason, so I decided not to waste the day.” Her sister’s dyed black hair shone under the hall lights, and her inquisitive green eyes stood out on her pale face.

“This is actually perfect; could you wait for me downstairs? I have to wake Summer up.”

Caitlyn looked conflicted for a few seconds before finally agreeing and going downstairs.

Becca knocked on the door of her sister’s room.

Silence. She knocked again.

“Summer, you awake? It’s Becca.” Total silence. Assuming Summer was still asleep, she walked into her room. Her sister’s room hadn’t changed much; it was still full of pink and adorned with posters of young, hot actors and singers. Becca wondered if her sister’s tastes would change once she got into college, which was only a year away. Becca tapped her sister’s shoulder.

Nothing.

She shook her shoulder.

“Come on, Summer,” said Becca in a sing-song voice. “Wake up. You need to get up now.”

“What the hell could you possibly want from me at this ungodly hour?” groaned Summer from under a thick layer of blankets and sheets.

“It’s only 9 o’clock,” replied Becca.

“But it’s Thanksgiving,” whined Summer, trying to keep her head under the covers as Becca tried yank them off.

“Exactly, which is why you have to come downstairs. Caitlyn is waiting,” said Becca.

“I don’t know who spawned that hippie freak, but it wasn’t our parents,” said Summer.

“She’s not that bad, come on.”

“Save the Turkeys!” shouted Summer, one arm springing out of the sheets, her fingers in a tight fist.

“What?” asked Becca.

“You’ll see,” mumbled Summer, the rest of her body still under the covers as she slowly brought her arm down to dangle near the carpet. Fed up, Becca grasped the blanket and whipped it off the bed.

“Ahh, it’s cold!” yelled Summer, curling into a ball.

“It might be a little less cold if you wore more than that,” commented Becca. Summer was only wearing a thin, satin teddy. Why her sister chose to wear that when she was sleeping alone was beyond Becca.

“I’m not getting up until you tell me what you want.”

“I was hoping to tell you and Caitlyn at the same time.”

“Too bad, tell me what’s going on,” demanded Summer, her eyes still closed.

“Fine, we’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner today,” said Becca.

“What!?” Summer finally opened her eyes and actually sat up. “Why?” she questioned, her face twisted into despair and puzzlement. “You should have just ordered all that stuff. It would have taken like five minutes.”

“I know, but I really want us to do this together. It’ll be such a nice surprise when Mom and Dad get back, and it could be fun. I haven’t been home in a while, so please?”

“Ugh, fine, just let me get ready.”

“You have one hour,” Becca rushed on as Summer opened her mouth to protest. “I’ve been up since seven getting everything ready, so you have one hour. I’ll see you downstairs.”

Summer flopped back down on her bed as Becca exited her room. She entered the living room to find her sister pacing back and forth, looking impatient.

“Are you ok?” asked Becca.

Caitlyn jerked around to face her sister. She ran her hand through her hair in a nervous gesture.

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine,” she said, giving Becca a tight smile. “So, where’s Summer? What did you want to talk to us about?”

“Well, I already told Summer, so I’ll just tell you. We are cooking Thanksgiving dinner together!”

“What!?” Caitlyn’s eyes got just as wide as Summer’s. “Why? You could have just ordered everything. It would have taken like five minutes.”

“I’m well aware of how long that would take, but I’ve been so busy at school I haven’t had a chance to be with you guys that much. This could be a fun thing to do together.”

“Mmm, fine,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Thank you. Oh, cute shirt,” said Becca, noticing Caitlyn’s shirt had turkeys on it and said Happy Thanksgiving at the top. Looking closer, Becca realized the turkeys were saying “Mooo,” and down the center, it said ‘Save the Turkeys, Gobble Some Veggies.’ Oh Lord, why did Caitlyn have to oppose everything? She’d fit right in at the UCLA campus.

“You’re umm, protesting Thanksgiving?” questioned Becca.

“I’m only protesting the senseless genocide of such innocent birds so we can stuff ourselves silly. Like Americans don’t have enough food already.”

Immediately, Becca’s mind flashed to the refrigerator, where a 12-pound turkey was waiting.

“Okay, but you’re helping with dinner, right?”

“Only if we’re not having turkey,” Caitlyn’s eyebrows raised expectantly as if she already knew the answer.

“Of course we are,” Becca forged ahead as her sister opened her mouth to protest, “but you don’t have to eat it, touch it, or anything.”

“This goes against my principles as an activist to Save The Turkeys!” she shouted, thrusting her arm up in the air, fist clenched.

“Yeah, I know, I know,” said Becca, grabbing Caitlyn’s forearm and lowering it slowly. “Could you please just help with dinner? We can’t pull it off without you.”

“Yeah, I said I’d do it,” said Caitlyn, crossing her arms again. “I have to do something first, though,” she said.

“What?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal. I’m just meeting up with a friend. I’ll be back soon,” she explained, grabbing a coat and heading out the door.

“You have one hour!” Becca called before the door closed. She heard a muffled response from outside. Sighing, Becca decided to head over to the kitchen and figure out how to prepare a turkey.

“Okay,” said Becca out loud, tightening her apron. She stood in the kitchen staring at the naked turkey in a glass dish. She had nonperishable items spread out on the counter. She had created a workstation for each of her sisters, so they didn’t have to jockey around for space, which she knew would cause fights.

As Becca stared at the pale bird, she found that it wasn’t very intimidating. This didn’t seem so hard. She picked up the directions she found online and began to read them.

“First, remove the giblets from inside the turkey…eeeww!” Becca knew enough about turkeys to know what giblets were. She reached over the bird and pulled on a pair of white latex gloves. Very cautiously, she reached inside the gaping hole of the turkey and felt around. She found a small bag and pulled it out. Inside were all the giblets neatly packaged, and she nearly sighed in relief. She thought she’d have to pull them out one by one.

“Moving on,” said Becca, feeling more confident. “Prepare aromatics for inside the turkey…crap!” After all of her careful planning, she had forgotten the damn apple and herbs for the damn aromatics. Peeling off her gloves, she grabbed her coat and headed to the car for a quick trip to the store.

There was one store open on Thanksgiving, and it was a madhouse. The isles were mostly picked clean, and it took a long time to find one herb bundle that had fallen behind a display of tofu. Becca picked up a package of firm tofu for Caitlyn. She might be able to use it today instead of turkey. The hunt for the herbs took the most time, and it was forty-five minutes before she returned home.

Becca could hear movement in the kitchen and smiled, thinking Summer was on board with cooking. When she walked into the kitchen, ready to hug Summer, she was nowhere to be found.

“Who the hell are you?” asked Becca.

A young boy, no older than fifteen, stood at their island chopping ingredients for a salad, which was what Summer should have been doing. He had flaming red hair and a thick patch of freckles that covered his nose and cheeks.

“Oh, it’s ok, I know Summer, we go to school together,” said the boy. His voice cracked twice during that sentence, and he showed a mouth full of braces when he smiled.

“Uh, where is Summer?”

“She’s upstairs getting ready. She said you wouldn’t mind if I filled in for her. She said we’d hang out after Thanksgiving break if I did this,” he seemed to be incredibly pleased Summer would be gracing him with her presence.

“Did she tell you if she made plans today?” Becca asked the enthusiastic boy. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if Summer tried to brush off helping her cook.

“Yeah, she said she had to meet up with a few friends. She said it would be great if I could come and do this favor for her…” He trailed off. His voice had become less and less enthusiastic the longer he looked at Becca’s angry expression. “She said you’d be fine with it,” his voice cracked again. Just great, now Summer had some hapless freshman boy doing her bidding. Apparently, she wasn’t above using her popularity for evil.

“I don’t care what she told you. You have to go home. Summer is the one who is going to help me.”

He looked crestfallen.

“But then Summer won’t hang out with me after the break.”

“I’m sorry, but you really need to go home,” said Becca. She felt slightly sorry for the kid, but this was her day to bond with her sisters. He heaved a heavy sigh as he undid the pink frilly apron with kiss marks all over it and walked out the back door. Once he left, Becca felt her ire rise. Just what the hell had Summer been trying to pull?

She walked upstairs and heard the blow dryer running. She stormed into Summer’s room and tapped her shoulder. Her sister was looking in her full-length mirror, eyes half closed, head tossed to the side as she ran a brush through her hair.

“Can I help you?” asked Summer over the roar of the blow-dryer.

“Who was that boy downstairs, and why was he doing what you’re supposed to be doing?”

“What?” asked Summer

With a grunt, Becca reached down and unplugged the hair dryer.

“What?” asked Summer again, this time looking very annoyed.

“Who was that boy, and why was he chopping vegetables in our kitchen?”

“Oh, relax, he’s a kid from school. He was more than willing to help me out with this. He says he’s a good cook. Besides, as long as it gets done, it doesn’t matter who does it, right?”

“That’s not the point at all. I wanted to spend quality time with you and Caitlyn.”

Summer stared at Becca for a few long moments before she rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, I’ll help.”

“Thank you, and it will be fun, I promise.”

“Great, I look forward to all the fun,” said Summer, her voice rich with sarcasm.

Becca walked back downstairs, grumbling about ungrateful sisters. She reorganized the counter and made sure all the recipes were printed out. She double-checked the ingredients she had with the recipes because she didn’t want to take another trip to the store. Fifteen minutes later, Summer walked downstairs wearing an outfit unsuitable for cooking.

“Uh, you don’t need to wear heels or a silk blouse. In fact, you might get flour on it when you make the pie crusts.”

Summer looked down at her clothes and shrugged, “I’ll be wearing an apron. I should be fine.”

“Okay, you should work on finishing the salad the wanna-be Wolf Gang Puck started earlier.” That actually elicited a smile from Summer as she pulled on the pink frilly apron and gathered the ingredients in front of her.

“There is a recipe under the tomato; it’s a pretty simple salad.”

The next few minutes were quiet. Summer was diligently chopping vegetables, and Becca had spread butter all over the turkey’s skin to make it crisp while it cooked. She had also stuffed it with aromatics and had the giblets boiling on the stove to use for later. “So, how is school going?” asked Becca.

“You sound like mom. Do we really have to talk about this?” asked Summer.

“Yes, I wanted to use this time for us to bond. Come on,” said Becca.

“School is great,” said Summer in a sarcastic voice. “I love it. Wish I could stay in high school another four years.”

“You seem popular. I think you are enjoying high school.”

“Well, I am more popular than Caitlyn. I tell people we’re cousins. Maybe one day she’ll graduate to sister, but not while she’s such a weirdo hippie.”

“She’s trying to find out who she is. This all might be a phase.”

“I hope so. She’s been trying to get us all to go vegetarian for the last month.”

“Dad will never give up steak, no matter how much he loves Caitlyn,” said Becca, earning a laugh from Summer.

“I keep telling her that, but she still tries to show Dad statistics about the dangers of eating meat. I was worried mom would get a tofurkey this year.” They both laughed. For a while, the sounds of chopping, mixing, and simmering filled the kitchen. Becca checked her phone. Caitlyn should have been back a while ago. She was about to call her sister when the front door slammed shut.

“I’m back, sorry I’m late,” her sister yelled. “I just need to change, then I’ll be down to help.” Becca heard her sister stomp up the stairs and close her door. Becca slid the turkey in the oven and crossed her fingers that it would be okay. With the biggest task done, she checked her master list of recipes and crossed off the turkey. Next, she would start on the stuffing. She had just finished chopping the onion and fresh herbs when her sister entered the kitchen, dressed more appropriately than Summer in jeans, sneakers and a long-sleeved shirt.

“You are going to make the yams and the cranberry sauce,” said Becca, handing her sister a plain gray apron.

“Thanks,” said Caitlyn as she put on her apron.

“This is your cooking station. All the non-perishables are out. Everything else is in the fridge. The recipes are next to the cutting board. Ask me if you need any help.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Caitlyn. She pulled her hair back and picked up the recipe sheet for the yams.

“So, how are things going with you?” Becca asked Caitlyn. She ignored Summer, who rolled her eyes.

“Things are great,” said Caitlyn with no sarcasm.

“School is going well?”

“Yes, it is,” said Caitlyn, again with no sarcasm. She was making this too easy.

“So, Summer told me you’re a vegetarian now.”

“Yes, I think it’s a more humane way to live. I’m still trying to convince everyone else, though.”

“Dad will forever be a meat-eater,” said Becca.

“Just give me some more time. I’ll make him come around,” said Caitlyn with confidence. Becca again ignored Summer when she saw her sister swirl her finger around her ear in a “crazy” sign. Once again, the cooking sounds filled the kitchen, and it smelled delicious. The girls all casually chatted and laughed. This is exactly what Becca had been hoping for.

She was going to miss this when she left for law school. That was her big news. She had been accepted to the University of San Diego law school. And while she was excited, the school was further away than UCLA and she would be too busy to visit as often.

“I’ll be right back,” said Caitlyn. She walked out the back door for some reason. Becca figured she wanted to get some fresh air. She came back about ten minutes later. Her hair was out of place, and her apron was disheveled.

“Why did you go out back?” asked Summer.

“I just wanted some fresh air,” said Caitlyn. She re-did her ponytail, straightened her apron, and continued cooking. A few minutes later, her phone buzzed, then it buzzed a few more times in rapid succession. Caitlyn looked increasingly worried with every text.

“What’s going on?” asked Becca. Her sister had totally stopped cooking and was staring at her phone.

“Nothing, nothing, I’ll be right back,” said Caitlyn, and she walked out to the backyard again. Summer looked out the window this time to see what she was up to.

“She’s going to the shed,” said Summer.

“You keep cooking. I’ll go see what’s up,” said Becca, taking off her apron and heading outside to find her sister. It was a misty cold day, and Becca wished she had put on a sweater. Her sister was in the shed, which was odd. The large shed held lawn equipment and her father’s grill. As she got closer Becca could hear odd noises from inside the shed. When she opened the door she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Turkeys.

Real live gobbling turkeys.

There were ten turkeys, each in a large metal cage, all moving, molting, and very vocal.

“What are you doing here? Get out!” yelled Caitlyn

“What are you doing here? Why are you hiding turkeys in our shed?”

“I’m saving them,” said Caitlyn with indignance.

“Oh my god, what is your plan here, Caitlyn, to keep them in the shed until they die?”

“Of course not. Adam and I are going to set them free so they can live like they’re supposed to.”

“Caitlyn, I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to do something good, but you can’t let these birds out into the wild.”

“Why not? Would you rather they were slaughtered?”

“No, but we don’t have a wild turkey population here; can they survive in this area? And these are not wild turkeys. These are huge, slow, farm-raised turkeys. They’ll be eaten by predators immediately.”

Caitlyn looked almost embarrassed by Becca’s comments.

“Well, I’m not taking them back to the killing farm,” said Caitlyn. She put her hand on one of the cages in a protective gesture.

“How were you going to set these birds free?” asked Becca.

“Adam was going to come over with his dad’s truck, and we were going to take them out of town and set them free.”

Becca took a deep breath, her mind racing about how to fix the problem. Caitlyn would never let her take them back to the farm, and she probably wouldn’t let them out to roam free after what she said about them being eaten.

An idea popped into her head.

She pulled her phone from her back pocket and looked up animal sanctuaries. As luck would have it, there was one with wild birds like grouse and fowl at a reserve about half an hour from her house. Thank God.

“Okay, we can set these birds free in an animal sanctuary near here,” said Becca. Caitlyn was quiet for a moment before she slowly nodded her head.

“That sounds good.”

“Great, now call your partner in crime and have him come over with his truck…wait, is your friend old enough to be driving?” she didn’t like the thought of her fourteen-year-old sister hanging out with a boy sixteen or older.

“He’s fifteen. He has a permit,” said Caitlyn in an annoyed tone, crossing her arms in defiance.

“Alright, fine, whatever, get him here with his truck.”

“What the hell is going on in here?” Summer’s voice came from behind her; Becca turned to see her sister staring wide-eyed at the turkeys.

“It’s nothing. Go away,” said Caitlyn, moving toward her sister to push her out of the shed.

“Okay, let’s all get out of here,” said Becca, shooing everyone out and shutting the door.

“We need to get this taken care of now. Caitlyn, call your friend.”

They walked back inside the house and Caitlyn called Adam.

“Alright, this is what we’re going to do. When Adam arrives, we will load up his truck with the turkeys, and then I will drive the truck to the preserve. Summer, you will follow me in my car and take the turkey liberators with you.” Becca looked up the directions to the preserve on her phone.

They were all waiting for Adam in the front yard when he came with his dad’s truck. He was a nice-looking kid with shaggy blonde hair. Becca suspected Caitlyn liked him for more than his animal rights views.

“Give me the keys, Adam,” she said, holding her hand out expectantly. Adam got out of the truck with a guilty look and handed her the keys. They loaded the turkeys into the truck bed and left the house. The whole way to the preserve, Becca kept wondering about the food. She had turned off the stove, but the turkey was still roasting away in the oven. Would they be able to get everything done in time? They still had to bake the side dishes and the pie and make gravy. This was turning into a disaster.

The preserve was easy to spot, and Becca drove around the wooded property slowly until she found a fenced-in area with a few large birds wandering around. She pulled over and got out of the truck. After looking around to ensure the coast was clear, she motioned for everyone to get out of the car.

“Why aren’t we going to the front office to talk to them?” asked Summer.

“Because we don’t have an explanation for having these turkeys,” said Becca keeping an eye out for any employees wandering around. “We need to do this quickly.” She noticed everyone was giving her a look of reluctance. “I’m helping you guys get out of this mess. Don’t look at me like that.” With one more perimeter check, Becca moved to the back of the truck and opened the tailgate.

“Are you sure about this?” asked Adam.

“As sure as I can be, this is our best option.” Said Becca, trying to give him a reassuring smile. They each grabbed a turkey cage and set it inside the sanctuary. The fence was low, so putting the cages on the other side wasn’t too hard. Becca opened the cage and expected the turkey to run out, but it didn’t. It just sat in the cage.

“Get out, come on, freedom,” said Becca, waving her arms to the pasture. Still, the bird didn’t budge. She glanced to the side and saw none of the turkeys were getting out of their cages. “You didn’t exactly save the brightest birds,” Becca muttered to Adam. They quickly discovered that a good shake of the cage prompted the birds to venture out. With all of them working together, it didn’t take long before all the turkeys roamed inside the pasture. Most of them weren’t moving much, but at least they had the option to roam free.

“Okay, let’s load up the truck and get the heck out of there,” said Becca. They secured the empty cages back in the truck and left. A rush of relief spread through Becca as they got back on the paved road. That feeling was short-lived as her phone alarm went off. “Great, the turkey’s done,” said Becca out loud. They wouldn’t be home for a half hour. She hoped the turkey wouldn’t be too dry or burnt.

Once they got home and Adam was on his way with the truck, Becca hurried to the kitchen and shut off the oven. She pulled the bird out and was relieved that it wasn’t burnt. However, it was a very dark brown. She checked the temperature, which registered about ten degrees above what is recommended. She placed the turkey on the counter to let it rest.

“Alright, let’s go change and get back here to finish up. Mom and Dad are going to be home in about an hour.” They all went upstairs and changed. Once they were all in the kitchen again, Becca gave orders.

“Caitlyn, finish the cranberry sauce, and then you can set the table. Summer, finish the pies and then help me carve the turkey.” Becca needed to finish the green bean casserole and bake the candied yams. This could all be done in time. Becca had never been happier to have double ovens.

“I need an orange for the sauce,” said Caitlyn.

“It’s in the fridge,” said Becca, concentrating on a YouTube video about how to carve a turkey.

“Why is there tofu in here?” asked Caitlyn, pulling the tofu Becca bought from the refrigerator.

“Oh, I bought that for you,” said Becca, smiling. “An alternative to the turkey.”

“Not all vegetarians like tofu, Becca,” said Caitlyn, rolling her eyes. Getting her butt out of trouble didn’t count for much to Caitlyn.

“You’ll never win with her unless you throw out the turkey,” whispered Summer.

Becca didn’t respond and went back to her YouTube video. Everything went smoothly until she heard the familiar sound of keys jingling and the front door opening. Her parents came home early! Almost a half hour early. They were going to ruin her surprise. To make things worse, an unwelcome smell hit her nose.

“What’s burning?” she asked Summer. Becca opened the oven door and saw that the pumpkin pie crust was burnt along the edges. Thank goodness the apple pie looked fine.

“How did that happen?” asked Becca, pulling out the pumpkin pie.

“I don’t know…wait, I had to bake the pie crust first before putting in the filling and baking it again. I guess it burnt the crust.”

“Ugh, this is not what I need right now,” said Becca, looking at the time. She took a deep breath and decided what she had to do. Her parents would still be surprised they made dinner.

A timer went off.

“That’s for the pies,” said Summer.

“Something smells good!” her mother’s voice rang out.

“This is as good as it’s going to get. Thank you for helping,” said Becca. She pulled her sisters into a hug just as their mom entered the kitchen. Becca had planned to clean the kitchen a little before her parents came home. While it wasn’t a complete disaster, the kitchen had seen much better days.

“What happened here?” her mom asked. She looked around and took in the mess but then noticed all the food. “You girls did all this?” her mom asked, a big smile coming to her face.

“Yes, we wanted to surprise you and Dad,” said Becca. Her father walked into the kitchen and the same look of surprise came over his bespectacled face.

“Wow,” said their father, walking over and giving each girl a hug. “This is great.”

“When you said you were taking care of dinner, I thought you were going to order everything,” said their mother, who hugged each girl.

“That’s what everyone thought,” said Becca, smiling at her sisters.

“Can we help with anything?” asked their dad.

“Yes, actually, I need help carving the turkey,” said Becca, walking over to the fully intact bird.

“That I can do,” he said, opening a drawer and pulling out a large carving knife.

“Oh, this is a fantastic surprise, girls. I’ll help you get everything on the table,” said their mom.

Once everything was on the table, the family gave thanks and dug in. Despite all that had gone wrong, the food was not bad. While the turkey was dry, it had good flavor. Becca was glad her gravy was okay, so the turkey had some extra moisture. Despite the burnt crust, which could be easily removed, the pumpkin pie had a wonderful spiciness.

Dinner was full of laughs and good conversation. Everyone was proud of Becca when she told them about getting accepted to law school. They all had a toast and congratulated her. At the end of dinner, their mother noticed something in Summer’s hair. She reached over and pulled out…a feather. The sisters couldn’t help themselves and broke into laughter. It really had turned out to be a great Thanksgiving.

THE END

Copyright 2023 R.J. Byrd All Rights Reserved.