room in her usual spot, the armchair by the heater, with a baby on her lap. All around her, little kids of various ages crawled and toddled, babbled and cried and screeched. The TV was on. A newsman was saying that the president had set a deadline of one week, exactly seven days, for the Phalanx Nations to deactivate their missiles. Otherwise, the United States would have no choice but to
His grandmother aimed the remote and flicked off the TV. Heard theres more trouble in town, she said.
Grover dumped his books on a side table. I was the first one there, Granny Carrie, he said. I was the one who told Andy.
Good for you, said his grandmother. On top of things as usual.
One of Grovers little brothers whacked his sister with a stuffed animal. The little girl wailed. The baby on his grandmothers lap started to cry.
This was how it always was at Grovers house. He had six brothers and sisters, all younger, who created a constant uproar. His father worked as a handyman, and his mother worked at the dress shop, so his grandmother was the one who minded the children. Grover had to mind them, too, when he came home from school. All of this meant he was always short of timetime for homework, and time for other things that were more important to him than homework.
Look here, Grover, Granny Carrie said. I found some good ones for you. She leaned over and picked up a stack of magazines from the floor. Theres one that gets you ten thousand dollars. Another one gets you a car, but you could trade that for cash.
Great, said Grover. He took the top magazine and opened it to the page his grandmother had dog-eared. The Fabulous Dorfberry Sweepstakes! it said in big red letters. Hundreds of Prizes! Grand Prize $10,000! He read the fine print. All you had to do was collect five box tops from Dorfberrys Cornmeal Products and fill out an entry blank. Easy. His family ate a ton of corn muffins and cornbread. He could collect five box tops in less than a week.
For this one here, said Granny Carrie, opening another magazine, you have to write a paragraph. She showed it to him. Why buy Armstrong Pickles? said the ad. You tell us! One hundred words or less. The grand prize was five hundred dollars, which would be more than enough.
This is good, said Grover, moving the magazine away from the reaching fingers of his littlest brother. Thanks. Ill probably win a whole lot of these and have money left over. Ill buy you a Cadillac.
You better not, said Granny Carrie. You can buy me some new slippers. These ones are getting worn out. She stuck out her feet, on which she was wearing yellow slippers with duck heads on them. They were a little ragged around the edges.
Okay, said Grover. Hed be happy to buy his grandmother anything she wanted.
At five-thirty his mother came home, looking tired and carrying a bag of groceries. Somebodys lurking around in the woods, she said, setting the bag down and taking off her coat.
I know it, said Grover.
Dont you go up there, she said. You stay around here for a change. She started taking boxes and cans from the bag and putting them away.
A little later, Grovers father came home. He came in the back door, leaving his toolbox on the porch. Hear about the break-in? he said.
Yes, said everyone.
Gurney and his men ought to get up there in the woods and flush that guy out, said Grovers father. Take their rifles with them.
Dont talk about rifles, said Grovers mother. It scares me.
His father just shrugged. Serious times call for serious solutions, he said.
A shield of goodness is a better protection, his mother said.
Fine, said his father. You work on being good; Ill keep the gun loaded.
It could be just some poor wandering tramp up there, said his grandmother.
Trouble is, said his father, we dontknow. He could be a tramp; he could be a guy scoping out bomb sites. Do you want to take the risk?
Grover noticed a smear of grease on the side of his fathers neck. Probably hed been doing a plumbing job today. He
His grandmother aimed the remote and flicked off the TV. Heard theres more trouble in town, she said.
Grover dumped his books on a side table. I was the first one there, Granny Carrie, he said. I was the one who told Andy.
Good for you, said his grandmother. On top of things as usual.
One of Grovers little brothers whacked his sister with a stuffed animal. The little girl wailed. The baby on his grandmothers lap started to cry.
This was how it always was at Grovers house. He had six brothers and sisters, all younger, who created a constant uproar. His father worked as a handyman, and his mother worked at the dress shop, so his grandmother was the one who minded the children. Grover had to mind them, too, when he came home from school. All of this meant he was always short of timetime for homework, and time for other things that were more important to him than homework.
Look here, Grover, Granny Carrie said. I found some good ones for you. She leaned over and picked up a stack of magazines from the floor. Theres one that gets you ten thousand dollars. Another one gets you a car, but you could trade that for cash.
Great, said Grover. He took the top magazine and opened it to the page his grandmother had dog-eared. The Fabulous Dorfberry Sweepstakes! it said in big red letters. Hundreds of Prizes! Grand Prize $10,000! He read the fine print. All you had to do was collect five box tops from Dorfberrys Cornmeal Products and fill out an entry blank. Easy. His family ate a ton of corn muffins and cornbread. He could collect five box tops in less than a week.
For this one here, said Granny Carrie, opening another magazine, you have to write a paragraph. She showed it to him. Why buy Armstrong Pickles? said the ad. You tell us! One hundred words or less. The grand prize was five hundred dollars, which would be more than enough.
This is good, said Grover, moving the magazine away from the reaching fingers of his littlest brother. Thanks. Ill probably win a whole lot of these and have money left over. Ill buy you a Cadillac.
You better not, said Granny Carrie. You can buy me some new slippers. These ones are getting worn out. She stuck out her feet, on which she was wearing yellow slippers with duck heads on them. They were a little ragged around the edges.
Okay, said Grover. Hed be happy to buy his grandmother anything she wanted.
At five-thirty his mother came home, looking tired and carrying a bag of groceries. Somebodys lurking around in the woods, she said, setting the bag down and taking off her coat.
I know it, said Grover.
Dont you go up there, she said. You stay around here for a change. She started taking boxes and cans from the bag and putting them away.
A little later, Grovers father came home. He came in the back door, leaving his toolbox on the porch. Hear about the break-in? he said.
Yes, said everyone.
Gurney and his men ought to get up there in the woods and flush that guy out, said Grovers father. Take their rifles with them.
Dont talk about rifles, said Grovers mother. It scares me.
His father just shrugged. Serious times call for serious solutions, he said.
A shield of goodness is a better protection, his mother said.
Fine, said his father. You work on being good; Ill keep the gun loaded.
It could be just some poor wandering tramp up there, said his grandmother.
Trouble is, said his father, we dontknow. He could be a tramp; he could be a guy scoping out bomb sites. Do you want to take the risk?
Grover noticed a smear of grease on the side of his fathers neck. Probably hed been doing a plumbing job today. He
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