By Definition

An alphabetical story from the dictionary

Adapt: verb
1. What mom says we’ll do in Denver.
- “Don’t worry, Sophie! We’ll adapt.” - Mom
Synonyms: be miserable forever, forget all our friends in Atlanta

Beach: noun
1. Best place EVER!
2. Doesn’t exist in Denver.

Call: verb
1. To speak to someone a long, long, long way away.
- “Cross my heart and hope to die, I’ll call you every day!” - Luna, BFF

Death: noun
1. What might as well be happening when you move.

Eternal: adjective
1. Driving across the country with two parents, a cat and a baby in a crying competition, the twins, me, an older brother who ate all the snacks already, movies that are educational (see: boring), 21 rounds of “I Spy” that only dad is playing anymore, and no comfortable sitting position.
Synonym: torture

Fun: noun
1. What dad says we’re having.
2. Not anything that’s happening in this car.
3. I think dad doesn’t know what fun is. Kathy (twin 2) says that’s because dad grew up with dinosaurs: therefore anything that is not running for your life, must be fun.

Gingerbread: noun
1. The front of our new house with its white curlicue trim at the top of the porch against the brown bricks.
2. Tasty treat we got at the bakery to celebrate the end of the eternal road trip.
- “You can’t catch me I’m the gingerbread man!” - Ethan (twin 1) before eating said gingerbread.

Hallway: noun
1. The last place you want to be in a new school, after the bell rings, and everyone’s in class except you, because you don’t know where anything is. It doesn’t help that the theatre class is in another building altogether.
Synonym: labyrinth

Incredible: adjective
1. Making the swim team!

Joke: noun
1. Luna’s promises to call everyday. She hasn’t, not even once.
2. I even tried calling her. She didn’t answer. Joke’s on me.
- “Wanna hear a joke? Knock-knock…” - Arnold (annoyingist older brother) who doesn’t understand the depths of despair.
Antonyms: BFF, Loyalty, steadfast friendship,

Kickoff swim-meet: noun
1. The only good thing in Denver.
2. Still not as good as a beach.
3. But pretty close.

Lunchtime: noun
1. A bad time of day to be sitting all by yourself.
- “It’s lunchtime already? I’ll just be here with all my imaginary, invisible friends that no one can see, working on homework.” - Me.
Synonyms: Atlanta is way better, lame, loneliness,

Monologue: noun
1. Dramatic reading in theatre class that might actually be fun.

Noelle: noun
1. French word for Christmas.
2. Girl from theatre class. She invited me to go four wheeling.
- “You’ve never been four wheeling?! We have to fix this!” - Noelle
Synonym: maybe a friend?
Antonym: Mom thinks four wheeling is dangerous. But she’s on a business trip and dad says it’s okay. Kathy (twin 2) says that dad thinks anything that is not getting eaten by a dinosaur is safe.

Ouch: exclamation
1. A small fraction of the sound you make when you break your arm, falling off a four wheeler.
2. A small fraction of the pain in your soul because you’re no longer on the swim team.

Pain: noun
1. My arm. All of it.
2. Not swimming.
Antonym: Dramatic monologue?
- “You’re brain’s not broken, so you can still memorize. Memorizing is pain free.” - Noelle, making a Joke: noun, while waiting around in the hospital.

Questionable: adjective
1. Anything written with my left hand.
2. Whatever it is that dad cooked for my first night back home. Kathy (twin 2) says that when dad grew up with the dinosaurs, they didn’t have time to develop any kind of cuisine, other than “edible.”
- “It is questionable whether anything on my plate is edible.” - Everyone in the family.
Antonym: anything that mom cooks, but she’s still on the business trip, feed it to the cat when dad’s not looking

Relaxing: noun
1. What everyone at school thinks I’m doing and they’re jealous. I got a bunch of cards from all my classes telling me so.
2. What I would be doing if my arm didn’t hurt.
3. Almost obtainable when Arnold (rather nice older brother recently) lets me burn through his movie collection.

Signatures: noun
1. My new collection, displayed on my cast. Everyone at school wants to sign. Noelle went first.

Talk: verb
1. Got to do with Luna. She got banned from electronics for a bit and has been super busy, so that’s why she never called. She has a new puppy.
2. Doing a lot with Noelle, practicing our monologues.
3. And mom! She’s almost home.

Unexpected: verb
1. I have friends in Denver.
2. I got the highest grade on the monologue!
Synonym: who knows, I might get a part in the play

Vacation: noun
1. What mom started talking about when she got home. We might go to Atlanta. But Disneyland is closer.

Wholeheartedly: adjective
1. Our feelings about Denver.
- “Denver’s a great place, isn’t it?” - Dad. “I wholeheartedly agree.” - Me

X-ray: noun
1. Proof my arm is better!
Synonym: Goodbye cast!

Yo-yo: noun
1. A very frustrating toy that I can’t use with either hand.
2. Ethan’s “cast-off” present so I can practice using my arm again.
Synonym: a month from now maybe I’ll actually be able to do it.

Zigzag: verb
1. The way life doesn’t go in a straight line, but you get somewhere anyways.



Prompt: Our family dictionary.