Human Interest by Deborah Reed
Nice to meet you, Miz Parker. My name is Adale, but you can jest call me Dale, most folks do. Glad to see they sent a pretty little thing like you to
talk to me, was worried they might send some old geezer or some kid right out of high school or somethin. Well, come in, come in, make yourself at
home, that there chair's the most comfortable and I can set right here across from you while we do your interview. Can I get you somethin, coffee or
maybe a nice cup of green tea?...Well, maybe later, then. You can set that recorder right here in front of us, won't bother me none, though I sorta
pictured you taking notes.
Now, I been thinkin about this ever since you called and said that my story would make a great Human Intrest article, what with me being nominated
for Citizen of the Year and all, and I decided that we should not only focus on the "intrest" part, but also the "human" part and that I should tell you a
little bit about myself before we actually get to that evenin. ...Oh, guess I shoulda known you'd come prepared with questions, but don't you worry
about that none, I'll talk for a while and if I don't cover all your questions you can ask me them at the end.
You got any kids, Miz Parker?...One little girl, huh? That's so sweet, ain't nothing sweeter than a little girl child in your life. And I should know, I
had six of them....Yep, six, all girls, ever one of them the light of my life. Let an old lady give you a little advice, Miz Parker. Relish every minute of
your daughter's childhood, cuz in the blink of an eye she'll be a grown woman and then she'll be gone, livin her own life and not thinkin that much
about her mama.
I ain't saying my kids abandoned me, no I ain't saying that at all. Mother's Days, birthdays, things like that, my girls is right here, bringing me flowers,
taking me to some fancy restaurant, or some such. But it ain't like it was when they was growing up and I had them all round me. My life was a real
whirlwind then and there were days I just wanted to be left alone, to set awhile by myself without nobody botherin me, you ever feel like that Miz
Parker?...Yeah, well, let me tell you, solitude is overrated, I found that out the hard way. Cuz when your kids grow up and get lives of their own,
well, you got yourself solitude then, but it gets old real quick.
Now, I don't have no college degree like you probly do, but I do me some reading and I understand about body language and right now I'm
reading your body language to say that you're getting restless. You want me to get to the point, right? Okay, then, guess that's enough for the first
part, jest as long as you understand about how it was when I wasn't an old lady, when I was a young mother with a buncha kids all around me. I'll
get straight to the next part now, my seventy-fifth birthday party. But before I do, I gotta offer you some refreshment, where I come from and how
I was raised, that's what a body does. So after your call yesterday, when I knew you was comin today for the Human Intrest story, I made a big old
batch of sticky buns, my specialty. And I got them all ready for you, bought some pretty little paper plates to put them on and everthing, so don't you
be refusin them, saying you gotta watch your waistline or somethin. Coffee's ready, too, and if you'll jest tell me how you take it, we can have us a
nice little snack while I tell you about the party.
Thank you, I'm glad you like them, like I said, they're my specialty, the ones my girls always asked for on special occasions and such. Later on I'll
get some foil and wrap a few up for you to take home, you can share them with your little girl. So, while we's enjoying our little snack, let me tell you
about the birthday party, because that's where it all began. If it hadn't been for that party, and the present I got, I never woulda been able to rescue
that lady and you wouldn't be here talking to me.
That birthday party was one big shindig let me tell you. All my kids, grandkids, even the little great-grandkids was there. Little Pete picked me up, sat
right there in that chair you're sitting in now, and waited while I got ready. Little Pete, mind you, ain't so little no more, he's a big ole strapping boy of
seventeen, but we still call him Little Pete and his daddy Big Pete.
Anyways, we get to Rina's house--Little Pete's mama, and my youngest--and all the little kids come up to me, hugging me and wanting me to open
their presents before we even get to the cake part. Made a body feel good to have all those little arms around me and everone wantin me to like the
present they bought.
"Grandma's going to save mine for last," Little Pete said, "because mine is the best."
All the other kids got mad about Little Pete sayin that, cuz they, of course, thought theirs was the best.
"It is the best," Little Pete insisted, "it cost a hundred dollars."
Miz Parker, you coulda heard a pin drop after he said that. Little Pete had got him a summer job baling hay and we all knew he was making good
money, but to spend a hundred dollars on my present! Not even the adults had spent that much. I couldn't wait to see it! So we talked a little, then
ate the cake and then it was present time. I loved them all, even the dollar store items the little ones got me, and made a big fuss over each one.
Then it was time for Little Pete's present, the last one on the table.
Little Pete picks it up and walks over to me, handing it to me like it was the most important thing in the world. He has this big ole grin on his face.
"Happy birthday, Grandma," he says, "I love you."
Now between all the kids hugging me, and the other presents, and all my entire family being there and everthing, I was thinking this was just about the
best day I'd had in a long, long time, and I couldn't wait to open Little Pete's hundred dollar present. But when I did, and you gotta promise not to put
this in the article, Miz Parker, I didn't like it. At first I didn't even understand what it was.
"It's a scanner, Grandma," Little Pete explained when he saw the puzzled look on my face. "It picks up all the police frequencies in the county, fire and
ambulance ones, too."
Miz Parker, what would old woman like me care about what some policemen are saying? Like I said, I really didn't like that present. But I hid my
disappointment and when Little Pete took me home, he set the scanner up on my bedside table. Then the two of us sat on my bed and listened to it
and that is when I started liking it, because we had the best time. Is your grandma still living Miz Parker?...All by herself like me, huh? Well, here's
what you gotta do her next birthday. Buy her a scanner like Little Pete did for me, because like I said we had the best time listning to it and it really
goes a long way toward keeping a person from being lonely.
Of course you can, it's right down the hall, first door to your left. I put some pretty towels and little soaps out just for you, so don't be afraid to use
them. When you come back, we'll get to the heart of the story, the part that your readers really want to hear about, the part that might just make me
Citizen of the Year.
Okay, it's on again? Let's get to the good part then. It was about three months after my birthday and I was in my bedroom, tryin to take me a little
nap. I had the scanner on, of course, like I always do. I was just about asleep when I heard the call, the one that led to my heroics, I guess you could
say.
Miltown Units Twenty-two, respond to hit and run in Lowe’s parking lot. Vehicle vs. Person. Person placed in trunk of early-model Toyota before
leaving scene.
I sat right up in bed when I heard that. You can see, can't you, how confusing it was? I mean, what exactly happened here? "Vehicle vs. Person"
I understood. That means a pedestrian got hit by a car. Did that same person wind up in the trunk of that car? That's sure what it sounded like. The
whole thing was so perplexing that I couldn't wait to hear what the dispatcher would say next. I think the policeman was confused, too, because next
I heard his voice over the scanner. Readvise, please, I heard, which is cop talk for "say that again."
I could tell by the dispatcher’s tone of voice that she was as confused as I was. Standby, we’re getting additional details, she said, and then a couple
minutes after that I heard her say: Additional information. The incident began as a Domestic. The female apparently ran to the far end of the lot, the
male followed her in a car, hit her with the car, then got out and placed her in the trunk. He fled before witnesses could get to the scene to help.
Wow, I remember thinkin, what a bizarre series of events! First this mean man gets in a fight with his wife or whatever and then when she tries to get
away, he runs her over, and then picks her up and sticks her in the trunk! I couldn't wait to hear some more, but there was about five minutes of
silence, not even a traffic stop, before I heard the rest. Only there wasn't much more to it, not that I heard on the scanner anyways. It seems like the
man got away, with the lady still in the trunk, and no one ever saw him again. One witness said there were two ZZ's on the license plate and another
said that the car was a red Toyota with a dent on the front bender. After that, I didn't hear nothin else and I finally dropped off to sleep.
Sure you can, you can have as many as you want. I'll get you another cupa coffee, too, and we can jest finish up my story while we eat.
So's, like I said, I took a nap and it turned out to be a long one. It was winter time, so night came early, and my bedroom was dark when I woke
up. My stomach was growling cuz it was suppertime already and I got it in my head that a tuna sandwich would be just the perfect thing for supper.
But I didn't have fresh bread. Now you make sure that part is in your article, Miz Parker, because if I'da had fresh bread, well, that lady probly
woulda died in that trunk.
So I had to walk out my front door, down the sidewalk, around the building and into the parking lot, pass the dumpsters and then up the little hill to
the convenience store to buy my bread. Sounds like a lot of walkin, but it isn't, I do it bout most every day to get some little something and chat with
the clerks. But it was night now, so I decided to take my flashlight. I walked out the door and down the sidewalk and around the building, but it wasn't
till I got almost to the Dumpsters that I needed the flashlight. I turn it on and something gleamed in the light. It sorta startled me because it was a
license plate--there was a car parked by the Dumpsters, which hardly ever happens, because, well, because they stink I guess. But it wasn't the car
that really
caught my attention and gave me a little start. It was the license plate attached to it. The last two letters were Z's.
Pretty exciting, huh? I can tell I got your intrest now. Well, I just stand there for a second, thinking "could it be?" and then I realize that lotsa plates
around here have Z's on them. I was thinking maybe this was the car with that poor lady in the trunk, but it could be any old car, really. But, I thought,
if it was a red Toyota with a dent in the fender, then, well, that would just about cinch it. It would be the crime car and there could be some poor soul
in the trunk, hurt, but maybe alive.
Now everyone thinks I’m brave for what I did, but at that time it didn't take no courage to walk up to the car. I was only a few feet from my
apartment, on home turf, so to speak, so I wasn't ascared. I walked up to the car and shone the light on it. Yep, it was red alright, and I could see
the Toyota symbol glistnin in the light of my flashlight. Then I walked around to the front of the car--if there was a dent on the bumper, I was gonna
turn right around and call 911. I shone my flashlight on the bumper and I see what could be a dent, or maybe, I'm thinking, it's just a trick of light. I
knew I had to touch the fender--to see if it was really a dent or not--so I leaned over and put my hand out real slow like. Now, I'm still not scared,
but I do feel this little tingling inside of me, like my guts were tryin to tell me somethin, so it seemed like it took a long time for my hand to touch the
fender. But when it did, I sorta jumped back cuz, sure enough, it was a dent, not a trick of light. It was at this point, Miz Parker, that I kinda got a
little scared.
That's okay, you go ahead and answer that...it might be about your little girl. While you talk, I'll jest wrap you up some sticky buns to take home.
Here you go, don't you forget these now. Everthing okay?...Good, I'll jest finish up the story and you can get home to your daughter. Well, after I
touched that dent, I knew I had to go back to my apartment and call 911, cuz, more likely than not, there was a hurt lady in the trunk of that car and
I had to get help. Then I did the stupid thing. You ever do somethin stupid, Miz Parker...Yeah, well, I guess we all do sometimes, and the stupid
thing I did then was to use my flashlight to look inside the car. To this day, I still don't know what possessed me to do that, jest plain curiosity I guess.
And soon as I did, I saw this big ole mean man lying in the backseat. When the beam of the flashlight hit his face, he reared up real fast like and let
out this roar like a wounded bear. I jest froze for a second and dropped the flashlight. It seemed like it took forever for my brain to tell my legs to
get moving, but I turned around...it was like everthing was in slow motion...and started to run. But I wasn't fast enough cuz that mean ole man was
outa the car in a flash and the next thing I know he has grabbed me with one hand and was using the other hand to get keys out of his pocket.
...To open the trunk of course. My body was moving sorta slow then, but my brain was moving real fast and I knew that he was gonna put me in the
trunk jest like he did that other lady. Now, I didn't live seventy-five years to die in the trunk of a car, still got a little fight in me, so I did the only thing
I could think to do. I bit him, right on the arm he had around my neck. I bit him hard, so hard he let go of me. But he grabbed me again right fast, and
when he did, he dropped the keys.
Now as you can imagine, I was doing me some praying all this time. You believe in prayer, Miz Parker?...Good, your little girl needs a mama that
believes in prayer. Anyway, because of my praying, God or my guardian angel or whatever told me what to do, and I real quick like kicked those
keys under the car. This made that mean man madder than ever and he let out another roar and whirled me around to face him. His face was all
twisted up, all evil looking, and I'm here to tell you I was scareder than I have ever been in my life. But once again I got this message from God,
and I what I did next was to spit in his face. Doesn't seem like that would bother some big ole mean man, does it? But I guess it was instinct or
somethin, cuz he let go of me to wipe his face. And when he did, I started running. I ran faster than I ever had in my whole life, faster even than I
did as a kid.
Then I heard sorta a thumping noise and when I turned around real quick, I saw that that man had tripped over the flashlight--a miracle if you ask
me--and that he was lying flat on his back. This gave me jest enough time to turn the corner of the building wheres he couldn't see what apartment
I ran into. I quickly unlocked my door and then called 911.
Guess you know the rest, because this last part was in your paper. When the police got there, that mean man was still lying there, they think he hit
his head on a rock, and the lady in the trunk was only half conscience, but she's okay now--gonna be at the banquet if I win the award. ...Oh, you
will be, too? That would be so nice, though I guess you'll be working, so to speak. Well, now that we've met, you need to come over sometime
jest to visit, bring your little girl. I could make us a nice supper. ...Well, of course you do, it's getting late and you gotta home, I'll jest walk you to
the door. It was so nice meeting you and you that you know where I live, don't be a stranger!
________________________
Deborah L. Reed currently resides in a small bedroom community in Central Texas with
her daughter, grandson, and two dogs. She is a retired Science teacher who now works
in Code Enforcement.
talk to me, was worried they might send some old geezer or some kid right out of high school or somethin. Well, come in, come in, make yourself at
home, that there chair's the most comfortable and I can set right here across from you while we do your interview. Can I get you somethin, coffee or
maybe a nice cup of green tea?...Well, maybe later, then. You can set that recorder right here in front of us, won't bother me none, though I sorta
pictured you taking notes.
Now, I been thinkin about this ever since you called and said that my story would make a great Human Intrest article, what with me being nominated
for Citizen of the Year and all, and I decided that we should not only focus on the "intrest" part, but also the "human" part and that I should tell you a
little bit about myself before we actually get to that evenin. ...Oh, guess I shoulda known you'd come prepared with questions, but don't you worry
about that none, I'll talk for a while and if I don't cover all your questions you can ask me them at the end.
You got any kids, Miz Parker?...One little girl, huh? That's so sweet, ain't nothing sweeter than a little girl child in your life. And I should know, I
had six of them....Yep, six, all girls, ever one of them the light of my life. Let an old lady give you a little advice, Miz Parker. Relish every minute of
your daughter's childhood, cuz in the blink of an eye she'll be a grown woman and then she'll be gone, livin her own life and not thinkin that much
about her mama.
I ain't saying my kids abandoned me, no I ain't saying that at all. Mother's Days, birthdays, things like that, my girls is right here, bringing me flowers,
taking me to some fancy restaurant, or some such. But it ain't like it was when they was growing up and I had them all round me. My life was a real
whirlwind then and there were days I just wanted to be left alone, to set awhile by myself without nobody botherin me, you ever feel like that Miz
Parker?...Yeah, well, let me tell you, solitude is overrated, I found that out the hard way. Cuz when your kids grow up and get lives of their own,
well, you got yourself solitude then, but it gets old real quick.
Now, I don't have no college degree like you probly do, but I do me some reading and I understand about body language and right now I'm
reading your body language to say that you're getting restless. You want me to get to the point, right? Okay, then, guess that's enough for the first
part, jest as long as you understand about how it was when I wasn't an old lady, when I was a young mother with a buncha kids all around me. I'll
get straight to the next part now, my seventy-fifth birthday party. But before I do, I gotta offer you some refreshment, where I come from and how
I was raised, that's what a body does. So after your call yesterday, when I knew you was comin today for the Human Intrest story, I made a big old
batch of sticky buns, my specialty. And I got them all ready for you, bought some pretty little paper plates to put them on and everthing, so don't you
be refusin them, saying you gotta watch your waistline or somethin. Coffee's ready, too, and if you'll jest tell me how you take it, we can have us a
nice little snack while I tell you about the party.
Thank you, I'm glad you like them, like I said, they're my specialty, the ones my girls always asked for on special occasions and such. Later on I'll
get some foil and wrap a few up for you to take home, you can share them with your little girl. So, while we's enjoying our little snack, let me tell you
about the birthday party, because that's where it all began. If it hadn't been for that party, and the present I got, I never woulda been able to rescue
that lady and you wouldn't be here talking to me.
That birthday party was one big shindig let me tell you. All my kids, grandkids, even the little great-grandkids was there. Little Pete picked me up, sat
right there in that chair you're sitting in now, and waited while I got ready. Little Pete, mind you, ain't so little no more, he's a big ole strapping boy of
seventeen, but we still call him Little Pete and his daddy Big Pete.
Anyways, we get to Rina's house--Little Pete's mama, and my youngest--and all the little kids come up to me, hugging me and wanting me to open
their presents before we even get to the cake part. Made a body feel good to have all those little arms around me and everone wantin me to like the
present they bought.
"Grandma's going to save mine for last," Little Pete said, "because mine is the best."
All the other kids got mad about Little Pete sayin that, cuz they, of course, thought theirs was the best.
"It is the best," Little Pete insisted, "it cost a hundred dollars."
Miz Parker, you coulda heard a pin drop after he said that. Little Pete had got him a summer job baling hay and we all knew he was making good
money, but to spend a hundred dollars on my present! Not even the adults had spent that much. I couldn't wait to see it! So we talked a little, then
ate the cake and then it was present time. I loved them all, even the dollar store items the little ones got me, and made a big fuss over each one.
Then it was time for Little Pete's present, the last one on the table.
Little Pete picks it up and walks over to me, handing it to me like it was the most important thing in the world. He has this big ole grin on his face.
"Happy birthday, Grandma," he says, "I love you."
Now between all the kids hugging me, and the other presents, and all my entire family being there and everthing, I was thinking this was just about the
best day I'd had in a long, long time, and I couldn't wait to open Little Pete's hundred dollar present. But when I did, and you gotta promise not to put
this in the article, Miz Parker, I didn't like it. At first I didn't even understand what it was.
"It's a scanner, Grandma," Little Pete explained when he saw the puzzled look on my face. "It picks up all the police frequencies in the county, fire and
ambulance ones, too."
Miz Parker, what would old woman like me care about what some policemen are saying? Like I said, I really didn't like that present. But I hid my
disappointment and when Little Pete took me home, he set the scanner up on my bedside table. Then the two of us sat on my bed and listened to it
and that is when I started liking it, because we had the best time. Is your grandma still living Miz Parker?...All by herself like me, huh? Well, here's
what you gotta do her next birthday. Buy her a scanner like Little Pete did for me, because like I said we had the best time listning to it and it really
goes a long way toward keeping a person from being lonely.
Of course you can, it's right down the hall, first door to your left. I put some pretty towels and little soaps out just for you, so don't be afraid to use
them. When you come back, we'll get to the heart of the story, the part that your readers really want to hear about, the part that might just make me
Citizen of the Year.
Okay, it's on again? Let's get to the good part then. It was about three months after my birthday and I was in my bedroom, tryin to take me a little
nap. I had the scanner on, of course, like I always do. I was just about asleep when I heard the call, the one that led to my heroics, I guess you could
say.
Miltown Units Twenty-two, respond to hit and run in Lowe’s parking lot. Vehicle vs. Person. Person placed in trunk of early-model Toyota before
leaving scene.
I sat right up in bed when I heard that. You can see, can't you, how confusing it was? I mean, what exactly happened here? "Vehicle vs. Person"
I understood. That means a pedestrian got hit by a car. Did that same person wind up in the trunk of that car? That's sure what it sounded like. The
whole thing was so perplexing that I couldn't wait to hear what the dispatcher would say next. I think the policeman was confused, too, because next
I heard his voice over the scanner. Readvise, please, I heard, which is cop talk for "say that again."
I could tell by the dispatcher’s tone of voice that she was as confused as I was. Standby, we’re getting additional details, she said, and then a couple
minutes after that I heard her say: Additional information. The incident began as a Domestic. The female apparently ran to the far end of the lot, the
male followed her in a car, hit her with the car, then got out and placed her in the trunk. He fled before witnesses could get to the scene to help.
Wow, I remember thinkin, what a bizarre series of events! First this mean man gets in a fight with his wife or whatever and then when she tries to get
away, he runs her over, and then picks her up and sticks her in the trunk! I couldn't wait to hear some more, but there was about five minutes of
silence, not even a traffic stop, before I heard the rest. Only there wasn't much more to it, not that I heard on the scanner anyways. It seems like the
man got away, with the lady still in the trunk, and no one ever saw him again. One witness said there were two ZZ's on the license plate and another
said that the car was a red Toyota with a dent on the front bender. After that, I didn't hear nothin else and I finally dropped off to sleep.
Sure you can, you can have as many as you want. I'll get you another cupa coffee, too, and we can jest finish up my story while we eat.
So's, like I said, I took a nap and it turned out to be a long one. It was winter time, so night came early, and my bedroom was dark when I woke
up. My stomach was growling cuz it was suppertime already and I got it in my head that a tuna sandwich would be just the perfect thing for supper.
But I didn't have fresh bread. Now you make sure that part is in your article, Miz Parker, because if I'da had fresh bread, well, that lady probly
woulda died in that trunk.
So I had to walk out my front door, down the sidewalk, around the building and into the parking lot, pass the dumpsters and then up the little hill to
the convenience store to buy my bread. Sounds like a lot of walkin, but it isn't, I do it bout most every day to get some little something and chat with
the clerks. But it was night now, so I decided to take my flashlight. I walked out the door and down the sidewalk and around the building, but it wasn't
till I got almost to the Dumpsters that I needed the flashlight. I turn it on and something gleamed in the light. It sorta startled me because it was a
license plate--there was a car parked by the Dumpsters, which hardly ever happens, because, well, because they stink I guess. But it wasn't the car
that really
caught my attention and gave me a little start. It was the license plate attached to it. The last two letters were Z's.
Pretty exciting, huh? I can tell I got your intrest now. Well, I just stand there for a second, thinking "could it be?" and then I realize that lotsa plates
around here have Z's on them. I was thinking maybe this was the car with that poor lady in the trunk, but it could be any old car, really. But, I thought,
if it was a red Toyota with a dent in the fender, then, well, that would just about cinch it. It would be the crime car and there could be some poor soul
in the trunk, hurt, but maybe alive.
Now everyone thinks I’m brave for what I did, but at that time it didn't take no courage to walk up to the car. I was only a few feet from my
apartment, on home turf, so to speak, so I wasn't ascared. I walked up to the car and shone the light on it. Yep, it was red alright, and I could see
the Toyota symbol glistnin in the light of my flashlight. Then I walked around to the front of the car--if there was a dent on the bumper, I was gonna
turn right around and call 911. I shone my flashlight on the bumper and I see what could be a dent, or maybe, I'm thinking, it's just a trick of light. I
knew I had to touch the fender--to see if it was really a dent or not--so I leaned over and put my hand out real slow like. Now, I'm still not scared,
but I do feel this little tingling inside of me, like my guts were tryin to tell me somethin, so it seemed like it took a long time for my hand to touch the
fender. But when it did, I sorta jumped back cuz, sure enough, it was a dent, not a trick of light. It was at this point, Miz Parker, that I kinda got a
little scared.
That's okay, you go ahead and answer that...it might be about your little girl. While you talk, I'll jest wrap you up some sticky buns to take home.
Here you go, don't you forget these now. Everthing okay?...Good, I'll jest finish up the story and you can get home to your daughter. Well, after I
touched that dent, I knew I had to go back to my apartment and call 911, cuz, more likely than not, there was a hurt lady in the trunk of that car and
I had to get help. Then I did the stupid thing. You ever do somethin stupid, Miz Parker...Yeah, well, I guess we all do sometimes, and the stupid
thing I did then was to use my flashlight to look inside the car. To this day, I still don't know what possessed me to do that, jest plain curiosity I guess.
And soon as I did, I saw this big ole mean man lying in the backseat. When the beam of the flashlight hit his face, he reared up real fast like and let
out this roar like a wounded bear. I jest froze for a second and dropped the flashlight. It seemed like it took forever for my brain to tell my legs to
get moving, but I turned around...it was like everthing was in slow motion...and started to run. But I wasn't fast enough cuz that mean ole man was
outa the car in a flash and the next thing I know he has grabbed me with one hand and was using the other hand to get keys out of his pocket.
...To open the trunk of course. My body was moving sorta slow then, but my brain was moving real fast and I knew that he was gonna put me in the
trunk jest like he did that other lady. Now, I didn't live seventy-five years to die in the trunk of a car, still got a little fight in me, so I did the only thing
I could think to do. I bit him, right on the arm he had around my neck. I bit him hard, so hard he let go of me. But he grabbed me again right fast, and
when he did, he dropped the keys.
Now as you can imagine, I was doing me some praying all this time. You believe in prayer, Miz Parker?...Good, your little girl needs a mama that
believes in prayer. Anyway, because of my praying, God or my guardian angel or whatever told me what to do, and I real quick like kicked those
keys under the car. This made that mean man madder than ever and he let out another roar and whirled me around to face him. His face was all
twisted up, all evil looking, and I'm here to tell you I was scareder than I have ever been in my life. But once again I got this message from God,
and I what I did next was to spit in his face. Doesn't seem like that would bother some big ole mean man, does it? But I guess it was instinct or
somethin, cuz he let go of me to wipe his face. And when he did, I started running. I ran faster than I ever had in my whole life, faster even than I
did as a kid.
Then I heard sorta a thumping noise and when I turned around real quick, I saw that that man had tripped over the flashlight--a miracle if you ask
me--and that he was lying flat on his back. This gave me jest enough time to turn the corner of the building wheres he couldn't see what apartment
I ran into. I quickly unlocked my door and then called 911.
Guess you know the rest, because this last part was in your paper. When the police got there, that mean man was still lying there, they think he hit
his head on a rock, and the lady in the trunk was only half conscience, but she's okay now--gonna be at the banquet if I win the award. ...Oh, you
will be, too? That would be so nice, though I guess you'll be working, so to speak. Well, now that we've met, you need to come over sometime
jest to visit, bring your little girl. I could make us a nice supper. ...Well, of course you do, it's getting late and you gotta home, I'll jest walk you to
the door. It was so nice meeting you and you that you know where I live, don't be a stranger!
________________________
Deborah L. Reed currently resides in a small bedroom community in Central Texas with
her daughter, grandson, and two dogs. She is a retired Science teacher who now works
in Code Enforcement.
