Wandering through with a cleanup crew, Sarah reflected on how much they could make once it was cleaned up. But she wasn’t ready to bring that up – yet. So out loud she said, “Gah, what a PLACE! Between the MOLDY smell and odd bits like that random QUILL and cracked vase, we are going to have a devil of a time getting it clean enough to sell. When was the house BUILT?”

Georg’ann

My best friend eased the car down the DRIVE, turned left onto the gravel road and headed to the small cemetery where we liked perch atop a gravestone and talk. Usually we walked, but today we decided to take her parents’ car- they were away for 24 hours. It was our first time being left alone and we were up for adventure. A teen risk. Neither of us had a license or permission to drive, nor, obviously any experience.

It was a late afternoon in September when yellowjackets aggressively come for food. Do they sense the ending of their days when sunlight comes at an angle and nights have a chill?

One got in her soda can, with the next sweet sip came a sharp STING, suddenly her lip grew THICK. We weren’t worried that it could be FATAL, yet we did feel an urgency to get home. Back in the car no amount of turning the key in the ignition resulted in the engine turning over. Only silence. In a panic we simply left the car in the cemetery and ran down the lane. We had no idea what we’d say, there was no lie to be BUILT. We were in big trouble.

After the sting had been tended and the truth of the car revealed, my mom went back with us to asses the situation. As it turned out we had left the car in drive when we turned it off. The only problem had been operator error. Our grand adventure ended with one fat lip, a few harsh lectures, and a lengthy period of significant restriction.

Heather