Category Archives: Fiction

THE NIGHT OWL

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I recently retired from working. I was a night watchman for over forty years. I worked at a factory that manufactured jewelry, using precious metals, mostly silver and gold and occasionally platinum. My days off were Monday and Tuesday. On those days, I continued to sleep during the day and stayed awake all night.

And now that I’m retired, I have every intention of slowly adjusting to sleeping at night and being awake during the day as most people do. Unfortunately, this goal has not been as easy to reach as I hoped.

Night Owl

The first couple of months of my retirement, I tried adjusting my sleep pattern by going to bed fifteen minutes later each day. And I hoped over time I would be able to go to bed between eleven o’clock and 11:30 PM over time. I calculated that I would be able to achieve this goal in about seven and a half months.

Unfortunately, what happened was that I was unable to fall asleep at all. And I began lying wide awake for hours every night sometimes; I never fell asleep. This pattern went on for weeks. I eventually started taking Melatonin to help me fall asleep. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in our bodies. My change in my sleeping pattern had a detrimental effect on my ability during the day. And I was unable to accomplish anything. if one of my friends called to see how I was or asked me to meet them for lunch. I would fall asleep while they were talking on the phone to me.

Then one lonely night, while I stared silently at the ceiling fan over my bed, I heard a weird noise outside my bedroom window. It went on intermittently for over an hour. It was a familiar sound, but I couldn’t quite place it. I finally gathered the strength to get up and look out the window. There is a large Cedar tree within six feet of my bedroom window, and I observed something moving about within the tree limbs.

But I couldn’t quite make out what it was. Some kind of bird, I thought. Maybe a hawk. I had seen one recently flying over our pond. They were probably scooping out the pond for the Koi that lived there and were blissfully unaware that their very lives were in danger. I finally decided to put a net over the pond. But then I became concerned that the hawk would get caught in the net and drown. And so I took the net off. At this point, even I realized that I was becoming obsessive. I knew it was probably from my lack of sleep.

I quietly opened the window about twelve inches, and I could hear the strange noise again, it was a somewhat familiar noise was emanating from the tree. And then I heard the noise more clearly it was “who, who, who.” My exhausted brain didn’t immediately recognize the sound. And suddenly, from the depths of my subconscious, the word OWL came to the surface. I shouted, “it’s a. It’s an owl.” I reacted as if I had discovered a previously unknown star or planet before my eyes. I laughed out loud. I have a great love of birds. When I was a child, I used to close my eyes and wish that I would somehow magically turn into a bird and fly. I spent hours during the summer sitting in my backyard, hoping that I would be able to grow wings and be able to fly spontaneously.

I didn’t share this thought with anyone, even my closest friend, since my family and friends already thought I was a weird child.

I open the screen on my window and put my head out the window. And sure enough, I heard the hoot of a night owl. I had frequently found the remains of small rodents and squirrels under that cedar tree, and now I realized that my owl was hunting in my back yard. We have seventeen beautiful Cedar trees on our small property. In addition to a beautiful garden in the front. It attracted all kinds of wildlife, birds, feral cats, chipmunks, squirrels, possums, raccoons, and all sorts of insects. And now I had an owl. How wonderful. I felt as if I had finally found that pot of gold I searched for as a child.

One night, I decided that I would stay up late and sit outside in the backyard and wait for my owl to appear. I brought my camera and waited patiently. It was well past ten PM. And the mosquitoes were out in force. I had sprayed myself with repellent, but the mosquitoes didn’t seem to be deterred. I expected I would be covered with bites in an hour or so. It didn’t help that the pond was less than ten feet from the Ceder tree where my owl spent the night waiting for his prey to appear. I read that an owl can eat up to a thousand mice a year. Can you imagine having such an appetite? I would be the size of a house if I ate that much.

I started dozing off several times. I would nod off, and my head would jerk, and I would wake up vaguely confused about where I was and what the hell I was doing outside in the middle of the night. And then it would all come back to me. About the third time it happened to me, I thought, maybe I am nuts. And then I thought well if I’m a nut, I’m nuts. You have to learn to accept your nature and roll with it at some point in your life. And if people don’t like it, well, so be it. Their loss, isn’t it? Most people are dead boring and never have an original thought in their mind.

Suddenly, I heard a swishing noise in the tree above me. I quietly raised my head with my eyes to the sky, and there she was, sitting on the uppermost branch of the tree like a queen sitting on her throne. I could see her clearly by the moonlight. I tried to maintain complete quiet and not move a muscle. It was difficult because I was stiff from sitting in one position for so long. And my muscles were crying out in pain, wanting me to move and stretch. But I didn’t. I remained steadfast.

And then she was up and flying towards the prey that moved, and only she was able to see and hear. One of the things I found so interesting about owls is the fact that they can pinpoint the location of their prey because of their ears, which are located at different heights on their heads. They are the ultimate hunters, quick and precise. Her wingspread was large and before I knew it she returned with her prey. She would probably stay for several hours and hunt. I decided that the next time she flew off I would quietly leave and try and go back to my bed and hopefully sleep.

That night I fell asleep shortly after I climbed wearily into my bed. I had a dream that I was a magnificent owl flying through the night sky lit only by the stars and the moon. The next morning I woke up and the sun was beginning to rise. I looked over at my alarm clock and it was almost seven in the morning. I could hardly take in that I had finally slept for several hours.

I picked up the diary that I kept by my bedside. And I wrote about my experience the previous night. And then the thought occurred to me that I may have dreamed the whole thing. I decided to throw on my clothes and shoes and go to my backyard under the Cedar tree and see if I could find any evidence of the owl’s appearance. And sure enough, under the Cedar tree, I found the tiny remnants of the owl’s prey. It wasn’t a dream. I had truly experienced something both wonderful and terrible.

Several months later, in late winter, I noticed two owls in the tree. I realized that they must be getting ready to lay eggs. I couldn’t contain the joy I felt when I realized that I would witness this miracle. After about a month, I noticed that one of the eggs hatched and the two remaining ones hatched soon. I cannot express how overjoyed I was to have this family of owls inhabiting my backyard.

The mother and father owl took turns feeding and sitting on the nest. I wanted to watch the babies being fed so badly that I went out and purchased a pair of binoculars made explicitly for bird watching. And for the next four weeks, I watched this family thrive and the babies grow. After the babies hatched about the fifth week, they began to venture from the nest. I was terrified that one of the feral cats in my neighborhood would kill the babies. But it turned out that the mother and father owl kept a close eye on their young.

And I read that owls are known to have eaten cats. And that’s when I began to obsess about the cats in my neighborhood getting eaten by my owls. There was no end to the things that my mind would obsess about and keep me awake at night worrying about it. I warned all my neighbors not to let their cats out at night. Since I had a pair of nesting owls in my backyard, I found out that owls hoot at night to ward off intruders as a warning. I kept my nightly vigil of them on the down-low since I didn’t want them to move to a different location.

My neighbors have begun to think that I am somewhat eccentric. I can’t deny it. I am what I am. There was no use fighting my nature. At this late stage of my life, I can no more change who and what I am than my owls can change their nature of being predators. I have come to accept myself because of the owls.

By the time Fall was about to arrive, I noticed that the fledglings were staying longer and longer away from the nest and then not returning at all. I surmised that they were mature enough to start a life of their own. And the most important lesson I learned from the owls was to accept one’s nature. And what I came to realize over that first year of retirement was that I wasn’t retiring from life but just one stage of my life and that I was and will always be a Night Owl. And I am curious, creative, and weird, and I’m alright with that.

IS BLOOD ALWAYS THICKER THAN WATER

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Last night I received an unexpected call from my cousin Flossie. It was unexpected for many reasons. For one thing, I hadn’t heard from heard in over fifty years. I could barely remember what she looked like. I recall her having light blond hair and blue eyes. I had blond hair as a child but my hair was always referred to as dirty blond. Because what was once blond turned a nondescript light brown as I got older.

Because I hadn’t heard from Flossie in so long, it set off an alarm. I knew without a doubt that someone in my family had passed on. I didn’t recognize Flossie’s phone number when I saw it. But I did recognize her name, Flossie Brown. She was from my mother’s side of the family. She is the youngest daughter of my Uncle Pete. Who died in the mid- 1970s.

When I picked up the phone I heard someone yelling, “Hello, hello, is this the Cabri number? I’m trying to get hold of Coleen Cabri?”

“This is Coleen but I haven’t been a Cabri for over forty-eight years. My name is Coleen Sabrina. Are you my cousin, Flossie?”

“Of course, I’m your cousin Flossie. Who did you think I was?”

And that is when I remembered why my cousin Flossie and I were never close or even friendly. To put it politely she was always a jerk. And she had a tendency to be argumentative and sarcastic but not in a funny way. And it seemed as if she hasn’t improved over the many years that had passed by since the last time I saw her. “Well, what can I do for you, Flossie? It’s been such a long, long time since we spoke. I believe the last time I saw you was when your dad passed away.”

“Yeah, well I called to let you know that my older brother passed away not too long ago. And he was living in my dad’s house up until he had to go into the nursing home. And I don’t know if you remember this but the house was originally owned by our mutual grandfather. And according to the Will, the house must be sold and the contents distributed. And you and I are the last members of our family to survive.”

“You have got to be kidding. I had no idea. The house must be really old. What kind of shape is it in?”

“It is habitable. But I have to admit my brother didn’t take good care of it very well in his last years. He developed dementia about ten years ago and in the last years, he didn’t do anything at all. It’s a mess. But I believe that with time and some cash we could sell it and make a tidy sum. Are you interested? If you’re not I can sell it as is. And we could split the profit. But with a little sweat equity, we could make a tidy sum. What do you say?”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say. I’m not as young as I used to be. I don’t have a lot of extra money to invest. But I can do cleaning, painting and I’m a hell of a gardener. I live several hours from there. I couldn’t travel back and forth. I would have to stay at the house or at your house.”.

” Well as I said the house isn’t in great shape, but you could stay there. But you would be sleeping rough if you know what I mean. I am living in a rental with an old friend of mine and it’s a trailer, so not a lot of room. It’s a tight fit for the two of us. If you are able to come and stay at the house I would suggest bringing your own sheets and blankets and towels etc. And once you get here you’ll have to go to the nearest Shop Rite and get food. Unless you intend on eating out all the time.”

“Wow, Flossie that’s a lot to consider. Let me think about it for a day and I’ll give you a call tomorrow morning.”

“OK, talk to you then.”

And then she hung up. I was having a hard time taking it all in at once. My uncle’s death and inheriting a house. You just never know what any day is going to bring to you. I couldn’t sleep that night because I kept waking up every hour or so and obsessing about what my cousin Flossie had told me. At some point, I fell asleep and woke up at 5 AM. And I knew what I was going to do.

So at 9 AM I picked up my phone and called her. She answered after the third ring. “Why the hell are you calling me at the crack of dawn?”

“Good morning Flossie, it’s nine o’clock in the morning, hardly the crack of dawn. Just wanted to let you know that I decided that I will come and help with the house. I’ll bring all the tools that I think will be useful and whatever food I have in my house. I have to admit that any money we make on the sale of the house will be extremely helpful because I live on Social Security and it is barely enough to keep body and soul together.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. I know only too well what it is like to live on Social Security.”

“When do you think you will be getting here? Make sure you give me a call before you arrive and I’ll give you my address and then we’ll take a ride out to the house and a look around. And decide what kind of work we will be able to do. I’m definitely not up to putting a roof on. But, luckily my dad put a new roof on about four years ago. Only because every time it rained outside, it rained on the inside of the house as well.”

“Wow. So today I’ll start getting stuff together that I need to bring and I’ll take care of all my business here, paying bills, etc. And I will be there the day after tomorrow. I’ll call you when I’m about an hour away. How’s that?”

Flossie said, “good, talk to you then.” And the line when dead. And that is when I remember how abrupt and rude she was. Oh boy, this was going to be a fun time spent with an unpleasant relative. But, I’ve always thought things happen for a reason. And I set about getting ready for my trip and taking care of any business that was outstanding with my own house.

I spent the rest of the day getting my affairs in order and packing all the tools I thought I would need in the trunk of my old car. I hope I didn’t have any difficulties on the road. My car is fifteen years old. But, knock wood. It runs like a top. Never any problems. But just in case I took it to my friend, Bill’s auto repair shop and had him do a tune-up and check the tires and anything else he thought might cause a problem on a nine-hour ride. He told me I could pay him after I make all that money and sell my relatives’ house.

The next day I was on my way. I really detest long car rides. They kill my back. I packed a couple of sandwiches of bologna and cheese and two thermoses of hot coffee. And I was on my way. Luckily the weather was cooperating. I had to make several pit stops along the way because when you get older you spend a great deal of time in the bathroom. About an hour from Flossie’s house I pulled into a rest stop and I gave her a call to get the address of the house. She picked up the phone and said, “So?”

“So, I’m an hour away how about giving me the address? And she rattled off the address. Could you please tell me that again more slowly, I’m trying to write it down for crying out loud?”

So she repeated the address after making a sound that indicated that she was already losing patience with me. She said, ” I’ll meet you there in about an hour.” And then she hung up.

I shook my head, and I thought I better make a lot of money out of this. I can tell Flossie is going to be a major pain in my ass. The last hour of the trip was uneventful and I arrived in front of a house that looked like what my mother would have described as ” the wreck of the Hesperus.” Meaning it was a bloody mess. It looked like the grass hadn’t been cut in a couple of years. The shutters were hanging crooked by a single nail. There were a least three years of newspapers lying on the front yard and sidewalk. And there were bags and more bags of trash, too many to count.

“Dear god. What have I gotten myself into?” I said out loud to no one in particular. I walk around the back yard. There was a washer and dryer rusting out there. Look like they had been there for a millennium. “Holy mackerel, what a nightmare.”

I had a strong impulse to get into my car and leave as fast as possible. And then I heard someone say, “well you must be my cousin. Long time no see. I wasn’t exaggerating, was I?

“Exaggerating? No, just the opposite. Well, let’s take a look around and see what needs to be done first.”

“Well, I think the first thing we need to do is have the electricity turned back on and check that the water is working? I haven’t been here for several weeks.”

“Yeah, electricity would certainly be beneficial especially at night when I’m here all by myself. And yeah, it would be nice to have water too.”

Flossie looked at me like I was crazy. And said, “that’s what I just said.”

“I was being sarcastic, Flossie.”

She looks at me and says, “come on let’s go inside.”

She jammed the key into the lock on the front door. And said, “this lock sticks. You have to really shove the key in hard. And it’s difficult to get the key out too.”

“Well, we probably should get the locks changed front and back and get an extra set of keys.”

“Yeah, good idea. You know I don’t think I would have recognized you except for the fact that you are standing here at the house. I couldn’t really remember what you looked like since we haven’t seen each other since we were kids.”

“Well, I can see that you certainly resemble Uncle Pete and you look like a Brown. I always resembled my father’s side of the family.”

“Wow, you are really skinny. That certainly isn’t a Brown trait. “

“Oh, thanks, I think that was supposed to be a compliment.”

“Yeah, it’s a compliment. I have never been very good at conversation.”

“I kind of remember that you could be rather abrupt, Flossie.”

“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. I always say.”

I just stared at her for a moment and I thought. Oh yeah, this is going to be a fun time.

“Well let’s start in the living room and work our way up to the attic. I haven’t been up in the attic since I was a kid. I can only imagine how much “memorabilia” is up there now.

The kitchen hadn’t been updated since about 1971. It had an original Frigidaire refrigerator It was lime green. I open the door and the smell that emanated from the inside of the refrigerator almost knocked me out. “Dear god, did you bury grandfather in there. It smells like someone is decomposing in there. Then I look up at the top refrigerator shelf and I can’t believe my eyes. In a jar, the size of a huge pickle jar was a tongue floating in some kind of green fetid liquid. “Holy mother of god what is that?”

“What are you babbling about?”
I pointed at the floating tongue. “That’s nothing, it’s just a cow tongue.” People slice it and make sandwiches out of it. You are being ridiculous.”

“People eat cow tongues? And you think I’m being ridiculous? “Wow.”
“Yes, people eat all kinds of things. You need to settle down. You haven’t even seen the rest of the house.”

“I need to settle down. Oh brother. Let’s move on. I’ll take a look in that disgustingly dirty oven. I trust nobody’s cooking in there.” Flossie just snorted in my direction.

The inside of the oven had a good four inches of charred food on it. It would need to be sandblasted to get it clean. And the smell was indescribable. The oven is disgusting as well. And now that I look down at this lime green linoleum floor it’s clear this whole room hasn’t been updated since the early ’70s.

Coleen made her way around bags of trash and broken chairs, and what looked like piles of dog poop to the dining area. If you could call it that. “Did someone own a dog at one time, dog poop is all over the place.”

“Not that I know of, but as I said my brother had dementia so who knows.”

“Flossie, shall we make our way upstairs?”

“Alright, Coleen. It can’t get much worse than this?”

“Dear god, I hope not. Maybe we should try not taking deep breaths?”

“I agree no deep breaths.”

When they got to the top of the stairway, there were so many bags of trash next to the wall that it reached almost to the ceiling. “Did no one ever come to check on your brother at all? This is just unbelievable. “

“Well, like I said not in recent years. My brother and I never saw eye to eye. For some reason, he always said that I had an abrasive personality. And he couldn’t stand being in the same room as me for more than an hour or two. Can you believe anyone would say anything that mean?”

Coleen just stared at Flossie. “People can be quite unfeeling that’s for sure.”

“OK, so this is my Uncle‘s bedroom. So, it will probably be the worse room. Do you have anything to cover your nose and mouth? If you don’t I brought an extra handkerchief you can use. Well, keep it. You’ll need it.” She hands Coleen a red plaid cloth to put over her nose and mouth.

“Wow, we should have put these on at the curb. I may never get the stench of this place of my olfactory system.”

Flossie snorted and opens the door. “Holy mackerel, it smells like he died in here and they never took the body away. Come on let’s get this over with as quickly as possible. the bed was stripped but the stains on the mattress were horrific and neither one of them wanted to touch it. “You know what Flossie I think we should hire someone to come in this house and take all the furniture and all the trash out and dispose of it. I’ll pay half of the cost if you will. What do you say?”

“I say, hell, yes. After all the stinking crap in here gets taken out and burned we can come back in here and clean and paint and repair. In the meanwhile, we can get started on the outside of the house. We can remove all the trash and cut the grass and plant some flowers. We could also clean the windows and have the pavement repaired. Then we can come back in here. Sounds like a plan.”

For the next two weeks, Flossie and Coleen worked their butts off working in the yard, cleaning the windows, and painting the front and back door. They planted some small ornamental shrubs and flowers. They hadn’t gone in the house the whole time it was being cleaned out. They decided to hire some painters, and a plumber to come in and do the lion’s share of the work. Flossie decided she did have enough room for Coleen. She set up a cot in Flossie’s bedroom and Coleen slept in there.

“Well, Flossie it seems like the beginning of the end of this nightmare. It seems like we make a pretty good team. What do you think?”

“I think we do make a pretty good team Coleen. And I had an idea. How do you feel about you and I moving in here and sharing the house and the expenses? We are the only family either one of us has left? What do you think?”

“I think that it is a great idea. And I have come to appreciate your sarcastic sense of humor Flossie. I wish that we have gotten to know each other long before now. But better late than never.”

After Coleen and Flossie finished their work. Flossie came with Coleen back to her home and helped her pack up and head back to their new home together. Sometimes endings mark the beginning of something new and better. As they stood on the sidewalk in front of their new house they hugged each other and hung a sign on their door that said Home Sweet Home.

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NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED

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Do you know that tradition some folks have at the beginning of a new year? They make a long list of New Year’s resolutions. The first one is usually something like I’m going to lose that extra weight I’ve been carrying for the past five years. I’m going to start eating healthy foods. I’m going to exercise. I’ll join a gym.

Party hat dog by meme generator.net

And then you realize you are two months into the new year, and you didn’t stick to your diet or exercise. You did join the gym but you only went there for four days and you remembered how much you hate exercising. And how much you hate the horrific noise of grunting and groaning that those crazy muscle-bound freaks do.

In fact, you have gained four pounds because you ate that whole box of chocolates that your Aunt Betty sent you for Christmas. Because she remembers how much you loved chocolate when you were a kid.

And last year was possibly the worst year of my life. But let’s face it how can I be optimistic when I lost my job, my dearest friend in the world passed away and I only have a hundred dollars left in my savings account?

I start the day by saying positive affirmations to myself. “ I believe in my dreams and myself. I love myself for who I am. I’m in charge of my own destiny, and the best is yet to be. And finally, I’m grateful for every day.“

On day twenty-nine of the new year, I decided that I was going to walk to the park and then hike through the woods adjacent to the park. I used to love hiking in the woods when I was a kid.

And it was a beautiful day outside although a bit chilly. When I was about halfway through the park, I noticed that there was a dog walking towards me. And he‘s all alone. I said out loud, “That’s weird“. He must have gotten out of his yard or something. I thought he would run away when I got closer to him, but he didn’t. He walked right up to me and started whining.

He had a collar on. I haven’t had a dog since I was a kid. But he was so friendly that I couldn’t help reaching down and petting him. I looked at the tag on his collar, and it had a phone number on it. And it said, please call this number if you find me. And it said his name was Max.

Luckily, I had brought my cell phone with me. But when I called the phone kept ringing and ringing. Then an answering machine picked up, and it said, “Hi, this is Miriam. I’m not home right now, but please leave a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”

So, I googled her name and her phone number. And voila, through the magic of the internet, I found her address. And it was only two blocks away. So, I said to the still whining dog, “Come on Max, let’s get you home.“

We arrived at the address in a few moments, but there wasn’t any car in the driveway. But I thought, might as well knock at the door I’m here now. I looked in the window next to the front door, and I didn’t see any sign of life. But hey, they could be upstairs or in the backyard. I banged at the door a few times.

Nothing, so then I called the phone number again, and it just rang and rang. I decided to go out to my car and write a note with my contact information and name so she could call me. When I got back to the door, I crammed the note in the crack between the door and the side of the doorway.

I got into my car and headed home. I kept talking quietly to Max since he had definitely shown signs of recognizing his house, but I couldn’t just leave him there he would just run off again. I decided to call the owner later. When I arrived home, I grabbed Max by his collar and coaxed him out of the car and up to my side door.

I wished I could tie him up out back, but I didn’t want him to break loose and then he would run off into an unfamiliar neighborhood. I had to push him into the kitchen. I closed the door behind me and looked for a bowl to put water in for him. Max lapped it up like he hadn’t drunk anything in a week.

I looked in my fridge, found some lunch meat, and gave it to Max. He swallowed it so fast I thought he might eat my hand next. He walked around downstairs, and when he found the little Persian rug next to the fireplace in the living room, he lay down and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Poor thing. He must be so tired. I felt kind of worn out, too. I decided to take a short nap before I had to start thinking about what to cook for dinner. As I sat down in my easy chair in my bedroom and put my lap blanket across my knees, I dozed off.

I woke up with a start. Something woke me up, but I didn’t know what exactly. Some people feel refreshed after a nap. But I don’t. I feel like I got hit by a Mack truck. My head was pounding, and my eyes felt rusty. At first, I couldn’t remember what I was doing sleeping in the middle of the day. And then I remembered finding the dog. And I yelled, “DOG, DOG.”

But of course, he didn’t answer me, because he was downstairs. I dragged myself out of my easy chair. I walked into my bathroom and threw some cold water on my face. It didn’t help. I dried my face off and went downstairs to check on the dog. When I passed my cell phone in the living room, I didn’t see any missed calls. Oh dear, I thought. What now?

I was about halfway down the steps when I realized I didn’t see the dog. But what shocked me to my core was the fact that my pristine living room looked like a hurricane blew through it. All my couch cushions were randomly tossed in every direction. There was a pile of dog poop in the middle of my expensive new carpet. The curtains were lying in a heap on the floor in the living room and the dining room.

I yelled, “Good lord,” at the top of my lungs. And then I realized with a start that the dog wasn’t in sight. I said out loud, “Where the hell is he?” Nobody answered, so I decided I’d better take a look around the rest of my house. The dining room was a shamble. The chairs were all knocked over. The Japanese flower arrangement I created just last week was no more. It was chewed up and thrown from here to yonder. I started crying. I was so proud of the flower arrangement. It was the best one I had created since I took the class in flower arranging in the adult night classes a few months ago.

I walk slowly towards my kitchen. I was terrified at what I might find there. And then I heard barking coming from the direction of my kitchen. When I walked through the doorway, I looked in every direction. But I didn’t see him. Until I looked up from the floor, and there he was, walking across my marble-topped kitchen counters. He saw me and leaped from the top of the countertop to my shoulders. He hit me with such force that I thought he might have broken my neck. But instead, he just knocked the wind out of me, and I landed on my back on the hard tile floor. He then licked my face from top to bottom. And his breath smelled like death itself. My eyes started to water.

And that is when I heard the kitchen phone ringing. I managed to push Max’s immense weight off me, jumped up, and grabbed the phone. “Hello, hello,” I said, breathlessly.

“Hello, I think you are the woman who found my Max and left me a message on my phone.”

“Yes, yes, I am. Please come and get him. He has all but destroyed my home in only a couple of hours. You have to take him home now. My address is 38 South Popular Street—the second house from the corner. Please come now. I’ll be waiting on the porch with your dog, Max.”

She arrived in about fifteen minutes. And Max and I were sitting on the porch. He was sitting across my lap, and I could hardly move or breathe. Nor could I budge him. He was an immovable force. And I felt like I had aged a year in one day.

A pleasant-looking woman with a short bobbed hairstyle and a big smile on her face said, “Hello, I can’t thank you enough for finding Max and calling me. I have missed him more than I can tell you. He is like my child. I felt so lost without him.” She called him over to her. And he launched himself off me with such force that I could hardly move.

“Oh, Max, I missed you so much.” Then she hugged him and kissed him on his wet nose. “Thank you again. There aren’t words enough to tell you how much I appreciate you bringing Max back to me.”

I smiled and said, “Goodbye.”

She looked at Max, then at me, and said, “Happy New Year to you.”

“I smiled again and said, ‘Yeah, right, Happy New Year. It began with a bang, didn’t it?”

And she turned, and Max walked out of my life, but it would be a long, long time before

I forgot this New Year’s Day, which began with the biggest bang ever.

 

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DOING THE RIGHT THING IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT CHOICE

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Being the odd one out, the weird one isn’t fun at all. For as long as I can remember people have told me I was a little weird. And the truth of the matter is I just never “fit in”.

photo by John S Fllaherty

I didn’t really fit in with my family or at school. I haven’t been able to determine just what it is about me that makes me different from anyone else. But having said that the fact of the matter is I like myself. I’m intelligent and kind and creative and funny. I’m honest to a fault. Maybe that is my main problem I’m honest to a fault. And I decided long ago that people are going to like me or not.

And I’m not going to change who I am to please other people.  Life has thrown me quite a few curveballs. Because of the downturn in the economy I’ve had to change jobs several times in the last couple of years. You know the saying the last one hired, the first one fired. Well, I’m now on my third new job in a year and a half.

One of my many quirks is that I absolutely hate being late. I’m always, always early. So here I am in the still empty parking lot of my new job at Bowman and Sons. I’m an accountant I have a head for numbers. And I’m a perfectionist. In fact, that is how I lost my last position. I was doing my monthly oversight of the company’s books and low and behold I found a discrepancy. And it wasn’t a nickel here and a nickel there it was over a hundred thousand dollars. The funds were moved from one account to another. I checked and re-checked it and it was clearly not just an error. But an intentional attempt to steal money from one account and then it was deposited into another.

I can not tell you the number of times I went over and over these accounts. And no matter how many times I checked the results were always the same. Someone was embezzling.

And now I have only to establish who the embezzler is. And what steps I have to take once I have proof. It’s clear it was someone at the top of the pyramid not at the bottom. It’s clear that whoever was stealing the money had been doing it over a long period of time. And I was going to establish without a doubt who it was and they were going to pay the price for their crime.

The worse aspect of embezzling is that it is a betrayal of trust. And that my friend is something I can not and will not tolerate. I began creating a plan that would establish who the low-life scalawag is. And when I do I will make sure this culprit is punished to the full extent of the law.

I have worked overtime for the past month in my pursuit of this culprit. And I believe I’m very close, very close. And I will only be satisfied if this criminal is charged with a Federal crime. And he or she and will serve a full twenty years in Federal prison. And when and if they survive that they will be fined a minimum of a $50,000.00 fine. I look forward to that day like a kid looks forward to Christmas day.

Eureka, I have finally followed the paper trail, and arrived at my pot of gold so to speak, the crook, the thief. And you will not believe this but it is none other than the vice-president of our firm. And today I’m going to contact the federal authorities with my proof. And then my friends the shit will hit the fan.

I worked through lunch. I received a text stating that the authorities would be arriving at my office before the end of the day. My stomach was doing flip-flops. Why? You may ask. Because one of the original partners of this firm is the embezzler. He is an affable guy and I knew it was going to be a bitter pill to swallow when everyone found out that he has been stealing funds from this company for a long time. Probably since day one.

Probably the majority of people aren’t going to believe he is a thief. But numbers don’t lie. And I don’t lie, I’m incapable of lying. Even if it would benefit me to lie. If someone asks me how they look in their new suit and they look terrible. I tell them, it looks awful on you. So, you can see how some people might prefer that you lie to protect people’s feelings or keep them out of trouble. I can not do that.

I hear some kind of a commotion in the outer offices. I look up and see three men walking toward me. I don’t recognize them. But, I do know a cop when I see them. Even if they’re wearing a three-piece suit. I think at first they were going to walk right up to me. I break out in a sweat. And I think, well this is going to be my last day at this job. I better start looking for a new job.

But they didn’t even glance at me. They walk right past me and toward the main meeting room. The agent taking the lead opens the door and walks right in and asks, “Mr. Edward Robinson my name is Agent Michael Lombardi can you please step outside we need to speak to you privately. “

Mr. Robinson’s face turns bright red. He couldn’t even get a word out. Then I see him gulp and hear him clear his throat and he says, “what the hell is this all about?”

“Mr. Robinson, I’d rather not do that in front of everyone but if you insist I will. Mr. Edward Robinson, you are under suspicion for embezzling. Which is a Federal crime. I’m going to read your rights to you. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. “

Then Mr. Robinson swallows again and says, “I want to talk to my lawyer. I haven’t committed any crime. This is total crap.”

And that is the last thing I hear him say. Until the day I sit in the courtroom as a witness to testify to his crime of embezzling. And that is all they wrote folks, you do the crime, you do the time.

The next morning I’m called into the head pardner’s office. I have no doubt that they’re going to fire me. The partner’s assistant buzz me on the phone and asks if I would be so kind as to go to the meeting room. As I walk toward the meeting room I feel as if I’m about to show up for my own lynching. When I walk through those double doors I start sweating. And as I step in front of the meeting table all the members of the board stood and clap. I look behind me to see what they are clapping for? And there is no one else, just me.

“What’s happening?” I say to no one in particular.

“You are Mr. Miller. You are. We’re honoring you. Because you did your job. You were not afraid and stood up and did the right thing. You have probably saved our company millions of dollars by following the money trail and contacting the Feds before Mr. Robinson robbed us blind. You are getting a raise and a promotion. And it is our sincere hope that you will continue to serve our company for all the years to come. Congratulations.

And that my friends was the beginning of the rest of my life. And all because I believe that you must, stay focused on your mission, remain steadfast in your pursuit of excellence, and always do the right thing.

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Love Your Neighbors As You Love Your Enemies As They Are Probably One In The Same

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Here it is Monday morning again. The weeks seem to fly by. I’m a writer by trade. I have to produce a weekly story for an online fiction writing site. The problem is that I’m also a procrastinator. And I often wait until the last minute to start writing. Sometimes I have difficulty coming up with an original idea right away. And as the years go by, my ideas seem to flow more slowly each week.

And this week is no different. I sat at my desk for over three hours, and not a single idea came to mind. It’s eleven-thirty, and I have nothing. My mind is a complete blank. I start to panic. And at that moment, I happen to glance out my office window. And I see one of my neighbors coming out of his garage with his dog on a leash. It looks like he is about to take him for a walk. And then a delivery truck pulls up to his curb and parks. The driver emerges from the truck with a relatively large package in tow. The dog barks at him, and the closer the delivery guy comes, the louder the dog barks.

My neighbor, whose name is Jake tries to calm his dog down. He accidentally loses his grip on the dog leash, and the dog lunges at the UPS guy, and he drops the rather large package. I hear noises indicating that something fragile is in the package. And then Jake trips on the curb and falls flat on his face. Jake’s dog growls at the UPS guy, lunges at his leg, and bites down hard. As if he’s biting down on a raw steak or something. The UPS guy screams out expletives so loud that I can hear every word he says. The dog takes off down the street like a bat out of hell. The UPS guy is a close second. He looks mad as hell, and I fear for the dog’s life.

I can no longer see what is going on with UPS guy and the dog. I run to the front door, open it, and look from right to left. I don’t see either of them right away until I hear UPS guy still yelling profanities at the top of his lungs. Then I spy the dog running into our neighbor’s back yard across the street. I see Jake limping across the street and calling out Tuc a the top of his lungs. That’s the dog’s name, Tennessee Tuc. Now the dog, the UPS driver, and Jake are in the neighbors’ yard across the street.

This is the most excitement I’ve seen in our neighborhood in the five years. That’s how long we have lived here. And nothing, absolutely nothing happens here. It is a small development with twenty houses. One street runs through the development, and three streets end in cull-d-sacs. We rarely see anyone. Everyone has a garage, and they go in and out through their garages. If you’re lucky, you will catch one of the neighbors riding their lawnmowers and cutting their grass during the Spring and Summer. Otherwise, our neighborhood seems deserted. I’m not exaggerating. The neighbors do not talk to one another. Occasionally they will wave, but that is a rare occasion.

The next thing I see is a horse running across the street into our front yard. I guess you might be wondering where a horse came from. Well, believe it or not, there’s a horse farm behind our development. One day one of the horses opened the gate and took a walk across the street. And apparently, and decided to use our yard as a toilet. When I went outside, I found a large pile of horse shit. I walk across the street to the owner’s house and tell him, “one of your horses is in our yard. He doesn’t have a harness on him, so I couldn’t bring him home. He came over and took the horse home. Apparently, the horse’s name was Tina. Can you believe it?

Now, I’m having difficulty hearing or seeing what is going on. Since Jake and the dog and UPS guy are at the horse farm, the horses are becoming upset by the commotion. Tuc is barking, and Jake’s yelling for Tuc, and the UPS guy is screaming like a banshee because he is still mad as hell. Barring any common sense, I cross the street to investigate what is going on at the horse farm. Yeah, I don’t know their name either because I only saw the husband going in and out of his barn. And I never saw his wife at all. Can you believe it?

So, now I’m standing at a distance from the action, but not so far away that I can’t see and hear everything coming down. I feel like I’m watching a movie or something. I have no shame. And there is no end to how nosy I am capable of being. Well, we all have our faults. And this is mine.

Tuc is lunging at the UPS guy who has had about enough of the crap that he’s going to take. He starts picking up random rocks from the farmer’s backyard and propelling them at Tuc. At least I thought they were rocks until I got close enough to smell them. And I realize he’s pitching horse dung at Tuck and Jake. For some reason, I find this to be hysterical, and I start laughing so hard that I almost swallow my tongue.

That is when they all turned in my direction and became aware that I was watching them. Apparently, they don’t think this is an occasion for laughter. Because the next thing I know both Jake and UPS guy are picking up and propelling horse shit at me. I yell out, “Hey, what the hell did I do?”

And I get slammed two more times. And then we all look at each other and start laughing. Jake calls his dog over to him and grabs his collar. And then he turns towards the UPS guy and says, “I’m sorry about my dog biting you. Are you alright? Would you like to come back to my house and we can take a look at your bite? Maybe you would like to sit down and have a cup of coffee or something? You know my wife, Sharon, just made some awesome cornbread yesterday. Maybe you like to have some?”

And that is when I got a good look at Jake’s noggin and saw that he had acquired a huge red lump on his forehead from the header he took on his sidewalk. I had to clap my hand over my mouth because I had the strange and misguided idea that this was somehow really funny. I’m sure Jake wouldn’t agree.

I say, “Hey, I’m sorry for laughing. How about you all come over to my house and we can relax for a bit and calm down? And that is how I made my first couple of friends in the neighborhood. And I decided from now on I’m going to start making a more concerted effort to get to know my neighbors. And hopefully, I wouldn’t have to wait for another brawl to take place before I meet them.

It turns out we all had some things in common. Who would have thought? Not me. So, please take my advice, and don’t wait until people start throwing horse dung at you before introducing yourself to them. Life is too short.

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YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE IS WHAT GIVES YOUR LIFE MEANING

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It has been six months since I signed my final divorce papers were signed. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whether you want a divorce or not. I was not the one seeking a divorce. It never even occurred to me that I would ever get a divorce. I married for life.

And then, two days before our twenty-fifth anniversary, my husband sent me an email from work. An email, can you believe it? And it said, sorry Cassie, but I can no longer live this lie. I haven’t loved you for a long time. Life is short. I’ve found my true love, and I have filed for divorce. I hope you will find “real” love and happiness in the future. I know this is the best thing for both of us. My lawyer will be contacting you.

Divorce papers

 

My first thought was, oh that Charlie, he’s such a joker. And then I laughed and laughed. I kept laughing up until I decided to go upstairs to our bedroom and check his closet. It was empty except for his old slippers that had a hole in the sole of the right slipper. I must have stared at the empty closet for fifteen minutes. Until I finally realized that if this was one of his jokes, it wasn’t funny at all. Then I grabbed my cell phone and called Charlie’s cell. The message said, phone number disconnected. I called his boss’s office and asked, “did Charlie come to work today? “Oh hello, Cassie,” no, of course not, didn’t Charlie tell you he was transferred to the Milwaukee office. Today is his first day there. But, you knew that already I’m sure.”

“Oh yes, of course, he did. It slipped my mind. I’ve been so busy. He forgot to give me his new cell number could you give me that. I have to tell him something important.”

“Of course, I’ll text it to you right now. However, he might still be on the road. I was surprised that you didn’t show up for his Bon Voyage party yesterday. We missed seeing you. “

“Oh yeah, the Bon Voyage party. I have been running around like a crazy person trying to get ready for the move. Take care, and I’ll talk to you soon.”

I ended the call, and then I plopped down on the floor and cried like a baby for a good hour. I felt like my heart actually broke. It was beating very hard, painfully hard. I thought I might be having a heart attack. I cried until I ran out of tears. I was having trouble breathing. I think I must have passed out for a while.

When I came to my senses, I was splayed out on the floor. I crawled over to the bed and pulled myself up. The little voice inside my head was screaming, “how could you be so stupid? All the nights that Charlie stayed at work ’till midnight. He slept on the couch all night and told me he had work to do on the computer and didn’t want to keep me up. He barely gave me a peck on the cheek when he left to go to work or for a work trip. How could I be so stupid?” Of course, he was having an affair. I just wouldn’t let myself see it.

Charlie and I were high school sweethearts, the prom King, and Queen. We attended the same university together. Sophomore year we moved into an efficiency apartment together. We were inseparable. We were so happy with just the two of us that we decided that we didn’t want children. We agreed that our lives were complete with just him and me. And now here I am twenty-five years later. No Charlie, no kids, just an empty house and me. And that is when it occurred to me that Charlie would probably hire his best friend Kevin Gipson, the most cutthroat divorce lawyer, to represent him, and I would be left with nothing.

Two hours later, I was sitting in the office of Mary Cunningham. She and I attended the University of Penn together. She attended law school and headed her own top-notch firm. And I majored in Biology, and for the past ten years, I have dedicated my life to saving our environment, and it has been an uphill battle the whole time.

And what this tells you is that I am not a person that gives up easily or ever. I will fight up until I breathe my last breath. But because of my commitment to saving the planet, I am often absent or missing in action, as Charlie says at least once a day. He kept telling me that I was an absentee wife. Charlie doesn’t believe a woman’s career is as important as a man’s. I disagreed.

Six months later, we met at Charlie’s lawyer’s office. He sat there looking like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He even smiled at me and said, “I hope you are doing well.”

As soon as I looked at him, I felt bile rise in my mouth. I asked if I could get a drink of water. And like magic, it appeared in front of me in less than a minute. I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. At least he didn’t try to extend the conversation. I felt like leaping across the table and choking him. I tried to calm myself. I knew things would only go from bad to worse if I lost it, even for a minute. I looked at him again, and he looked like a total stranger to me. The Charlie I loved and cherished just didn’t exist any longer. I knew I was mourning a marriage that had died a long time ago when neither of us was paying attention.

My lawyer, Mary Cunningham, was having a conversation with Charlie’s lawyer. I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying to each other. I tried to calm myself. I felt like everything that had happened in the last month was out of my control, Charlie’s departure and the end of my marriage. It was as if everything was fast forward, and I had no way of controlling either the direction or how quickly things happened. I felt lost and empty.

After about a half-hour of debate between the two lawyers, they completed an agreement of equitable divorce.  We each had our investments. I can live in the house until we sold it. Then we will divide the proceeds of all our assets except for those in our possession before our marriage. The lawyers shook hands, and so did Charlie and I. It felt so anti-climatic. As if it was a Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration and all the fireworks were duds. Charlie stood next to me and shook my hand and said, “no hard feelings Cassie, I hope you will find happiness in the future. And oh, by the way, Barb and I are going to have a baby. I thought you should hear it from me.”

“A baby, a baby? You told me you never wanted or needed to have children. That the two of would always be enough. “

Well, feelings change. And besides, Barb wants to be a stay-at-home mom with the baby. She feels that women that have children should raise them and not shuttle them off to daycare and babysitters. She believes having a child is a commitment, not a choice.”

“Oh, is that right, Charlie. Well, good luck to you both. I feel as if I’m talking to a stranger. I don’t know what else to say. Congratulations on the baby. My lawyer will contact you regarding the sale of our house; I mean the house. Goodbye.”

Some part of me wanted to reach out and hug him one more time. It all seemed so unreal to me. I felt my lip quiver a bit, and I was afraid I was going to start bawling in front of Charlie and the lawyers. And that’s when Charlie reached out and pulled me close to him and said, “I’m so sorry for hurting you. I didn’t plan any of it. It just happened. I felt like you left me a long, long time ago. I wish only the best for you in whatever your future brings to you.”

I took a deep breath and swallowed, and managed to hug him back. I couldn’t believe it would be for the last time. “Goodbye, Charlie. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t miss you. I will. I do wish you happiness as well. Goodbye, take care.

And I turned around and shook Mary Cunningham’s hand and said,” I’ll contact you when our house sells. I was just offered the lead position with the Office of Global Change in the Department of State. I believe I will finally be able to make a real difference now.”

“Cassie, I wish you only the best. I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you. I know that you will do great things in your life. And I will be able to say I knew you when.”

Then we shook hands and turned and walked in different directions. I didn’t hear from him again until his baby was born, and he sent me a picture. I congratulated him. And I was truly happy that he had a life that made him truly happy as he seemed to be.

And I was happy in my work, which was always paramount to me. I knew that whatever happened now would make a difference not just to me but to the world at some level. I got ready for bed because tomorrow would bring me more challenges, and I would meet them.

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THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE

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FIRST APARTMENT

First Apartment

I quietly rolled the car down the driveway and into the street before pausing for one last look at my old bedroom window. It was a difficult decision to make. I lived here my entire life. But it’s time. Time for me to finally become independent. But still, it was hard. I love my parents. And I know they love me, but they are so overprotective. They make me feel like I’m incapable of making the smallest of decisions on my own.

They don’t feel like I’m ready to live in the big, bad city. They’re afraid I might get raped, robbed, or murdered. They kept reading me articles from the newspaper reporting the high incidents of drug addicts waiting on every corner of downtown Philadelphia who will rob you.

I assured them that I had been going to Tyler School of Art every day for the past two years and somehow survived without a bodyguard. I’ll be fine. My apartment is only a block away from school, and I can take the bus or the subway all around the city. And all my friends live a bus stop away.

I remind them that I will see them when they come by my apartment in a couple of days because they are coming to Philly to pick up my car and take it back home since it is too expensive to keep a car in the city.

As I pull out into the street, I see my parent’s faces pressed up against the kitchen window and waving frantically at me. I wave back with a big smile on my face. I see my mother wipe a tear from her cheek. That tearing rolling down her face almost makes me change my mind. I’ve never been able to bear seeing my mother cry. But this time, this time is different. I grit my teeth and wave again. And I don’t look back. I head towards the Ben Franklin Bridge and my future as a newly semi-independent adult.

After being stuck in the morning traffic jam for a good half hour, I cross the bridge and head towards my apartment, which is within walking distance of Tyler. It’s an old building, everything around it looks old. There are beautiful sections of Philadelphia, but this isn’t one of them. I manage to get a parking spot across the street from my new apartment, which is a miracle. Apparently, one of the overnight parkers just left as I drove into the lot. I see this as a good sign. Owning a car in the city is expensive. It makes more sense to take public transportation than pay through the nose to park your vehicle overnight. That’s why my car is going to be living at my parent’s house.

I will have to make several trips from my car to my apartment. I have all my clothes, and books, and art materials to bring inside. My parents helped furnish the place with stuff that they bought at yard sales and estate sales. They are good at finding bargains. They even got me dishes and silverware and kitchen stuff. When I arrive at the steps to my apartment, I see what appears to be a homeless guy sitting on the stoop. He moves to one side when he realizes I am going up the steps. I say,” hello. He asks do you have any spare money?” And I say, “Sorry, I’m a student and don’t have any extra money.” I unlock the door and head up the steps. I see a discarded needle on the top step. I’m so glad my parents didn’t come with me today, or they would have dragged me home.

By the time I arrive on the third floor, I’m out of breath. I promise to start exercising as soon as I get settled. I know at twenty years old, I shouldn’t be getting out of breath after only going up two flights of steps.

I have a little trouble unlocking the door as it’s an old building. And probably built at the turn of the century, and the door looks it. I finally jam the key in and manage to turn it. I have to pull the door closed with both hands. I shove all my stuff in with my foot since I had to put it down to unlock the door. The guy in the apartment next to me sticks his head out. His hair hangs down to his waist, and he has a beard almost as long. Oh, my mother is just going to go nuts when she sees him. The whites of his eyes are blood red. He looks like he hasn’t slept in ten years.

“Hey, welcome. My name’s Steven Corson. I work at night and sleep during the day, so I would appreciate it if you kept the noise down.

“Well, I’ll be at school during the day, but I can’t promise there won’t be any noise since my friends from Tyler School of Art will be visiting me because Tyler is right around the corner.”

He nods at me and says, “good luck. I hope you’ll like it here.” And he pulls his head back into his apartment and closes the door, and I hear him slide the deadlock in place. That reminds me that I need to do the same once I get all my stuff up here this morning. I think I’ll get an extra key made so one of my friends can hold it just in case I lock myself out or lose my key. I would get one made for my parents, but I don’t want to come home to find them sitting in my living room.

I made several trips from my car to the apartment, and when I made the final trip, I sat down on my new, old couch and took a deep breath. I say out loud, “this is the first day of the rest of my life.” And I smile. I look around my apartment. My parents came over one day and cleaned it from top to bottom. It will probably be a good month or two before I clean it again. And that’s me being optimistic.

I walk over to the kitchen if you can call it a kitchen. It has one counter with a refrigerator on one side, a hot plate and a toaster oven and a sink, no dishwasher. Oh, and a small cabinet under the counter for cleaning stuff. I look in the cupboards, and I see I have an old set of dishes, six glasses, and five used coffee cups. In the overhead, there’s cereal, dry potatoes, and some canned food. The fridge has milk, juice, butter, bread, cheese, and lunch meat, hot dogs and frozen hamburgers, and fudge bars in the freezer, which is my favorite dessert. I will have to thank my mom. As much as she gets on my nerves, she does more for me than anyone ever has.

I head toward the bathroom. It’s tiny, a standing shower, towel rack, sink, toilet, and a small cabinet under the sink with some cleaning products and paper towels. My mom left two sets of towels and washcloths. I go into the bedroom, and it looks even smaller than when I checked it out the first time because my parents brought my bedroom furniture over. Which include my single bed, dresser and side table, and a lamp. The living room has an old couch and my beanbag from my bedroom and my tv and computer. The closet is the biggest thing in the apartment, and hopefully, I will be able to fit all my art stuff and all my other junk. I will have to start looking for a chair for my bedroom on the street nearby. People in this area move in and out a lot. And often, they leave some of their furniture on the curb. I will have to keep my eyes open on my way to and from Tyler.

I spent the next few hours arranging things to my liking when I noticed that my stomach was growling. I stand next to the open door of the refrigerator to see if there is anything I want to eat. I was about to settle on a hamburger when I heard someone banging on the door, and then the banging got louder. I hear laughing. I two-time it to the door. Because the next thing I know, my neighbor will be complaining about the noise waking him up.

“OK, OK, I’m coming.” I unlock the door and pull it open, and what do you know? It’s three of my friends from Tyler holding a pizza box and a six-pack. “Come on in, but you have to keep it down cause the guy next door works at night, and he’s sleeping.”

They are laughing their heads off. They must have had some beer on the way over. I laugh at them. Then we are all laughing, and then I hear a banging on the wall from my neighbor, who doesn’t appreciate all the hilarity. I put my finger up to my lips. And then they start laughing again. “Come in, come in. Thanks for bringing the pizza. My stomach was growling, and I didn’t feel like eating a hamburger.”

They all start milling around the apartment. “Hey, this is great. We can crash here sometimes when we have a big project to do, and we have to stay up all night and work on it. And then we have to walk around the corner to school.” They all start clapping. The guy next door bangs on the wall again. They laugh. I laugh. The guy next door isn’t going to get any sleep today. Well, he must have been young once.

We decide to watch a movie on my computer. We settle on The Vast Of The Night, which is a scary- sci-fi movie. We start watching the movie and scarfing down the pizza, and guzzling the beer. We scream at all the scary parts and sometimes laugh hysterically. I’m laughing so hard that a piece of pizza shoots out of my mouth all the way across the room. And this brings on another round of hysterical laughter and banging on the wall.

After the movie, we decide to play Fortnite, and this is a game of elimination. The ideal ending is one character is left alive, and everyone else is murdered. We love this game and would play it all night if possible. In the middle of the game, my friend Jamie decides to get some more beer and snack food. When he returns, we start a new round of eating and drinking and laughing our heads off. My neighbor has given up on banging on the wall and has come to the door to complain in person.

He says, “Hey, I can’t get any sleep with all this racket. He looks furious, but when he sees that we are playing Fortnite, he says,’ excellent, can I join in? This is my favorite game.”

“Yeah, sure, and we just got more beer and snacks. Have a seat. “

And that, my friends, was the first night of the best three years of my life. And you only have one life. You should live it to the fullest. Whatever that means to you.”

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THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF MY LIFE

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FIRST APARTMENT

I quietly rolled the car down the driveway and into the street before pausing for one last look at my old bedroom window. It was a difficult decision to make. I lived here my entire life. But it’s time. Time for me to finally become independent. But still, it was hard. I love my parents. And I know they love me, but they are so overprotective. They make me feel like I’m incapable of making the smallest of decisions on my own.

They don’t feel like I’m ready to live in the big, bad city. They’re afraid I might get raped, robbed, or murdered. They kept reading me articles from the newspaper reporting the high incidents of drug addicts waiting on every corner of downtown Philadelphia who will rob you.

I assured them that I had been going to Tyler School of Art every day for the past two years and somehow survived without a bodyguard. I’ll be fine. My apartment is only a block away from school, and I can take the bus or the subway all around the city. And all my friends live a bus stop away.

I remind them that I will see them when they come by my apartment in a couple of days because they are coming to Philly to pick up my car and take it back home since it is too expensive to keep a car in the city.

As I pull out into the street, I see my parent’s faces pressed up against the kitchen window and waving frantically at me. I wave back with a big smile on my face. I see my mother wipe a tear from her cheek. That tearing rolling down her face almost makes me change my mind. I’ve never been able to bear seeing my mother cry. But this time, this time is different. I grit my teeth and wave again. And I don’t look back. I head towards the Ben Franklin Bridge and my future as a newly semi-independent adult.

After being stuck in the morning traffic jam for a good half hour, I cross the bridge and head towards my apartment, which is within walking distance of Tyler. It’s an old building, everything around it looks old. There are beautiful sections of Philadelphia, but this isn’t one of them. I manage to get a parking spot across the street from my new apartment, which is a miracle. Apparently, one of the overnight parkers just left as I drove into the lot. I see this as a good sign. Owning a car in the city is expensive. It makes more sense to take public transportation than pay through the nose to park your vehicle overnight. That’s why my car is going to be living at my parent’s house.

I will have to make several trips from my car to my apartment. I have all my clothes, and books, and art materials to bring inside. My parents helped furnish the place with stuff that they bought at yard sales and estate sales. They are good at finding bargains. They even got me dishes and silverware and kitchen stuff. When I arrive at the steps to my apartment, I see what appears to be a homeless guy sitting on the stoop. He moves to one side when he realizes I am going up the steps. I say,” hello. He asks do you have any spare money?” And I say, “Sorry, I’m a student and don’t have any extra money.” I unlock the door and head up the steps. I see a discarded needle on the top step. I’m so glad my parents didn’t come with me today, or they would have dragged me home.

By the time I arrive on the third floor, I’m out of breath. I promise to start exercising as soon as I get settled. I know at twenty years old, I shouldn’t be getting out of breath after only going up two flights of steps.

I have a little trouble unlocking the door as it’s an old building. And probably built at the turn of the century, and the door looks it. I finally jam the key in and manage to turn it. I have to pull the door closed with both hands. I shove all my stuff in with my foot since I had to put it down to unlock the door. The guy in the apartment next to me sticks his head out. His hair hangs down to his waist, and he has a beard almost as long. Oh, my mother is just going to go nuts when she sees him. The whites of his eyes are blood red. He looks like he hasn’t slept in ten years.

“Hey, welcome. My name’s Steven Corson. I work at night and sleep during the day, so I would appreciate it if you kept the noise down.

“Well, I’ll be at school during the day, but I can’t promise there won’t be any noise since my friends from Tyler School of Art will be visiting me because Tyler is right around the corner.”

He nods at me and says, “good luck. I hope you’ll like it here.” And he pulls his head back into his apartment and closes the door, and I hear him slide the deadlock in place. That reminds me that I need to do the same once I get all my stuff up here this morning. I think I’ll get an extra key made so one of my friends can hold it just in case I lock myself out or lose my key. I would get one made for my parents, but I don’t want to come home to find them sitting in my living room.

I made several trips from my car to the apartment, and when I made the final trip, I sat down on my new, old couch and took a deep breath. I say out loud, “this is the first day of the rest of my life.” And I smile. I look around my apartment. My parents came over one day and cleaned it from top to bottom. It will probably be a good month or two before I clean it again. And that’s me being optimistic.

I walk over to the kitchen if you can call it a kitchen. It has one counter with a refrigerator on one side, a hot plate and a toaster oven and a sink, no dishwasher. Oh, and a small cabinet under the counter for cleaning stuff. I look in the cupboards, and I see I have an old set of dishes, six glasses, and five used coffee cups. In the overhead, there’s cereal, dry potatoes, and some canned food. The fridge has milk, juice, butter, bread, cheese, and lunch meat, hot dogs and frozen hamburgers, and fudge bars in the freezer, which is my favorite dessert. I will have to thank my mom. As much as she gets on my nerves, she does more for me than anyone ever has.

I head toward the bathroom. It’s tiny, a standing shower, towel rack, sink, toilet, and a small cabinet under the sink with some cleaning products and paper towels. My mom left two sets of towels and washcloths. I go into the bedroom, and it looks even smaller than when I checked it out the first time because my parents brought my bedroom furniture over. Which include my single bed, dresser and side table, and a lamp. The living room has an old couch and my beanbag from my bedroom and my tv and computer. The closet is the biggest thing in the apartment, and hopefully, I will be able to fit all my art stuff and all my other junk. I will have to start looking for a chair for my bedroom on the street nearby. People in this area move in and out a lot. And often, they leave some of their furniture on the curb. I will have to keep my eyes open on my way to and from Tyler.

I spent the next few hours arranging things to my liking when I noticed that my stomach was growling. I stand next to the open door of the refrigerator to see if there is anything I want to eat. I was about to settle on a hamburger when I heard someone banging on the door, and then the banging got louder. I hear laughing. I two-time it to the door. Because the next thing I know, my neighbor will be complaining about the noise waking him up.

“OK, OK, I’m coming.” I unlock the door and pull it open, and what do you know? It’s three of my friends from Tyler holding a pizza box and a six-pack. “Come on in, but you have to keep it down cause the guy next door works at night, and he’s sleeping.”

They are laughing their heads off. They must have had some beer on the way over. I laugh at them. Then we are all laughing, and then I hear a banging on the wall from my neighbor, who doesn’t appreciate all the hilarity. I put my finger up to my lips. And then they start laughing again. “Come in, come in. Thanks for bringing the pizza. My stomach was growling, and I didn’t feel like eating a hamburger.”

They all start milling around the apartment. “Hey, this is great. We can crash here sometimes when we have a big project to do, and we have to stay up all night and work on it. And then we have to walk around the corner to school.” They all start clapping. The guy next door bangs on the wall again. They laugh. I laugh. The guy next door isn’t going to get any sleep today. Well, he must have been young once.

We decide to watch a movie on my computer. We settle on The Vast Of The Night, which is a scary- sci-fi movie. We start watching the movie and scarfing down the pizza, and guzzling the beer. We scream at all the scary parts and sometimes laugh hysterically. I’m laughing so hard that a piece of pizza shoots out of my mouth all the way across the room. And this brings on another round of hysterical laughter and banging on the wall.

After the movie, we decide to play Fortnite, and this is a game of elimination. The ideal ending is one character is left alive, and everyone else is murdered. We love this game and would play it all night if possible. In the middle of the game, my friend Jamie decides to get some more beer and snack food. When he returns, we start a new round of eating and drinking and laughing our heads off. My neighbor has given up on banging on the wall and has come to the door to complain in person.

He says, “Hey, I can’t get any sleep with all this racket. He looks furious, but when he sees that we are playing Fortnite, he says,’ excellent, can I join in? This is my favorite game.”

“Yeah, sure, and we just got more beer and snacks. Have a seat. “

And that, my friends, was the first night of the best three years of my life. And you only have one life. You should live it to the fullest. Whatever that means to you.”

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THE SUMMER I MET MY BEST FRIEND

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The ancient house with the wildly overgrown garden is silent and secretive. It has been over fifty years since I lived in this town. I lived on Fellowship Road. My backyard faced Wilke’s backyard.

Old House

I can’t believe that this house is still standing, mostly intact. As I peruse my childhood memories from the early 1950’s, I remember Wilke’s house looked decrepit then. I  simply can not understand how it still exists. Everything around it has changed. Almost all the homes on Poplar Avenue have either been replaced by newer homes or updated and look unrecognizable.

I have such wonderful memories of sitting under our Willow tree on a hot Summer’s day reading a Nancy Drew mystery. Dreaming about my distant future when I too could become a famous female detective and solve crimes.

Occasionally while I was reading, Mrs. Wilkes would beckon me from her yard. There was shrubbery between Wilke’s backyard and ours that served as a fence that divided the two properties. But I could hear her calling out my name, “Sandy come over here. I have something to give you.”

And I would jump up and run over up to the bushes. And she would be standing there with her toothless smile and her shining, green eyes. Her long gray hair would be braided and wrapped around her head. Sometimes she would braid a blue ribbon in her braid. Occasionally she would add a rose or daisy from the garden she had in her backyard. I thought she was beautiful.

On this particular afternoon, she said to me, “Sandy would you do me a favor and taste this chocolate cookie for me? I have trouble chewing them. And I want to make sure they taste good. My grandson, Francis is coming to stay with us for the summer.”

“Sure, I would be happy to taste it.” She held out a cookie to me in her crooked and gnarled hand. I took a huge bite. “I think this is the best cookie I’ve ever had. Francis will like it. I can’t wait to meet Francis.”

I love looking at Mrs. Wilke’s backyard. The Wilkes spend almost all their free time working outside in the garden whenever the weather is warm. On the other side of the hedges, they planted a rose garden that follows a winding path throughout their back yard and continues into their front yard. There are over fifty different kinds and colors of roses. I know because one day, Mrs. Wilkes asked me if I would like to come into her backyard and smell all her beautiful roses. The aroma was overwhelming. And bees and butterflies are always visiting her garden.

On her side of the bushes, there are morning glories that bloom all summer. Early in the morning, I would run out to the bushes in the backyard to see what color the morning glories were that day. And I would pick one and give it to my mother.

My mother would put it in a glass of water and place it on the kitchen window windowsill. They are my favorite flowers. But the most beautiful thing in her garden was an ancient Weeping Willow tree that stood twenty feet taller than their old house. Mrs. Wilkes told me that it was planted by Mr. Wilkes’s grandfather, and it was the oldest tree in our town.

I love visiting Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes because they always had time to listen to me. They would sit quietly while I told them one of my stories. The summer that their grandson Francis spent there was one of the greatest summers I ever had. Francis was about ten years old, and he had bright red hair with freckles sprinkled across his face. His ears stuck out on either side, and the other kids used to make fun of him. He had the same beautiful green eyes that his grandmother had.

I spent the entire morning that Francis was supposed to arrive sitting in my backyard and reading a book. Somehow I know that Francis is going to become my best friend. I keep looking up from my book. it’s a Nancy Drew book called The Clue From The Old Wall. And it was really exciting. Nancy was protecting a treasure that was hidden in an old wall from thieves. I love reading Nancy Drew’s books because girls are hardly ever portrayed as heroes in all the books I read.

I’m having a hard time concentrating because I keep looking over at the Wilke’s to see if their decrepit old pickup truck is pulling into their dirt driveway. Their truck is so old that all the paint had been worn off by the rain, snow, and wind. But somehow I believe it is the most beautiful truck I’ve ever seen.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, I hear them coming down Poplar Avenue. I know it’s them because I could hear their truck before I see it. It backfires every couple of minutes. It sounds like it is on its last legs, but somehow it keeps going just like the Wilkes. They pull into their driveway and slowly descend from their seats. I see a red-headed boy jumping down out of the bed of the truck with a small suitcase. That is being held closed by what looks like an old belt.

I practically jump over the bushes and manage to get scratched from head to toe. But I don’t care. I run through their backyard and up to the front. I’m yelling at the top of my voice, “Francis, your here, your here.” He looks over at me with a surprised look on his face. Because he doesn’t know who I am and how I know his name. I see the Wilke’s beautiful, wrinkled face transformed by their ear-to-ear smiles. I run over to Francis and give him a squeeze around his waist. His face turns red, but he is still smiling.

Mrs. Wilkes says, “Francis, meet your new best friend, Sandy. She lives on the other side of our backyard, and she has been waiting impatiently for you to arrive. Francis looks at me with a shy grin on his face and says,” Hi Sandy, I’m happy to meet you.”

I look at him and say,” we’re going to have so much fun this summer. We can go swimming at the pond, ride bikes and go downtown to the shops. Especially the bakery. I just love donuts, do you? And we can roller skate on the sidewalk. And we can go to the clay pits and dig for fossils. You’ll love it here. I can hardly wait for the 4th of July. We can go downtown and ride our bikes behind the band and throw candy at everyone along Main Street. And you can meet all my other friends that live on Fellowship Road. Not to mention all my friends from school. This is going to be a great summer, you’ll see. I said this all in one breath without stopping. Francis had a huge smile on his face now, and so did the Wilkes. Oh, I almost forgot we can go to Schucks to buy penny candy. I love candy so much. And they have a jute box in there. And we can watch all the teenagers dancing. Oh, I almost forgot, on Saturdays we can go to the movies at the Roxy theater. It’s right on Main Street. It only cost a quarter. I bring my lunch with me, Lebanon Bologna and cheese. I’ll bring two, one for me and one for you.

Mrs. Wilkes laughs out loud and say’s,” doesn’t that sound great, Francis?”

“Oh, I almost forgot, there is also a bus that picks kids up at the front of the police station and takes us to the Riverside skating rink. You can rent skates if you don’t have any and skate all day for fifty cents. I always fall down about a million times. But I don’t care. It’s fun.”

Francis looks at me and then turns around and looks at his grandparents and his eyes are as big as saucers, and his smile is from ear to ear. He says, ‘can we go downtown I would love to see it. I live out in the country, and there isn’t much to see there except blueberry farms.”

“How about bringing your suitcase into the house and getting settled and having something for lunch? I made homemade chicken noodle soup, and I can make grilled cheese sandwiches. You’re invited to Sandy, but go ask your mother first?”

“Oh, I’m sure she won’t care.”
“Go ask first. All the same, Sandy.”
“Alright, I’ll go ask. I’ll be right back.”

And in less than five minutes, I was knocking at their back door. I had never been inside their house before. My house was about fifteen years old. But their house was old, really old. They used to have a farm, but they sold the land to the church when they stopped farming. The church made the land into a parking lot.

And that day was the beginning of the best summer of my whole childhood. Francis and I became best friends. And we kept in touch for many years. And then, in 1969, Francis got drafted into the army, and he was sent to Viet Nam. It was one of the saddest days of my life when I heard he got killed there. His grandparents had passed away years before that. I was always glad they didn’t have to face the loss. After that first summer, he spent every summer until he was about sixteen when the Wilkes passed away one right after the other.

And now, here I am, visiting my old neighborhood, and I swear I can see Mr. and Mrs. Wilkes smiling out at me from their porch. I feel tears pooling up and running down my cheeks. I smile back at them and they wave goodbye to me, and then they’re gone. I turn away and walk past the house where I lived my entire childhood and where strangers live now. And I think I was the luckiest kid in the world. I had a wonderful childhood, especially after Francis and I became best friends. The Wilkes and Francis will always live in my heart and my memory.

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LIFE IS A GIFT, YOU CAN ONLY DO IT ONCE, IF YOU DO IT RIGHT,ONCE IS ENOUGH

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It’s just an ordinary Monday morning. I arrive at my job at Ellis Insurance Company at eight AM sharp. I sit down at my desk and look around the office. It’s unoccupied save for myself. This is extremely odd because Harry and Everett are always sitting at their desks and hard at work when I arrive. Huh, I think that’s weird.

Bank Robbery

I shrug my shoulders and decide to start the coffee and have a look at my schedule while I drink my super-caffeinated brew. I like to start the day with a kick in the keister. If you know what I mean. It looks like it is going to be a busy, busy morning which makes the absents of my bosses even stranger. They’re nose to grindstone types. You know the first ones in the office in the morning and the last to leave. I start looking over the files of the clients that will be arriving shortly. I finish two cups of coffee and feel the call of nature.

When I get up to use the loo, I hear the bell on the door ring and see that it is one of my office mates Martha. She is the bookkeeper. She is a strictly business kind of person. In other words, Martha and I don’t go out on Friday night for a nightcap. She keeps her personal life, personal. We have worked in the same office together for six years and I know nothing about her except that she drives a ten-year-old Honda. That she keeps in tip-top order. She’s tight with her money. She squeezes a penny so tight that I’ve seen Lincoln shed a tear. Yeah, I know that’s an old joke. But it’s a good one.

I tip an imaginary cap at her to say, “hello.” And she raises her chin to me. In Martha talk that’s almost a hug. Then I say, “Martha, did Harry or Everett mention that they would late coming in today?”

“No, they did not but let me check my cell phone to see if they texted me.”

About half a minute later she says, “no nothing.” And then she starts getting ready for the day by booting up her computer. And that’s the last thing she says to me that entire day. Martha is not one to mince words or waste words. I’ve often thought she would have made a great mime. Since she hates to have to resort to talking for any reason.

I was almost finished going through the files I had set aside for this morning when I suddenly realized that Everette and Harry have neither shown up or contacted me or Martha. “Martha have you heard from Everette or Harry yet?”

“No, not yet. I don’t remember them ever being this late without giving us a heads up. It’s probably nothing to worry about. And they’re well aware that we can keep the office running without them. Maybe they just went out for breakfast. You know how they love to eat at the greasy spoon restaurants, the greasier the better.”

“Still I would have thought they would have let us know.” Martha just shrugs her shoulders again and goes back to work. I shoot a text off to Everette since he’s the more organized of the two of them. I decide to continue working until lunch and if we still didn’t hear anything I was going to start contacting the clients they have appointments with this morning and if necessary calling their wives., but that will be the last resort. Harry’s wife is extremely high-strung and jealous. Since Harry has a problem staying away from the ladies. He has a roving eye And Everette’s wife does not like to be bothered by anything going on here at Ellis High-Risk Auto Insurance. In addition, I’m somewhat reluctant to make their families worry without proof that anything is wrong. I set my timer on my cell phone for noon and then I would start my calls.

At twelve o’clock sharp my cell phone alarm goes off and it startles me so much that I let out a little scream. Martha says,” what the hell is wrong with you. You half scared me to death?”

“Sorry Martha, my alarm startled me. I’m going to call Everette and Harry’s wives and see if they know where they are. I’ll try to do it in such a way that they won’t freak out. You know how high-strung they both are.

“High Strung, by that you mean nutty as a couple of fruit cakes? Why are you so worried? They are grown, men. They can take care of themselves.”

“Yeah, I know but still I’m going to check with the wives. I’ll let you know what they say.”

“Don’t bother, I’m sure they’re out to breakfast with new clients or something.”

I called Everette’s wife several times, no answer. She isn’t picking up. I didn’t leave a message because I didn’t want her unduly worried. I just asked her to call me back when she has a chance. Then I called Harry’s wife. Wow, you wouldn’t believe what a nutjob she is. The message on her phone was- I’m busy. Leave me or message or don’t it’s up to you.” She is a real charmer that one.

As I’m eating my lunch which is a thermos of vegetarian vegetable soup and salt-free crackers I contemplate what I should do next. I decided to look at the local news on the internet. There is a news flash. It says local businessmen, Harry and Everette Ellis save the day. And then there is a video of none other than Harry and Everette being clapped on the back by the mayor. What in the world is happening? I yell at the top of my lungs,” Martha, Martha come look at this. Harry and Everette are on the local news. They are heroes.”

“What are you yelling at, I almost peed my pants. And what are you babbling about?”

“I’m not babbling, come here and look at this, Harry and Everette are on the local news. Apparently, they stopped at the bank to make a deposit and there was a bank robbery occurring as they walked in the door. Harry and Everette snuck up behind the robbers and hit them over the heads with money bags. Apparently, Harry was also depositing his daughter’s savings which were ten years of quarters she had been saving. They knocked them out cold. Can you believe it?

“Can you believe it?”

“Honestly, it sounds like a lot of bolognas. It’s probably just a publicity stunt.”
A publicity stunt, what are you talking about? Do you think Harry and Everette set up a fake bank robbery to get publicity? Wow, you are nuttier than I realized. They could go to jail for doing something like that. You have no faith in people at all do you?”

“No, no I don’t why would I? Have you seen the people that come into this office day after day? They are the dregs of humanity, low-life scums.”

“Really that’s what you think of our customers? Then why are you still working here? Why don’t you find another job somewhere else?”

“Maybe, I will. I’m sick of this place.”

I just stare at Martha and shake my head back and forth in disbelief. “Wow, it was better when you kept all your thoughts to yourself. Six years of almost being mute and this is what you finally spew out?” I feel kind of sick to my stomach, I can hardly look at her. You never know who people are and then you do and you wish you didn’t know anything about them.

At that precise moment that Martha enlightened me about who she really was all these years, Harry and Everette burst into the door all smiles. I jump up out of my seat like it’s on fire and run over to them and give them a big smile and a hug. “Our heroes are here. I’m so proud of you two. You two are so brave. You could have gotten yourselves shot.”

“Thanks, Eleanor, I guess we didn’t think about how dangerous it was. We just reacted. The robbers were threatening to shoot the bank tellers and the bank customers. They are all people we have known for years. And there was no way we were going to allow that to happen.

And then Harry whispers, let’s get them and he pointed at the heavy bags of quarters we were carrying. Then the robbers said, you two, get over here and they were shoving all the customers into the bank president’s office. As they pushed us into the office Everette and I swung the money bags and bam we hit them both hard on the head. And they hit the floor like a ton of rocks. And the coin bags split open and poured all over their heads. They didn’t get up again until the police arrived and dragged their sorry asses out into the paddy wagon.”

I hugged them both. Meanwhile, Martha never looks up or says a word to either of them. Harry says, “Hey let’s all go out to lunch and celebrate. What do you say?”

I said, “hell yeah, let’s go to that Japanese restaurant down on Route 38. I love that place.”

“Wait, let me get my purse. Harry and Everette look over at Martha and say, “Hey Martha how about it? Do you want to go out to lunch?”

Martha looks up at them and sees how excited they are and believe it or not she said,

‘Sure, that sounds great.”
I was flabbergasted. I guess it’s never too late for an old cranky old mute to learn a new trick.  That life is a gift that never take for granted.

 

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