Sweet Tea

Under the weight of the wet laundry, the clothesline sagged.  Granny propped up the middle of each line with a pole.  They rocked in the breeze, back and forth like metronomes that couldn’t keep a beat.  She picked up the empty basket and went back into the house.  

Katelyn cartwheeled away.  She stopped and looked back, watching the clothes.  She waved her hands as if they were drifting like leaves on the wind.  Her lips moved.  Then she started to speak:

Upside down clothes,
Flappin’ in the sky,
Do you wish that you could fly?
Upside down clothes
Make a nice design.
Some are Ashley’s, some are mine.
Upside down clothes, 
Hangin’ out to dry
Sayin’ hello or wavin’ good-bye?

She put her hands on her hips and said, “Someday, I’m gonna’ grow that into a song.”  She cartwheeled over to the porch and sat on the bottom step.

Ashley came out with a sweaty glass in each hand.  “You been out in the sun for a while.  Want some sweet tea?”

“You bet I do!”

Ashley sat by her sister and handed her a drink.  Katelyn took a big gulp.  “Ashley, do you think that people that eats meat are evil?”

The Report

Kevin nodded.  He changed the subject.  “Speakin’ about Flora made me think about that old house out there above the creek.  Virgil and I call it ‘Flora’s house’.  It’s about to cave in, isn’t it?”

Kevin’s father laughed.  “Yes, I guess Flora’s the lady of the house.  It is about to collapse.  You know, your great, great granddaddy built that house for his family.  All the girls grew up and married and moved off.  Later on, the farm was supposed to be split between my daddy and his brother.  

“After they both came home from the war, my daddy built this brick house closer to the road for his family.  It was more modern.  Uncle Ross wanted to go to work in Detroit, so he sold Daddy his half of the farm.  

“When my sister and I inherited this place, I bought her half of the farm.  Irene had married and moved to Pittsburgh, so she didn’t want it.

“That old home place had been neglected for a long time, and it wasn’t worth fixin’ up.  Old Flora likes it though.”

Kevin laughed.  “She sure does.  If I don’t see her in the pasture, I always know where to look.”

“Neither she nor the old house can last much longer, I reckon.  I’m gonna miss them both when they’re gone.  But, ya’ know what?  We’re gonna’ miss supper if we stay out here all evening.”

They away walked side by side.  Over Kevin’s shoulders, his daddy’s arm rested.  It was kind of like he had Kevin under his wing.

The Stranger

Just after sunrise, I saw the stranger’s car coming up the gravel drive.  The high-booted man got out of his car.  Virgil’s mama wasn’t with him.

His fist was wrapped around something dark, and he hid that hand in his jacket pocket.  Was it a weapon?  I couldn’t see.

With clicking strides he hurried up to the steps and onto the porch.  I heard the door open and shut.  

How long did I wait?  No way to tell.  Waits always seem interminable–especially when I’m on high alert.

At last, I heard the door open and someone moving on the porch.  It was Virgil!  He jumped over the front steps and hit the pavement running.  He wasn’t wearing a jacket or his baseball cap.

I flew after him.  His feet kicked up gravel as he tore down the driveway.  He turned right and ran along the side of the highway.  I thought he was headed for the grocery market to ask for help.  But no.

Virgil barreled past the store’s parking lot and continued down the berm, past a number of houses.  If Virgil was in danger, why didn’t he go to a house?  Or flag down a car to get help?  Virgil might be in a different kind of trouble.  What if he had killed his daddy with that birthday knife?

Nutcracker Sweet 

“I’m having a terrible morning.”

“What’s the problem?”

“Early today, I was on the other side of the road, searching in the high, dewy grass for slugs and worms to eat.  The sun was getting warmer and the ground was beginning to dry.  I was afraid the grass cutters might come.  I’d never be able to outrun them, and they’d chop me to bits.

“You have legs?”

“Oh, yeah.  See?”  Box Turtle stretched out four legs.  Two in the front and two in the back.  The front feet had five toes with claws.  The larger back feet had only four toes.  He had a pointy little tail in back, too.

“Are you still hiding from the grass cutters under this stone?”

Box Turtle blinked.  “I’m not under a stone.  It’s my shell.  It’s my home.  I live in here.”  

“Want to come outside now?”