Day 10 - The Black Cat (a live-written story)
So I've decided some things that I haven't established up until now. First of all, Lee's last name is now Huelet. I might also want to set this so that Lee grew up in the '70's, but we'll see about that. I'm coming up to a critical point which I always planned to go a certain way, but now I'm tempted to drastically change it. It will change everything if I do it. Is that good? Should I follow a whim if I had always planned a certain ending. Will that make it better or worse? I guess it's up to me so I'm talking to myself.
---
Lee continued his work. He’d learned that if you wait for the conversation to end with Karl before doing anything, you never got anything done. He was sure Karl would never get the hint.
“You’ve got a fine yard here, Lee,” Karl continued. “Of course, it looks like it needs some TLC. Last year I cut down all my ferns and a nasty bunch of those lilac bushes like you have there. You know what I replaced them with?”
Lee shrugged and emptied his shovel into a white plastic garbage bag.
“Bamboo. Man that stuff grows fast. You have to stay on it, but it looks nice and it’s growing tall along my back fence, which it perfect because I’m tired of looking at my neighbors back porch all the time. And the blackberries aren’t growing there anymore either. They’re like weeds around here you know. Nasty stuff. Looks like you’ve got quite an infestation on the side there.”
“I’m grateful to have them,” Lee said, knowing he shouldn’t engage in the discussion. “Just a small bowl of those cost like $15 where I grew up in D.C. They take some tending, but they taste good.”
“That’s what you say now. You just wait. They are a scourge, I tell ya. I burned all of mine up last year. Gasloine works real good on them. There’s still a few coming back. It’s the stinking birds, you know. They eat the berries and poop out the seeds all over my yard. But I just send the kiddos up to pull up the runners.”
Lee didn’t push it any further. He walked over to the garbage bin by the house.
“Say, that’s what you need,” Karl stated profoundly. “You need to have some kids so they can do the yard work.”
“Not me,” said Lee.
“Aw c’mon. Best thing that ever happened to Carol and I. The pride of my life, them boys. Wouldn’t you like to have some little Huelet kiddos running around.”
Lee droped the garbage bag into the bin and slammed down the lid.
“No,” said Lee. “I wouldn’t. And there is no such word as ‘kiddos’. They are ‘kids’ or ‘children’. Not ‘kiddos’. That’s just a word that teachers and pediatricians made up to made the kids seem less obnoxious than they really are.”
“All right there, Lee,” Karl said with a laugh. “No need to get all bent out of shape.”
Lee sighed. He had overstated his case. He didn’t feel that strongly about it. Karl was just putting him on edge. He rested the shovel over his shoulder.
“Look Karl, I hate to run you off, but I have a lot of work to get done.”
[to be continued...]
Word Count Today: 450
Word Count Total: 3153
---
Lee continued his work. He’d learned that if you wait for the conversation to end with Karl before doing anything, you never got anything done. He was sure Karl would never get the hint.
“You’ve got a fine yard here, Lee,” Karl continued. “Of course, it looks like it needs some TLC. Last year I cut down all my ferns and a nasty bunch of those lilac bushes like you have there. You know what I replaced them with?”
Lee shrugged and emptied his shovel into a white plastic garbage bag.
“Bamboo. Man that stuff grows fast. You have to stay on it, but it looks nice and it’s growing tall along my back fence, which it perfect because I’m tired of looking at my neighbors back porch all the time. And the blackberries aren’t growing there anymore either. They’re like weeds around here you know. Nasty stuff. Looks like you’ve got quite an infestation on the side there.”
“I’m grateful to have them,” Lee said, knowing he shouldn’t engage in the discussion. “Just a small bowl of those cost like $15 where I grew up in D.C. They take some tending, but they taste good.”
“That’s what you say now. You just wait. They are a scourge, I tell ya. I burned all of mine up last year. Gasloine works real good on them. There’s still a few coming back. It’s the stinking birds, you know. They eat the berries and poop out the seeds all over my yard. But I just send the kiddos up to pull up the runners.”
Lee didn’t push it any further. He walked over to the garbage bin by the house.
“Say, that’s what you need,” Karl stated profoundly. “You need to have some kids so they can do the yard work.”
“Not me,” said Lee.
“Aw c’mon. Best thing that ever happened to Carol and I. The pride of my life, them boys. Wouldn’t you like to have some little Huelet kiddos running around.”
Lee droped the garbage bag into the bin and slammed down the lid.
“No,” said Lee. “I wouldn’t. And there is no such word as ‘kiddos’. They are ‘kids’ or ‘children’. Not ‘kiddos’. That’s just a word that teachers and pediatricians made up to made the kids seem less obnoxious than they really are.”
“All right there, Lee,” Karl said with a laugh. “No need to get all bent out of shape.”
Lee sighed. He had overstated his case. He didn’t feel that strongly about it. Karl was just putting him on edge. He rested the shovel over his shoulder.
“Look Karl, I hate to run you off, but I have a lot of work to get done.”
[to be continued...]
Word Count Today: 450
Word Count Total: 3153