Ch. 261; Vol. 10
Puck waved Bær off in the truck, and became immediately distracted by a golden-colored feline prancing the streets. She sensed a sucker when she saw one.
“Aw, Mom, please! She wants to come inside!”
Puck immediately had a shadow. For awhile, he lost her to Tasha next door, where he decided he would conduct his investigation.
“She’s going to live on Miss Tasha’s doorstep now. She’s going to live there.”
But when Puck left after inquiring to Tasha’s knowledge on the subject, the cat in question also left.
I stopped him before he took her to the next neighbor, and allowed him to play on the porch with her while Crackers hissed in full indignation from the window. But when Goldilocks popped through the front door, ran into the kitchen like she knew the food was waiting for her…
“IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!”
I grabbed Crackers right before the brawl.
Puck had found the rubber stamps: a bunny stamp, and blue ink. Some time of pounding on paper later, his masterpiece was complete, a gift to his Sun. The framed unveiling was revealed to much applause.
It was cookie dough time. Linnea’s volleyball fundraiser orders had come in. Francis set his out to thaw, and pawned off his hunger for any willing lunch-preparing bidders…
“My dear sister…”
I heard him lifting weights in the basement later, with Puck. I put a check on that.
And as usual, both boys were causing trouble after lunch. As soon as Andy Griffith went off…
“AGH! FRANCIS, STOP!”
A stair rug arrived via UPS, which Carrie began to tack to the steps.
Francis and Puck walked through the kitchen, Puck wrapped sitting around Francis’ leg. Eventually Francis bored of this activity and pulled a block of ice from the freezer, his old cell phone locked inside. Puck took this opportunity to offer his services with the rug…
“Sun, can I help you? I’m great at spreading things flat. I can hold that one down with my foot. I have two feet.”
Lucia walked in the door with tea for Carrie, right as Francis and Linnea began an all-out karate fight.
“Don’t risk him,” Puck warned his aunt. “He’s been lifting weights.”
Linnea’s iPod was missing. Mom suggested she look in her room.
“Yeah!” Puck added. “It’s pretty messy in there!… You’ll thank me one day!”
I think the last I saw of her later – after another ukulele session on the roof – was her disappearing into Mom’s and Dad’s room with the tub of chocolate chip cookie dough, a glass of milk, and a dense literature book.
“Do you want a knuckle sandwich or a pain salad?” Francis pounded his fist into his other hand.
All potential pain ended when Francis left for work and I took Puck and Linnea to bring Mom to the mechanic: new tires on her car. That left Target for the rest of us where Linnea stocked up on hair spray, loofahs, gallons of milk, and pizza rolls for dinner. Puck and I picked up a crackers, cheese, and turkey tray for our more hasty dinner.
Puck took a flying leap out of the car. Not intentionally. I think his foot got hooked and down he went, or as he explained to his teacher later…
“It’s a good thing I put this other hand up or else I would have face planted on the ground.”
As it turned out, he scraped up his arm and took off running to the house without hesitation for a rag to soak the blood. I guess somehow he knew Carrie would already be waiting for him with a box of bandages and Neosporin. But not before he a left a souvenir on Mom’s new couch pillows, which Carrie also sponged out before the stains set in. The wonder aunt. Dinner and Andy Griffith stemmed all residual tears.
Another night at church, and I think it was starting to feel like fall, especially when we walked out before 7:30 and it was already basically dark, clouds scuttling over a bright white moon.
What happened to summer?
