The Timetable in Pencil

Chapter 1The Sheet on the Fridge

Chaya wrote the family's visiting plan on a sheet and attached it to the fridge.

Wednesday: leave after breakfast, stop for a picnic, reach Bubby's before lunch.

They were going to stay two nights. Chaya had packed a book, a game, and a small gift she had made for Bubby.

The picnic was her idea. Tatty had said it sounded good if the weather and roads allowed it.

Chaya wrote Picnic in larger letters than the rest.

Mama looked at the sheet. Her hair was fully covered by a dark blue tichel.

"This is our plan, not a guarantee."

"I know," Chaya said.

She used a pencil, but she pressed hard enough to leave the words dented into the paper.

Chapter 2The Change at Breakfast

On Wednesday morning, Tatty set his cup down beside the travel bag.

"We need to use the other road. There are delays on the route we planned. We'll leave later and go straight to Bubby's. No picnic stop today."

Chaya looked at the sheet.

"But I wrote it."

Her little brother asked whether they would still have lunch.

"At Bubby's," Mama said.

"You said the picnic sounded good," Chaya told Tatty.

"It did. I said if the weather and roads allowed it."

Chaya remembered those words. She had left them off the sheet because they made it untidy.

She wanted to argue about the road, although she knew less about it than Tatty did.

Chapter 3The Plan That Felt Owed

Chaya went to her room and looked at the bag.

She had wrapped the game so the pieces wouldn't spill. She had chosen food she liked for the picnic.

Now it would be eaten somewhere else or another day.

She wanted something to blame. The roads were not available to argue with. Her father was.

When Mama came to check the packing, Chaya said she didn't want to go anymore.

"Do you mean you don't want to visit Bubby, or you are disappointed about the picnic?"

Chaya sat on the bed.

"The picnic."

"That's disappointing."

"The whole plan changed."

"The route and stop changed. The visit is still happening."

Chaya didn't feel better immediately. But the two sentences were no longer the same sentence.

Chapter 4What She Could Check

Downstairs, Tatty was checking the directions and speaking with Bubby about the arrival time.

Chaya waited until he finished.

"Will we still stay two nights?"

"Yes."

"Can we bring the game?"

"Yes."

"Is there any safe place to stop on the other route?"

Tatty looked at the map.

"There are places, but stopping would make us late for the lunch Bubby is preparing. We are going straight today."

It wasn't the answer Chaya wanted.

"All right," she said.

She had asked a real question. She hadn't used it to make Tatty argue until he produced the old plan.

Chapter 5Erasing the Stop

Chaya took the sheet off the fridge.

The word Picnic didn't erase neatly. A pale gray shape remained.

She wrote Go straight to Bubby's beside it.

Her brother watched.

"Will we have a picnic tomorrow?"

Chaya almost said yes. That would make the plan look cheerful again.

Instead she called Tatty over.

"Can we plan anything for tomorrow, or should we ask after we arrive?"

"Ask after we arrive. We'll see what Bubby would like too."

Chaya wrote Tomorrow: ask.

It was the shortest line on the sheet. She didn't decorate it.

Chapter 6The Ride They Had

The ride was longer than Chaya wanted and shorter than it could have been on the delayed road.

She read some of her book. She played a guessing game with her brother. For a while she stared out of the window and thought about the place where they would have eaten.

Nobody insisted she enjoy every minute because they were still visiting Bubby.

When they arrived, Bubby opened the door. Her hair was fully covered by a light gray sheitel.

"Come in. Lunch is ready."

Chaya gave her the little gift.

Bubby looked at it carefully before putting it on the shelf.

That part of the visit had not been on the travel timetable. Chaya was glad it happened anyway.

Chapter 7The Next Day's Choice

After breakfast the next day, Tatty asked what Bubby would like to do.

"I would enjoy sitting in the garden," she said. "We could bring lunch out there."

Chaya looked up.

It wasn't the roadside picnic she'd pictured. It was not a prize for being reasonable the day before.

It was something they could do today, if the weather stayed dry.

They checked the sky, set out chairs, and carried lunch through the back door. Mama and Tatty handled the hot dishes.

Chaya put the game on a small table. Bubby chose to watch the first round before joining.

The day followed a different plan, with its own good parts.

Chapter 8A Lighter Pencil

Back at home, Chaya found the old sheet folded in her bag.

The erased picnic word still showed faintly beneath the changed line.

She kept the sheet for a while. It reminded her how certain something could look just because she had written it carefully.

The next time the family planned a visit, Chaya helped list what was settled and what still depended on weather, roads, and other people's choices.

She did not stop wanting things. She did not promise never to be disappointed.

She wrote the next plan with a lighter hand.

A timetable could help the family prepare. It couldn't make the road, the sky, or Bubby's wishes sign beneath it.