Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Friday Fun With Coffee. #2
Good morning everyone! Happy Friday to you as well! We had more freezing fog during the night so the trees, and most everything else, are once again covered with frost. Some trees were still frost covered from before, but many had lost their frosty coats. It is quite windy out there this morning too which is supposed to bring in some very mild weather for us by Sunday. It could warm up to 34F (1C) on Sunday and Monday too. Then it will cool off once again.
There are not many birds this morning, but my little chickadees and nuthatches are here. I have not yet seen any other birds. So different from last winter when I had hundreds of birds out here. They obviously must have found a better restaurant. Plus that shrike might have something to do with it. Oh well, I cannot do anything about it. Speaking of restaurants, I am sure I mentioned this one I stopped at a few years ago.
But many of you would have missed that anyway, so I will share it again. It was a small country restaurant I had never tried before. So, one morning as I was driving by, I decided to give it a try. I mean, how can anyone spoil a simple country breakfast. There were two vehicles parked out front, so that was a good sign, other people eat here too. I went inside. It was empty. But it was a nice looking, and clean, restaurant.
It was quite small, but it is a country restaurant, they normally are not very big. The vehicles probably belong to the owners. I sat at one of the tables and waited. And waited. “Anyone here?” I called out. A man poked his head out of the kitchen and then came over to me. He was quite dirty and had a somewhat dirty towel over his shoulder. I probably should have left, but I thought this might be interesting. I was not disappointed.
“You want somethin?” he asked. “Yes, a cup of coffee and the breakfast special,” I said. He went back to the kitchen and came back quickly with coffee and a cup. He stopped at the table and looked in the cup. Then he blew into the cup. Then he stuck his finger in the cup. “I better get a different cup, this one is dirty,” he said. At least he recognized that. He set the coffee pot on the table and went back in the kitchen. I waited. And waited. He must be washing the cup.
He came back with another cup. “This one is clean,” he said, “and we do not have the breakfast special today.” “Okay, I will have bacon and eggs and toast,” I said. “Okay,” and off he goes. What I just ordered was the breakfast special. Very odd. He comes back and asks what kind of bread I want. Better make this easy, I thought. “Just white bread,” I said. “Okay,” and off he goes. He comes back. “We don’t have any white bread,” he said. “How about rye?” I asked him.
“Okay,” and off he goes. He comes back. “We do not have rye bread either,” he said. “What do you have?” I asked. “Actually, we do not have any bread,” he said. “Fine, I will have hash browns instead of toast,” I said. “Okay,” and off he goes. He comes back. “We do not have any bacon, would sausages be okay?” he asked. “Sure,” I said and off he goes. He comes back.
“We do not have any sausages either,” he said. Then why did he suggest them? Oh well. “I will just have eggs and hash browns,” I said. “Okay,” and he left. I should have too. He comes back. “We do not have and hash browns,” he said. I stared at him. “Actually,” he said, “we do not have any food right now, my wife is going shopping this morning.” I stared at him.
“Would you like more coffee?” “No thanks, I am in a hurry,” I said. I paid for my coffee and went to my car. Once in my car I burst out laughing! It could only happen to me! I drove on to the next restaurant and got my breakfast. Baxter and Betty, my two blue jays have shown up for breakfast. Thank you for visiting today, have a wonderful Friday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
The Investigators, Inc. The Major Case. Chapter 8. Pop, Floop!
Rock and Benson made it out to where the boat exploded and looked around. Rock had decided he would just pretend to pick up body parts, rather than toss them into the water and then pick them up. This way they will not lose any, which could be a problem if someone else came along and found some. But as they looked around, both of them gasped at what they saw.
Benson scooped up the shirt that Crystal was wearing, torn to shreds and stained with blood. Then Rock noticed my jeans floating nearby, or what was left of them anyway. Then Benson noticed a piece of my wallet sitting on a piece of wood and scooped it up. This was not good, and definitely not part of the plan! I would have told them about any changes so they would not worry.
Meanwhile, back at the hotel. There was a knock at the door. Galyna answered since it was the right knock that we use to tell each other it is one of us. She opened the door. “You!” she said. “May I come in?” he asked, “I need to see Sky. She is here, right?” “Yes, she is,” said Galyna, “hey Sky, toss on your robe and come out here, we have a visitor.” Sigurbjorn also stared when he came in and said, “You!”
Then Sky came out of the bathroom and stared. “You!” she said. “Is that all you girls can say?” he asked. “But you are supposed to be dead,” said Sky. “And so are you, I might add,” he replied. She giggled. “You have me on that one,” she answered. “The boat should be exploding in just a few seconds,” said Sigurbjorn. “Um, you missed it,” he said, “it exploded 2 minutes ago. I was supposed to tell all of you, but I was tired and fell asleep, and, well, I am a bit late.”
“How do you know all of this John?” asked Sky. “Because I changed the timer myself last night,” he said, “so it would go off 2 minutes early. It was a change in plans. Major thought it might be a good idea.” Sky bent over a bit and picked up her gun and pointed it right at John. “You told Steve though, right?” she asked, “because if you did not, you will not be walking out of here alive.”
“Wait!” he exclaimed, “Steve knew all about it, I would not let him go out without telling him. But there was no time for him to tell everyone else, that was my job, and, well, like I said, I fell asleep and just woke up. Take it easy Sky, that thing could accidentally go off.” “If it goes off, it will be no accident,” she said. But she could not contain herself any long and began to laugh. “Um, what is so funny Sky?” asked John.
“The look on your face!” she said, “Steve called me and filled me in. He figured you might fall asleep after a long trip and being awake all night.” “You all knew about this?” he asked? “Sorry John, we did,” said Galyna. “Do Rock and Benson know too?” he asked. “Yes, I told everyone in plenty of time,” she said, “we just wanted to have some fun with you.” Poor John just collapsed into a big chair. “That was not nice,” he said, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, down at the front desk. The manager came running inside to the phone. “What is the problem?” asked Pete. “A boat, it exploded,” he said, somewhat out of breath, “I must call the police.” “No police,” said Pete, “you are getting paid plenty to do what we want, now, forget the police.” “No, that is murder,” he said, “I want no part of murder.” He then picked up the phone. Pete had a silencer on his gun and pulled the trigger.
The manager fell to the floor behind the counter. Pete then carried him into the freezer beside the kitchen. He came back out and another man came running in. “Did the manager call for the police?” he asked. “Yes, he did,” said Pete, “they will be here soon.” “Good,” said the man and ran back outside. Setting the timer 2 minutes early was not such a good idea, thought Pete, if they had stayed with the original 10 minutes, then the explosion would not have been visible from the island.
This could cause them some problems. Or would it? Maybe this could be a good thing. Major could not try anything if the police are around, so that would make it easier for them to get away tonight. Yeah, this could be a good thing indeed, he thought to himself. Meanwhile… Pop. Floop. A few minutes later. Pop. Floop. Another little bit and, pop. Floop. “Hey Rich, something strange out there,” said Sam…
To Be Continued.
©2023 Steve McLeod.
