“The Harbourne Family”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: Reunion.

Reunions can go a variety of different ways. Some families are overjoyed to see each other after being apart for months or years at a time. Some families dread the arrival of relatives they’ve been trying to avoid. Many families are somewhere in between. And then, there are the families that aren’t quite families at all.

Such was the case with the Harbourne family.

The patriarch of the family, Grandpa Harbourne, had not fathered any children, nor had he adopted any. In fact, he did not even know that there was anyone else who called themselves Harbournes. He just had the unfortunate luck of having parents who decided to call their newborn child ‘Grandpa’.

So, Grandpa Harbourne–who was not a grandpa at all–was not at the reunion.

However, there were a number of people who did attend the reunion, including Hector Harbourne, who had arranged the meeting.

Hector, whose real family had stopped talking to him when they discovered his peculiar hobby of making clothing for dead insects, had taken up the last name of Harbourne when he had read an article about millionaire Grandpa Harbourne. Hector had liked the name ‘Harbourne’ and had taken it for his own.

Five years later, Hector Harbourne married Patricia, who decided to take the last name of her true love. Patricia had met Hector after buying some hats for her very alive pet praying mantis. It should be noted that, while the mantis did not appreciate the hats, Patricia did appreciate meeting Hector. She agreed to his marriage proposal after the second date. They got married before an audience of dead insects and one live, hatless mantis.

As Hector and Patricia travelled the world selling insect clothing, they met a variety of wonderful people. Francine weaved placemats from lion manes. Ronald mowed grass with scissors. Eve and Steve spoke only in rhyme.

Those were, to name a few, the friends the Harbournes met along their way. Each one was welcomed to the Harbourne family with open arms. Except for Rachel. Her hobby was too eccentric for even the Harbournes. She knitted scarves.

After having retired from travelling, Hector decided to invite all his friends to his mansion, which he had owned before deciding to make insect clothing. He had been a millionaire his entire life, and it is now widely debated whether Patricia married him for his personality or his money.

This reunion boasted the grandest of parties, with the finest foods and wines and the highest quality insect clothing. The entire Harbourne family was present.

Except, of course, for Grandpa Harbourne.

Final Comments: This one was fun! I just didn’t really know how to finish it…

Overall Rating: 😜