Punchline | Ashleigh Word

Most of the time my family is continuously on-the-go and never has the time to stop and have dinner together. The night in question was an exception. Instead of the usual "fin-for-yourself" meal, my father had made Chinese and the entire family had gathered around the table to eat and enjoy each other's company.

At the end of the meal, my mother saw an advantage and seized it. Sending my little brother off to get her scriptures, we were told none of us could leave the table. Pinned to our seats by Mom's stubborn wish to read together right then, and Dad's fear of consequence if he didn't back her up, we all calmly read through that night's chapter, most of us distracted by thoughts of other engagements and assignments we needed to be doing.

When we finished, my father, being the joking soul that he is, decides he's going to tease his daughters, most specifically my younger sister Kaity. Although she is a brunette and quite intelligent, Kaity often has so-called "blonde moments," where she spaces entirely and says or does something completely out of character. On the particular evening, Kaity was relaying a blonde moment from earlier in the day in which she had used a word incorrectly in a conversation, and completely humiliated herself, and thus earned the loving torment of my father and the family. Despite our constant teasing, she continually tried to defend herself by backing up her story, telling us she really is smart and that she doesn't appreciate being called a blonde, yet we couldn't help but tease her. Her reaction was classic - red cheeks, stubborn denial - it was strictly textbook embarrassment! Finally Kaity was fed up! Instead of trying to argue with us any longer and change our minds, she slammed her hands on the table and said, "Can we just read scriptures now?!"