the kitchen table stuttered a littleâand then it came to life. First a trickle, then a splash, then an avalanche of light. Bright light. Light brighter than any kerosene lamp or flashlight. Light as bright as high noon on the Fourth of July.
Everyone around the kitchen table looked at each other: every freckle on their faces, every smudge on their collars, every speck of dirt on their hands screamed out in this new and bright light. They looked around the room: was this their kitchen? The ceiling where the old kerosene lamp had hung showed a dark and ugly shadow that the smoke must have left. The white cupboards looked gray. The wallpaper was stained with who knows what!
The boys felt ashamed to be in such a dirty place, but it was a grown-up who said, Look at this place! We have some work to do!
They knew what was coming next. Instead of playing Chinese checkers after supper the way they did in the old days, they were busy washing walls. With all the bright light showing them what they were doing, they didnât have to be told that they missed a spot.
IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANYONE
A farmer yelled for his boys to hurry. Somebody had slid off the road and was stuck in a snowbank.
Here! You take this shovel and you take this one, he yelled. Get in the back of the pickup.
In a minute they moved down the road and stayed safely in the tracks that other vehicles had made in the snow. Down the road, the rear end of a blue four-door stuck up out of the ditch with its wheels spinning in thin air. You could see where the front wheels had zigged out of the tracks before the rear end slid around and the whole car nosedived into the ditch.
The boys recognized the driver. It was the science teacher. He didnât have any gloves on. He stepped out of his car when the pickup stopped. He didnât have a warm cap or warm boots either! He looked like he should have stayed in the science lab. First one boy started to snicker, and then another. When their snickering made them bump their shovels against the back window of the pickup, the grown-ups gave them that stare. The boys put their warm gloves over their mouths.
Pickups and cars full of farmers and farm boys were heading toward them from both directions. Everybody had brought shovels. Everybody wore boots and gloves and warm capsâand they all tried to get at the teacherâs car first. The boys saw what was happening and put their grins away. They got into it, shoveling faster than anyone else. But there were so many boys and men thereâsome shoveling and some pushingâthat it was hard to tell just who should have gotten credit for the way the stuck car came out of the ditch like a sorry old tooth that knew it was time to let itself go. The car eased out and sat back on the middle of the road with its grill stuffed with snow.
Everyone stood on the road and looked at the prized car. Oneman dug the snow out of the grill. Another kicked packed snow from under the fenders.
How can I thank all of you? asked the teacher. Let me give you some money.
Donât even think of it, said one of the grown-ups. It could have happened to anybody.
Everybody got their cars and pickups turned around without sliding into the ditch.
The boys took their place in the pickup and started snickering again. They looked back at the big hole that the teacherâs car had left in the ditch. It looked like a science project that didnât work out too well, but it was an impressive hole. For a while, people who drove by would say, What on earth happened here?
But then spring would come and melt away all the evidence. Right now, though, everybody looked happy. Everybody looked full of thanks.
THE SANDBOX
Strangers thought the sandbox in the backyard meant that a child lived in the house nearby. In fact, a retired army general lived in the house nearby, and he didnât have any children. He was through with war. He had come back, bought a house, and lived alone. The
Everyone around the kitchen table looked at each other: every freckle on their faces, every smudge on their collars, every speck of dirt on their hands screamed out in this new and bright light. They looked around the room: was this their kitchen? The ceiling where the old kerosene lamp had hung showed a dark and ugly shadow that the smoke must have left. The white cupboards looked gray. The wallpaper was stained with who knows what!
The boys felt ashamed to be in such a dirty place, but it was a grown-up who said, Look at this place! We have some work to do!
They knew what was coming next. Instead of playing Chinese checkers after supper the way they did in the old days, they were busy washing walls. With all the bright light showing them what they were doing, they didnât have to be told that they missed a spot.
IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANYONE
A farmer yelled for his boys to hurry. Somebody had slid off the road and was stuck in a snowbank.
Here! You take this shovel and you take this one, he yelled. Get in the back of the pickup.
In a minute they moved down the road and stayed safely in the tracks that other vehicles had made in the snow. Down the road, the rear end of a blue four-door stuck up out of the ditch with its wheels spinning in thin air. You could see where the front wheels had zigged out of the tracks before the rear end slid around and the whole car nosedived into the ditch.
The boys recognized the driver. It was the science teacher. He didnât have any gloves on. He stepped out of his car when the pickup stopped. He didnât have a warm cap or warm boots either! He looked like he should have stayed in the science lab. First one boy started to snicker, and then another. When their snickering made them bump their shovels against the back window of the pickup, the grown-ups gave them that stare. The boys put their warm gloves over their mouths.
Pickups and cars full of farmers and farm boys were heading toward them from both directions. Everybody had brought shovels. Everybody wore boots and gloves and warm capsâand they all tried to get at the teacherâs car first. The boys saw what was happening and put their grins away. They got into it, shoveling faster than anyone else. But there were so many boys and men thereâsome shoveling and some pushingâthat it was hard to tell just who should have gotten credit for the way the stuck car came out of the ditch like a sorry old tooth that knew it was time to let itself go. The car eased out and sat back on the middle of the road with its grill stuffed with snow.
Everyone stood on the road and looked at the prized car. Oneman dug the snow out of the grill. Another kicked packed snow from under the fenders.
How can I thank all of you? asked the teacher. Let me give you some money.
Donât even think of it, said one of the grown-ups. It could have happened to anybody.
Everybody got their cars and pickups turned around without sliding into the ditch.
The boys took their place in the pickup and started snickering again. They looked back at the big hole that the teacherâs car had left in the ditch. It looked like a science project that didnât work out too well, but it was an impressive hole. For a while, people who drove by would say, What on earth happened here?
But then spring would come and melt away all the evidence. Right now, though, everybody looked happy. Everybody looked full of thanks.
THE SANDBOX
Strangers thought the sandbox in the backyard meant that a child lived in the house nearby. In fact, a retired army general lived in the house nearby, and he didnât have any children. He was through with war. He had come back, bought a house, and lived alone. The
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