THE TOWERS FAMILY SAGA
        Episode 54
The heat outside was a
shimmering wall of air.
Robert adjusted his seat
at the small oak desk.
He was checking the line
counts for the manual.
"Precision is everything,"
he whispered to himself.
It was a lesson from the
FDC at Twentynine Palms.
One wrong number and the
whole mission was off.
Minnie came in holding
a new stack of mail.
"The first royalty check
arrived," she said.
Her voice was steady and
filled with a new calm.
Robert looked at the
number on the paper.
It wasn't millions, but
it was honest money.
"It pays for the month,"
Minnie noted softly.
She sat on the edge of
the bed in the condo.
"The girls are all so
busy with their lives."
"Virginia called from
the clinic at dawn."
"She helped a family who
had lost their home."
Robert nodded his head,
thinking of the fall.
"We know that feeling,"
he said, looking out.
"But we are standing."
Dorothy sent a picture
of her classroom wall.
The kids had drawn a
map of a new world.
A world where nobody
had to tell a lie.
"She is a good teacher,"
Robert told his wife.
"She gives them a floor
that won't ever sink."
Shirley buzzed the door
carrying a heavy bag.
She was loaded down with
new Photoshop prints.
"The cookbook is ready
for the press," she.
She laid out the pages
on the kitchen floor.
The Mexican rub was
on the front cover.
It looked rich and red,
like the canyon hills.
"I used the monospaced
font for the titles."
"It looks like a manual
for a good life, Shirl."
Robert stood up and
hugged his daughter.
"Where is Barbara?" he
asked, looking around.
"She is at the printer
securing the contract."
"She didn't want any
hidden fees," Shirley.
The Towers were a wall
against the old scams.
They were checking every
single line of code.
The radical honesty was
a shield, not a burden.
Robert felt a sense of
purpose in the heat.
He wasn't a number in
a laundry room now.
He was a father and a
writer and a man.
He looked at the 6x9
page on the screen.
Every character was in
its perfect position.
The saga was moving at
a pace that felt right.
Minnie started a pot
of tea for the girls.
The whistle was a high
and cheerful sound.
They were not hiding
from the Arizona sun.
They were soaking in
the truth of the day.
The past was a lesson.
The debt was a ghost.
The family was solid.
The future was bright.

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