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Showing posts from June, 2011

The lesser of two evils

~ By Megon Coon Standing in the kitchen, I was wholly unaware of the creepy scaly thing just waiting up there. It was calm and patient, as still as could be, neatly curled up there just looking at me. In an instant I saw it and man did I scream as the boa constrictor unwound from the beam. “Don’t worry,” they said, “It’s eating the rats! That’s what they’re made for- they’re better than cats!” “Rats?” I said, “We don’t have those, just geckos and cockroaches under our toes!” They poked and they prodded with the end of our broom ‘till it fell to the floor and fled from the room. They got straight to work, shoved it into a sack, and I was just glad it didn’t end in a WHACK ! They took it and left it in a field far from here, I doubt if we’ll ever again see it so near. But that night I saw a rat big and black and I though to myself, “Could we get that bécquer back?”

And then we were gone

Just when the rhythm of our daily lives was becoming predictable again, everything changed dramatically. These sudden changes, both unexpected and long-awaited, have really shaken things up for Kevin and me…. and we’re thrilled. One rainy night after Eliza and Martin’s wedding, Kevin and I were at their family’s house saying goodbye to Martin’s dad before he flew back to England. I was the first one to the door when a stranger drenched and wearing motorcycle gear approached us and asked for directions to a nearby farm. The woman, sporting a Canadian patch on her jacket, a reflective vest and speaking perfect (though definitely foreign) Spanish, got the directions she needed from one of the family members and, after thanking us, drove away on her large motorcycle with another mysterious rider. Everyone in the house had a different theory about the foreign woman: “Definitely a Nicaraguan,” someone said. “That accent’s not from around here.” “I think she’s Canadian. Didn’t you see her...