loubirdvt
She never liked the ballet. Her sister loved it, studied it, trained as a dancer from the age of four. Sally saw what it did, besides making Minnie graceful; it made her anorexic and broke every bone in both of her feet.
"I led the charge that day," Grampa always said. "It was a hot, sticky July day, and we fixed our bayonets and began to march - not run - across that field where Pickett's gray-coated traitors were coming toward us, like a storm cloud..."
"I place a premuim on loyalty," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "Tell me, are you able to tell me that you will always be loyal to this company?"
I stared at him, wondering what he meant by "loyalty." Did he mean I'd never moonlight at another job? Or was it something a little closer to home than that?
I never thought of Dad's guns as "firearms." They were just his hunting rifles, the old shogun that had belonged to my grandfather, the .22 that he used to shoot the woodchucks that raided the garden. I know they were firearms, of course, but they were just a part of the house, like the coffee grinder and the washing machine. Just tools.
The rain poured down, drumming hard on the roof, ripping leaves from the trees. There was no hail in it - just rain, hard hard rain. The hurricane 5 days before had torn through the village, taking down 2 of our three bridges and eviscerating the riverbed - and now this - 6 inches of rain in 2 hours, a biblical deluge that turned the river back into a monster and took out the last remaining bridge.
I hadn't counted on this. Who would? No one, of course. I had not counted on sitting for days with an ice pack on my knee, my senses numbed by pain pills, able to hobble to the bathroom only with the aid of crutches... no... I had not counted on this.
"I have my orders, sir," the young officer said. "I am to stay here until I receive orders to leave."
"Orders, schmorders," the old man grumbled as he turned away. He spun. "Dammit, Jimmy, you're my son! You can let me get through!"
The blue strobes flashed, and Kelly swore. She pulled over and rolled down her window, rooting in her glove compartment for her paperwork. The trooper shone his light in the window, the shadows hiding his face. "Ma'am," he said. "Please step out of the car."
The thought entered my mind, and woke me like a splash of cold water. Had I? Had I done it? Had I really done what I was only now just vaguely remembering? My heart pounded.
"Our most sacred institutions are in danger!" he shouted. "Our schools, our courts, our churches, our homes, our families!"
Jason and I watched, fascinated as the old man smote the air with his fists, as if fighting off some invisible dragon.
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