building.
Gina sat on a cement block staring at the goose pimples on her bare legs. Change of plans. Instead of trying to make it to Cara's house, she would just stay put until morning.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Clarence Barnaby knew he had to schedule that cataract surgery. He could barely get around by himself anymore, his eyesight was so bad.
Through the haze of his dim watery vision, he'd noticed that his neighbors across the street, a nice young family, had acquired a new pet... a dog of some sort that squatted in the lawn every day, underneath the big maple tree.
The dog appeared to be white and orange, and Clarence, always a dog lover, wanted to know what breed it was.
Sometimes he stared at the dog, trying to adjust his vision. But all he could make out was a blurry white lump with an orange stripe on the bottom. The dog appeared to be very well behaved, he must say. Always staying on one place, never barking.
Clarence kept putting off the cataract surgery because he just hated hospitals, gosh dang it! All those beeping lights and people in white coats running around.
He liked his nice familiar house and his nice familiar routine. Oatmeal for breakfast, Campbell's soup for lunch, TV dinner for supper...even though he was sure they would find out those confangled microwaves were dangerous.
Puttering around the yard during the day and watching Turner Classic movies in the evening... taking a nice long nap after lunch... sure his bones ached and he could barely see. Thanks to Lulu, though - or was it Nita? What was his daughter's name again ? Anyway, thanks to his daughter bringing him groceries and cleaning up the place, he was content.
Clarence's daughter wanted Clarence to move in with her and her family. But Clarence liked his independence , gosh dang it! Most especially, he liked his little TV set up in the living room, with his comfy maroon and black recliner always ready to flop down in.
Even though he couldn't see the TV screen very well anymore , he liked to sit there and listen to old movies from his youth... a time when men wore suits and women wore hats and everyone had manners. Unlike these modern days of vulgarity, rudeness and disrespect.
Clarence knew his daughter meant well. She was just such a busy body. Like the way she kept going on and on about some confounded red spot on his face. Cheese and crackers! He didn't care about that kind of thing anymore. Who was he trying to impress?
His wife, Gertie, had died twenty-seven years ago, and she had been the only woman for him. Even though Betty Dunloper had tried to snag him with her boysenberry pie... he could not stand the fact that she just wasn't Gertie.
The woman could sure bake a mean pie, though....
T he microwave beeped and Clarence shuffled over to retrieve his Macaroni and Cheese dinner. He picked up the flimsy cardboard tray with a dirty cloth that used to be white and was now dark brown.
Then he toted the paper tray over to his scuffed up table that was next to his maroon and black recliner. A bottle of root beer and the remote control awaited him.
Clarence clicked on the TV, but instead of Singing in the Rain which was supposed to be on, there was some stupid news program.
"What in tarnation?" he grumbled.
Some hullaballoo about viruses!
Clarence clicked off the TV in disgust. Then, forcing his stiff legs to stand back up, he shuffled over to his DVD collection. His daughter - what's her name - had bought Clarence a DVD player for Christmas along with a collection of his favorite old movies.
Clarence couldn't read the titles anymore, so he just picked one. He groaned with the effort of leaning over to feed the DVD into the player. Then he shuffled on back to his comfy recliner and plopped back into it with a sigh of satisfaction.
The movie turned out to be Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, which made Clarence very happy. He laughed at
Gina sat on a cement block staring at the goose pimples on her bare legs. Change of plans. Instead of trying to make it to Cara's house, she would just stay put until morning.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Clarence Barnaby knew he had to schedule that cataract surgery. He could barely get around by himself anymore, his eyesight was so bad.
Through the haze of his dim watery vision, he'd noticed that his neighbors across the street, a nice young family, had acquired a new pet... a dog of some sort that squatted in the lawn every day, underneath the big maple tree.
The dog appeared to be white and orange, and Clarence, always a dog lover, wanted to know what breed it was.
Sometimes he stared at the dog, trying to adjust his vision. But all he could make out was a blurry white lump with an orange stripe on the bottom. The dog appeared to be very well behaved, he must say. Always staying on one place, never barking.
Clarence kept putting off the cataract surgery because he just hated hospitals, gosh dang it! All those beeping lights and people in white coats running around.
He liked his nice familiar house and his nice familiar routine. Oatmeal for breakfast, Campbell's soup for lunch, TV dinner for supper...even though he was sure they would find out those confangled microwaves were dangerous.
Puttering around the yard during the day and watching Turner Classic movies in the evening... taking a nice long nap after lunch... sure his bones ached and he could barely see. Thanks to Lulu, though - or was it Nita? What was his daughter's name again ? Anyway, thanks to his daughter bringing him groceries and cleaning up the place, he was content.
Clarence's daughter wanted Clarence to move in with her and her family. But Clarence liked his independence , gosh dang it! Most especially, he liked his little TV set up in the living room, with his comfy maroon and black recliner always ready to flop down in.
Even though he couldn't see the TV screen very well anymore , he liked to sit there and listen to old movies from his youth... a time when men wore suits and women wore hats and everyone had manners. Unlike these modern days of vulgarity, rudeness and disrespect.
Clarence knew his daughter meant well. She was just such a busy body. Like the way she kept going on and on about some confounded red spot on his face. Cheese and crackers! He didn't care about that kind of thing anymore. Who was he trying to impress?
His wife, Gertie, had died twenty-seven years ago, and she had been the only woman for him. Even though Betty Dunloper had tried to snag him with her boysenberry pie... he could not stand the fact that she just wasn't Gertie.
The woman could sure bake a mean pie, though....
T he microwave beeped and Clarence shuffled over to retrieve his Macaroni and Cheese dinner. He picked up the flimsy cardboard tray with a dirty cloth that used to be white and was now dark brown.
Then he toted the paper tray over to his scuffed up table that was next to his maroon and black recliner. A bottle of root beer and the remote control awaited him.
Clarence clicked on the TV, but instead of Singing in the Rain which was supposed to be on, there was some stupid news program.
"What in tarnation?" he grumbled.
Some hullaballoo about viruses!
Clarence clicked off the TV in disgust. Then, forcing his stiff legs to stand back up, he shuffled over to his DVD collection. His daughter - what's her name - had bought Clarence a DVD player for Christmas along with a collection of his favorite old movies.
Clarence couldn't read the titles anymore, so he just picked one. He groaned with the effort of leaning over to feed the DVD into the player. Then he shuffled on back to his comfy recliner and plopped back into it with a sigh of satisfaction.
The movie turned out to be Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, which made Clarence very happy. He laughed at
Similar Books
