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Post by biggkidd on Aug 5, 2014 21:31:05 GMT -6
Grrrrrreat!
Larry
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 9, 2014 22:04:04 GMT -6
Chapter 122 - Friday morning
"Abby, here's my notebook of stories. See what you think of the last three."
"OK, Patricia. If I don't get all of them read on the way to school, is it OK if I take it home and read them over the weekend?"
"Sure."
~~~
"Class, we have some new students today. Some of the Chinese soldiers want to learn English so they can communicate with other people in the valley. Most of them grew up on small farms, so we'll talk about farming and Mister Chen and Mister Chu will translate. Later, I'll like for some of you to work with the new students one-on-one. If you'd like to help, talk to me at lunch."
~~~
"Mister Abe, why do the Chinese soldiers seem to be scared of me and Terry and Lexi?"
"They must show proper respect to a great warrior. You shoot better than most Chinese soldiers and they find it very scary that a kid is that good."
"But I won't hurt them."
"They've seen or heard what you can do with a rifle and have heard what Terry and Lexi can do with their pistols. The soldiers will have to be around you for a while when you're not in 'warrior' mode for them to consider you just another person."
"But I haven't shot at anybody today."
"As far as they are concerned you're always in warrior mode. They consider the older boy who tripped over his own feet when told him to 'go away' to be an example of someone responding to a warrior. He's bigger than you but he must fear you to obey so quickly when you speak."
" Doyle's just afraid I'll tell his uncle who'll take him out to the woodshed and use the razor strop on him again. And I know what a strop is - it's the final step in sharpening a blade."
"How do you know about sharpening knives?"
"Grandpa gave me a Swiss army knife for my birthday and lessons on using tools - including sharpening knives and chisels and stuff."
"You understand that if I tell them you sharpen you own knife, they will have another reason to fear you? In some Asian cultures, the greatest warriors always sharpen their own weapons."
"That's silly. I'm a kid. I'm nine years old. How much damage could I do to one of them? He could pick me up and hold me out where my hands couldn't reach him."
"They would never insult a great warrior by doing that."
"They need to learn some of our way of fighting."
"They might be willing to learn from you, Abby."
"Then let's get busy teaching them English."
~~~
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 10, 2014 19:30:13 GMT -6
what a sensible young lady! thank you!!
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Post by ydderf on Aug 11, 2014 9:30:34 GMT -6
Many thanks, you have me on the edge of my seat, checking 2 or 3 times a day for new chapters.
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 11, 2014 20:22:51 GMT -6
Chapter 123 - Friday noon
"Miss Alice, I'd like to help with teaching the soldiers - if you can find one who isn't too afraid of me."
"Abe told me of their response to you, Abby. I think working one-on-one may be a good way for you to show them you're not planning to do them harm. Will said there was one who was seemed to be more curious than afraid, so he might be a good one for you to start with. I'll have Will introduce you and explain what you'll be doing in the one-on-one. I know that you may see it as preschool pictures and words, but it's probably the easiest way to introduce the English words for farm things they'll recognize - such as shovel, ax, horse, cow and so forth. You're smart - I'll bet you could learn enough Chinese in a few days to make it much easier for the next soldier you work with."
"I know one pictograph - the one for peddler. Mister Abe showed us that when we were telling about our dreams of the Chinese uniforms. I'll have to learn to pronounce the words as I learn the pictographs."
"Very good, smart girl."
~~~
"Abe, do you think you could do some lessons on reading and speaking Chinese? Abby wants to learn and there may be a few others who want to. It would certainly simplify communication between the groups if we had translators available all over the area."
"I don't know how much we can cover, Alice - there are thousands of pictographs."
"I was thinking of the most basic daily life - cooking, eating, farming - even the universal 'Where's the toilet?'. I realize that there's probably not a one-to-one correlation between English terms and Chinese terms, but couldn't we do enough to get by? Basically what a group of kids who speak different languages would do to be able to play together."
"We should be able to manage that level of communication. There may be some Chinglish in the mix, but I think it will be be adequate."
"I'm not looking for college level papers, just kindergarten or first grade conversation on both sides."
~~~
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Post by ydderf on Aug 11, 2014 22:57:21 GMT -6
Thanks again.
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 12, 2014 17:47:51 GMT -6
Chapter 124 - Friday afternoon
"Who's the soldier you're working with, Abby?"
"I can't pronounce his name yet, Patricia, but Mister Will said to call him 'Joe' until I can. And they all plan to choose an English name that's kinda like their name."
"What did he do before he was a soldier?"
"Mister Abe said that he was a teacher at a village school - maybe about the size of our school. I think that's why he wants to learn English. Then there'll be books he can read and he can learn English well enough to be a teacher again."
"He's not scared of you like the others are?"
"Not as much as the others - or maybe he's just curious about the weird kid who carries a gun and a knife. When I got out my knife to sharpen a pencil, he mimed sharpening the knife. You can tell the knife is really sharp by the way the wood curls. When I mimed that I sharpened it, I thought he was gonna run away until I closed the blade and handed him the knife so he could look at it. Mister Abe said some Asian soldiers have this thing about warriors who sharpen their own weapons and that me sharpening the blade somehow made me a greater warrior. I can't believe they get so weird over a pocket knife! There must be thousands of kids who have one just like it."
"But not many girls carry a pocket knife, Abby - you're the only one I know - and probably very few of those girls know how sharpen their knives. I think your Grandpa sees you differently from how most grownups see girls. He sees a person who can learn to do almost anything - including taking care of herself in many circumstances - but most girls are with grownups who think it's their responsibility to protect those girls from everything. I'm glad that Uncle Carl sees me more like your Grandpa sees you. He's been taking me to the shooting range for rifle and pistol lessons so I can keep myself safe and get food for the family. I shot two squirrels this week, which isn't a big deal when we have plenty of other food available, but it might be important in the future."
"That's great, Patricia."
~~~
"Grandpa, will we get phones back when the electricity is on again?"
"There's a very good chance that we will, Abby."
"Cell phones and the internet, too?"
"No, just the basic phones in houses and businesses."
"Why?"
"Good question, smart girl. The internet needs connections to other places, which we won't have any time soon. Cell phones don't work unless regular phone service is working, but most of the cell towers need to have power on 24 hours a day. They may have a little battery backup and/or a generator for backup, but the generators are out of fuel now and power will only be on for a few hours a day. I know we have people who can get basic local phone service working again - I'm one of those people - but I don't know of anyone who can repair or maintain the cell system. We may find someone in the future, but we don't have them now."
"Will the cordless phones work?"
"Only while the power is on. The old-fashioned wired phones will work all the time because they get the power they need from the battery banks at the telephone switching office."
"But the cordless phones have a battery in them. I remember seeing the battery symbol on the display."
"That battery powers the handset that you carry around. The base unit usually only has a wall wart for power. If the electricity is off, so is that base unit and the cordless phones don't work."
"But the little walkie talkies me and Terry used to have didn't need a 'base unit'."
"That's a very different technology, Abby. The walkie talkies are simplex - that means one person talks at a time, then the other person talks - and you don't need a connection to the phone line. The cordless phones are duplex - you can talk and listen at the same time and the second person in the phone conversation isn't in the same place you are. They could have been half way around the world."
"Is anybody else in the world getting power back? Or phones?"
"Remember the Ishams?"
"Un huh."
"They have ham radio and solar panels to charge the batteries it runs on. They can talk to other places in our country and the world. Very few places have power - there aren't enough technical people to get the big power plants running again. Those big plants also need fuel. If they use coal, the coal mines aren't operating and the trains that once carried the coal from the mines to the power plants aren't running. If they use oil or natural gas, the pipelines aren't working - the pipelines need electricity to power the pumps and we know there's no electricity most places. Some of those plants need a source of power to restart them and there's little or no fuel for the generators that they would normally use."
"You said the Ishams have solar panels. Are there any big power plants that have them?"
"Another good question, smart girl. The only places that kind of solar array could be set up would be in a near-desert area where there's lots of sun all year. There are only a few places in the country where that could be done. And remember that they could only provide power during part of the day."
"What about the big wind generators?"
"Terry, there are a limited number of places where the wind is strong enough and blows long enough for wind generators to work. Those generators also need regular maintenance. Do you think they got properly shut down when people started getting sick? It's possible, because we had people working at the dam who did that kind of shutdown but we don't know if it happened with the wind generators. The other question would be whether people who know to restart the wind generators survived."
"Like Mr. Dennison and Mister Hal and Uncle Jack do for the hydro plant?"
"Yes, like them and some other people who've helped with checking things out and starting repairs."
"If the telephone office can run all its equipment and all the phones on batteries when the power isn't on, how big are those batteries?"
"Bigger than you. Some of the biggest ones are almost the size of a refrigerator."
"You're teasing us again."
"No, Peanut, I'm not teasing. I have some pictures that were made at a telephone office where I once worked. I think they may be in my desk. Come with me and we'll look."
~~~
"That's a battery? It's ginormous!"
"More correctly, it's one of the cells that make up the 48 volt battery plant at that telephone office. The office here doesn't serve anywhere near the number of phones that office did, but I think you'd be impressed with the size of the cells here."
"There are more of them?"
"There are 24 of them. Each cell produces 2 volts, so it requires 24 cells to provide the 48 volts the equipment needs. I hope the automatic low voltage disconnect controls worked - otherwise the battery may have been discharged so far we can't recover it. I think I should visit the telephone office at some point just to check that..."
"Can we go?"
"If you listen to my instructions about what you may and may not do or touch while we're there."
"I will."
"Me too."
"You think other kids at school would be interested in seeing the phone office?"
"Un huh. Especially Josh, since Sherrie says he's really interested in how things work."
"The Ishams want to get the phones working again - if that's possible - when the hydro plant is back online. I'll ask them if they'll consider giving tours for the whole school then."
~~~
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Post by millwright on Aug 12, 2014 19:59:21 GMT -6
Great story Papa
I just got caught up again.
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Post by ydderf on Aug 13, 2014 9:07:00 GMT -6
Yes,I agree,a great story. Thank you for your time.
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 24, 2014 16:58:59 GMT -6
Working on an annoyance - the micro-USB power/data connector on the tablet not longer suppots data - in this case, the external keyboard. I have a Bluetooth keyboard configured with the tablet now, but the keys and their spacing are about 80% the size of the keyboard I'm accustomed to. Definitely takes longer to type things in correctly ;-) I have some future chapters done, just waiting for the muse to key in the next chapter in sequence. When I do reach a stopping point with the story, the epilog is written. It tidies a few things up and may include a few surprises in relationships. It does leave the way open for future tales of other people in the valley, instead of being focussed primarily on Bill Mason's family.
Don't know if I'll work on another volume or not. It could turn out like the crown moulding I installed in the remodel of the family room - good to know how to do it, but not sure if I want any more practice ; -)
And I still have a 7 foot wide mantel to build...
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 24, 2014 18:24:18 GMT -6
lol! we'll wait! be careful! a 7 foot mantel has GOT to be heavy
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Post by ydderf on Aug 25, 2014 14:19:41 GMT -6
I have a problem with your characters they seem so real so alive that I wish I could bring them to life. I wish my granddaughters showed the same spirit and respect for others as your characters show.
I understand the need to eventually end the story. I sincerely hope you keep the characters alive and reprise at least some of them as they grow and mature. I for one am not tired of reading/hearing about their lives/adventures. I find your story refreshing and pleasurable reading.
I hope your hardware problems soon resolve themselves in a simple and easy solution.
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 25, 2014 20:34:34 GMT -6
Thank you for the kind words. I have several more chapters (exact number unknown) to go before I see a conclusion to the current story.
If you read back over the events of Thursday/Friday, you'll find that there's another would-be writer in the neighborhood. Will anything come from said writer? Diary? Journal? Something else? Don't know yet. There is a huge field of possibilities when power is restored - and plenty of options if that doesn't work out in the long term.
Remember that I started out to write a short story - but the voices in my head keep having interesting conversations ;-)
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 26, 2014 20:21:14 GMT -6
Chapter 125 - Friday evening
"You kids decided what you want for supper?"
"Pancakes?"
"Peanut butter on yours?"
"Yes, Grandpa. With bacon and sausage."
"Everyone's chores done?"
"Except for washing the dishes."
"Homework done, Abby?"
"Most of it. One thing I can't do until Sunday because I need to ask some questions of at least a dozen people who don't live near me."
"You have your list of questions and spaces for their answers?"
"Yes, Grandpa."
"Terry?"
"There's no hurry. We have all weekend to do homework."
"No, you do homework tonight. Kate and Lexi will be here in the morning to help with the baking. You kids asked for some range time. Since Royal has serviced Rose, Jack and I will be getting Royal and Buttermilk into the small pasture as well."
"Abby's gonna get another horse?"
"Terry, you could ask Abby if she'd share."
"She is pretty good at that."
"Mike?"
"Same as Abby, Dad. I've made up enough of the worksheets that Gran... Mr. Mason helped us with."
"Mike, if you're comfortable with it, I have no problem with you calling me 'Grandpa'."
"You don't?"
"No, 'grandson'."
"I never knew any of my grandparents, but they couldn't have been better than you. Thank you."
"Mike, you're definitely in the same family as Abby and Terry. My ribs will have bruises in exactly the same places as they did from the girls' hugs."
"I'm sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry about, Mike. Glad to have you in the family. Something in your eye, Gene?"
"I think it must be the spring ragweed."
"That can be a real problem some years. Back to supper - plain pancakes or banana?"
"Plain."
"Banana."
"Banana."
"Then I'll need a couple of helpers to mix two batches of batter - one with bananas and the other without and someone to help with cooking the bacon and sausage."
"You're nice."
"I kinda like all of you, Terry."
"We know."
~~~
"Grandpa, I'm gonna be a 'learning buddy' for one of the Chinese soldiers. We're using preschool pictures of everyday life - like a drawing of a cow with the word 'cow' printed on it - but is there something that might work better for grown-ups?"
"Abby, I have a Mandarin-English dictionary. It has common words and phrases in both languages and how to pronounce them."
"Then I could draw the Chinese pictograph on the pictures and we'd have a picture dictionary and when we pronounce the English word, they can pronounce the Chinese word - that way we'll both be learning something new."
"I love seeing the results when my smart girls put their minds to work. Why don't you look through the dictionary and see if you can find the terms you need?"
"Thank you, Grandpa."
~~~
"Grandpa, some of the pictographs aren't very different from each other. I don't know if I can draw them right."
"Abby, I'm sure Mister Abe and Mister Will will be happy to help you with getting the characters drawn correctly. Over the weekend, you can make a list of things you think the Chinese soldiers should know. Monday, you can ask Abe and Will to check your list and help you with getting the characters on the pictures. Have you asked Mike for ideas? He might see things differently than you do."
"I'll show him what I have on my list Sunday during Trade Day when he'll have time to read it and think about it - we don't stay busy all the time we're at the tables- and he can tell me what he thinks should be added. Being around all the stuff at Trade Day might give both of us ideas about more things to include."
"Very good, smart girl."
~~~
"Bedtime, kids. You know the drill."
"Isn't it kinda early?"
"It might be, Mike, if you don't want two chapters..."
"I'm going!"
"Me too, Abby."
"Me three."
"Terry, Lexi usually says 'Me three."
"I know, Mike, but tonight you were faster than me."
~~~
============
It's me again.
I thought I was gonna die trying to keep it in, but I didn't laugh when Grandpa said "Will will" while we were talking about me being a 'learning buddy' to one of the Chinese soldiers. I don't know if he woulda been mad about it but it didn't feel right to start laughing. I don't know if I can keep it in if I hear it again. Something's gonna happen tomorrow. I don't think it's bad but I don't usually see good stuff in advance so I'm not sure what it is.
I think I figured out why Grandpa started the 'getting ready for bed' stuff earlier tonight. It wasn't just for the extra chapter of Little House - he's giving me more time to work on my journal before he says "Lights out." Aunt Kate was so right when she said he was very understanding. There's the knock - time for me to put this away.
============
~~~
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Post by fightheat on Aug 27, 2014 12:31:25 GMT -6
Love seeing more!!
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Post by papaof2 on Aug 27, 2014 22:20:36 GMT -6
Chapter 126 - Saturday morning
"Good morning, Lexi."
"Good morning, Mommy. I need a hug."
"I think I can take care of that need."
"You feel different this morning."
"What's different about me, Lexi?"
"You're more alive."
"That's not exactly a detailed description."
"Ask Abby when we get to their house. She knows a lot of big words from looking stuff up for all the stories she writes. Maybe she can tell why you feel different."
"OK. I'll do that."
~~~
"Hello the house."
"Hello daughter and son-in-law and granddaughter."
"You're silly today, Grandpa."
"Maybe so, but it made you laugh."
"Hi, Aunt Kate. You're my third hug this morning."
"Mine too, Aunt Kate.
"Explain that to me, Abby?"
"Me and Terry hugged each other when we woke up, then Grandpa gave us a 'good morning' hug. So you're hug number three and Lexi is number four and Uncle Jack is number five."
"Lexi said I felt different when she hugged me this morning. Do I feel different to you."
"No."
"Yes."
"What's up with you two, Abby? You and Terry never disagree about something like this."
"You might get mad at me if I tell you."
"No, Abby, I won't get mad at you. Your ability to 'see' things that others can't see is not a fault, it's a gift.
"You're pregnant."
"How do you know?"
"I knew you were different when you came in. I knew why when you hugged me."
"How do you know? And why did Lexi say that I felt different when I hugged her this morning?"
"I don't know how it works, Aunt Kate. Grandma Betty told me it's something that some people in our family have. Maybe it's in Lexi's family too. Bad things seem to be stronger than good things so I usually dream about them before they happen. Good things I sometimes don't know about until I'm in the same room with someone or touch them."
"Why didn't you say something when I hugged you?"
"I didn't know if you'd get mad about it. I got yelled at for telling people they were pregnant when we were at the trailer park. A lot of them had a baby every year. If they didn't wanta be pregnant, they coulda stopped doing the things that make babies."
"How much do you know about that, Abby?"
"More than I ever wanted to see somebody else doing. When Rob and Crystal were drinking or doing drugs, they did stuff on the sofa sometimes, even if me and Terry were in there watching TV or doing homework. Just before Crystal got shot, Rob got real mad at her when she told him she'd run out of birth control pills and he had to sleep on the sofa."
"Yeah. That was about when he stopped telling Abby she was a worthless kid and started telling her how pretty she was - just a couple of days before Crystal chased him out with the big gun."
" Do you know whether it's a boy or a girl?"
"Un huh, but are you sure you wanta know?"
"Why would you ask that?"
"Sometimes people got mad at me when I told them which it was - like it was my fault they didn't get what they wanted."
"Come here for a hug, Abby. I'll not get mad at you and neither will Jack. We know you're not responsible for the baby's gender."
"OK. I'll tell you."
~~~
"I guess Lexi was actually very accurate in her description of me feeling 'more alive'. You can't be more alive than when you're carrying new life inside yourself."
"I think I like her description better than the 'p' word."
"Me too, Jack. Has Lexi always noticed people being 'different' or dreamed about things before they happened?"
"Not until we got here, Kate. I wonder if Abby and/or Terry could have been a catalyst for that ability coming out?"
"We made her do it?"
"No, Abby. A catalyst is something that causes a change just by being in the right place at the right time. It doesn't have to 'do' anything and it doesn't get changed by what happens, it just makes it possible for something to happen that otherwise couldn't happen."
"But how did we do that?"
"Perhaps it's related to your ability to dowse, which gave you a connection to Lexi, but I'm just guessing."
"Guess I'll have to learn how to deal with a grandson. All the children I've had to deal with in the family are females."
"You'll do fine, Grandpa."
"Is there something you know that I don't, Abby?"
"No. You take good care of family, even accidental family - including the new grandchild you got yesterday. You'll do great with real family."
"Sweet girls, you're as real as family ever gets."
"New grandchild?"
"Yes, Aunt Kate. Mike now calls him 'Grandpa'."
"Couldn't have happened to a nicer old softie."
"Watch your mouth, daughter."
~~~
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Post by ydderf on Aug 28, 2014 17:50:56 GMT -6
Thanks for the new postings!!
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Post by 2medicinewoman on Aug 29, 2014 14:22:26 GMT -6
A new baby. Sweeeeeet !! Really like this story. I am a warrior for the little ones. They are sacred to my people. They all need love and protection. The world/humanity is losing their morals. It is legal to abort a sacred child. This is wrong. Very wrong. and no, I do not debate this. Children are our legacy. Without them, we are nothing.
Thank you for another great chapter. Wonderful story!
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Post by kaijafon on Aug 30, 2014 6:33:51 GMT -6
awe a baby! Thank you!
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Post by philipinoregon on Aug 31, 2014 1:40:07 GMT -6
papaof2 , I wanted to share that I have NOT forgotten this story, it is that life has been changing for me!
I have returned to my First hobby, of Electronics, and have been studying & producing things that have SparkenPoppen in them, if you understand the Germanic humor there!! if not, I have been making Electrical Powered thingies.
I strive to keep the SparkenPoppen Inside the plastic coating on the wires, and also not to create to much SmokenSpitzen.
If SmokenSpitzen happens, whatever technical item, that WAS being created is given a new nomenclature, of "Toast"....
smiles,
I pray your Health is good,
philip
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Post by papaof2 on Sept 11, 2014 12:55:33 GMT -6
I have several chapters- but they're mostly short ones. Seems my muse is spending only brief periods with me during ragweed season and then leaving me to suffer (and try to write) alone :-(
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Post by papaof2 on Sept 11, 2014 12:56:28 GMT -6
Chapter 127 - Saturday noon
"Grandpa, can you help me yardbreak Prince today?"
"After the baking is finished and you've done all your chores - and any homework you didn't finish last night, Terry."
"I haven't finished the homework but I did everything else. If I'm working with Prince I'll probably get my hands dirty, so I should do that, then wash up and do homework. Besides, I can't work with Prince outside after dark but I can do homework after dark."
"Thinking ahead like that is very good, smart girl. I'll go out with you when you finish baking. Remember your pistol when you go outside."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
~~~
"Where'd you get Prince for a dog's name, Terry?"
"Mike, his mother is Queenie so he must be a prince."
"Sometimes I forget how logical you can be."
~~~
"Finished with the baking, Kate?"
"Yes, Dad. You and Jack can load the boxes in the wagon for tomorrow."
"Kids, you can help as well."
"Yes, Grandpa. Can we get range time today?"
"After we eat lunch, Abby."
"What's for lunch?"
"Fried rabbit."
"One of our rabbits?"
"Not today, Terry. We're cooking three that Mike snared in the garden. Do you remember me talking about small animals doing damage to what we planted?"
"Un huh. Where did you get the snares, Mike?"
"Made them from some scrap wire and some springy branches I cut off a poplar tree. The pictures and instructions are in one of Grandpa's books on how to make your own stuff."
~~~
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Post by papaof2 on Sept 11, 2014 12:57:56 GMT -6
Chapter 128 - Saturday afternoon
"I don't remember that gun, Grandpa."
"Probably because you haven't seen it before, Abby. It's a small shotgun, a .410 with a youth stock. I think you and Mike might be able to handle the recoil from it."
"Why a shotgun?"
"They work better for taking varmints or snakes or small game on the run or birds on the wing. Shotguns also work well for close personal defense."
"Why?"
"Because they're made for that purpose. Instead of a single bullet at the end of a cartridge, they use a shell with room for many small pieces of shot. Instead of throwing one rock, you're throwing a handful of pebbles. If you're close enough and throw hard enough, the pebbles can do a lot of damage and you don't have to be as accurate as with the rifle or pistol. You do have to be closer to your target."
"Pebbles?"
"Let me open a shell and show you. This shell has birdshot, one of the smaller shot sizes."
"Looks like miniature BBs."
"You're right, Mike. But these are made of lead and not the steel or alloy that many BBs are made of."
"What kind of targets do we use?"
"I'm re-using some of the targets you've used before, Terry, but I've just put a big 'X' on the back instead of a bullseye. You'll know if you get a good hit. I don't think that you or Lexi have long enough arms to shoot this from your shoulder and I don't think you could hold it in both hands and fire it. You might be able to use it with the butt against a wall."
"Why are you doing this now? I thought we got the bad guys."
"We got a number of them, Abby - perhaps most of them in the valley - but like the feral dogs some of them may just be hiding and waiting for us to get careless or lazy. Adding another type of weapon to your skill set hopefully will keep you aware and make you more careful of where you go and what you do."
~~~
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Post by papaof2 on Sept 11, 2014 13:06:52 GMT -6
Chapter 129 - Saturday evening
"Bedtime, kids."
"Yes, Grandpa. It's not real dark yet. Can we get two chapters?"
"Yes, if you don't dawdle licking the peppermint flossers, Terry."
"How'd you know about that?"
"I may be old, but my hearing is still very good and whispers carry better than a soft voice. I heard what you and Lexi said about the flossers this morning."
"We gotta whisper quieter."
"No, Terry. You should speak softly instead of whispering."
"Like you're doing, Grandpa?"
"No, even softer. Like Abby and Mike are doing."
"What are they hiding?"
"You'll have to ask them."
~~~
========================= ========================= Hi, it's me again.
I knew something was gonna happen today, but didn't think it was bad. It's not bad; it's very good: Aunt Kate and Uncle Jack are really happy about her being pregnant. Does that mean I saw something good in advance but I'm so used to only seeing bad things in advance that I couldn't make myself believe it would be good? Is my 'seeing' getting stronger or am I more aware of details in the things I 'see'? Wish I had Grandma Betty to talk to about it.
Shooting the shotgun is kinda weird - you wouldn't think that the tiny birdshot could do much damage, but if you're close enough it really eats a big hole in the paper targets. Birdshot from the little .410 might not do a lot of damage to someone, but a dozen of those little pellets in your skin would hafta hurt. ========================= =========================
Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using proboards
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Post by 2medicinewoman on Sept 12, 2014 23:01:56 GMT -6
Thank you for some new chapters. Love this story!
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