For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning to everyone! It is a lovely, sunny, spring morning here. There is a bit of light high clouds, but nothing serious. There is still the odd patch of snow visible in shaded areas, but otherwise the snow is gone. Spring is here nice and early this year. I do like spring. It feels so good after a long cold winter. Even though we did not get a long cold winter this year, but spring still feels the same.
Gulls are flying around squawking. An eagle is soaring high overhead. A flock of geese has just flown past. This is the kind of spring weather I used to like for some exploring. So, one time years ago, I made my lunch, packed extra clothes and whatever else I needed, putting it all in my backpack and off I went. I stopped for breakfast and ended up having Krissy join me on this adventure.

Lady Pearl (left) and Sir George (right), my old Herring Gull friends on a spring morning.
We found the old road that I had spotted the week before and stopped to look at it. Okay, it was more of a trail than a road. Well, at one time it was probably a trail anyway. But it looked drivable. Kind of. So, off we went. “You are going to get a lot of scratches on your car,” said Krissy. “It does sound like it,” I admitted.

Another Herring Gull named Sir Henry.
But, it was not a long drive and it opened up to a small clearing with a house and a large shed which had collapsed long ago. The house was still standing though. Sort of. It was leaning a bit. At one time it was a story and a half, but the upper part was, well, kind of in the lower part now. Half of it anyway. Along with half of the roof.
We went in the front door, which was open. There was quite a bit of furniture in the house, curtains still on the windows, there was even some cans and jars of food in the kitchen cupboards, along with dishes. It looked like whoever lived here just decided to move and leave most everything behind. “Hey, a basement!” said Krissy excitedly. Naturally I forgot to bring a flashlight.

An American Bald Eagle flying around on a spring afternoon.
“There are candles,” said Krissy, “and I have a lighter.” Down we went, each of us holding a candle. There were jars of preserves on shelves, lots of broken glass in one corner, 2 broken chairs, some empty wood boxes, plus a pile of rocks and bricks. People keep some odd things in their basements. Back up the stairs we went, but at about the half way point we heard something upstairs.
It was walking around, creaking across the floor. I could tell it was a bear so we went back down the stairs. “Um, Steve, we can’t stay down here,” said Krissy. “Well, we can’t go up either,” I said, “hopefully the bear will not want to come down here.” “Oh good, that makes me feel better,” she said. The bear did come to the basement entrance and kind of stuck its head down a bit, sniffing.

One of my chipmunk friends on a spring afternoon.
It likely was able to smell us so that should keep it away. I was wrong, the bear began coming down the stairs… Well, I better stop before this gets too long and I will continue it next time. Hmm, gulls are still flying around and 2 crows are chasing a raven, a typical spring scene. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2024 Steve McLeod.
Rossana and the police moved in after us and rounded up 6 more men that had worked for Carmen. Later Rossana came looking for me. “Carmen was shot 10 times,” she said, “a bit excessive, would you not agree?” “Well, sometimes when things are getting hot in a fight,” I began, “people get excited and often get carried away.” “I see,” she said, “one of your men?”
“Um, yes, someone new,” I said. “Okay,” she replied, “things like this can make it hard for me to explain.” “I guess it would,” I admitted, “but Carmen made it hard for a lot of people, including children, now she will not do that anymore.” “How is Sky?” she asked. “She must be drugged,” I said, “she only remembers Muffin. But me she hates terribly, I cannot even go near her.”
“That will change when the drug wears off,” she said gently. She then left to continue her work. The next day Sky was at our clinic and she seemed to be back to normal again. She was asking for me, but I was very nervous about going in to see her. “She is fine now Steve,” said Kerstina, “go on in.” Muffin, Storm and Snow were with her as I came into the room.
Wow, it was kind of a repeat of last night, but worse. Sky went absolutely crazy, yelling and swearing at me, saying some awful things and yelling how much she hated me! I left the room immediately and Dawn went in to calm Sky. Aasta called home and told Annelie what had happened. Kat and Jennifer were on their way to the clinic very quickly. “Where is Steve?” asked Jennifer.
“Room 3B,” said Aasta, “it was just terrible, I have never heard Sky say such things.” Kat and Kerstina went in to see Sky while Jennifer came looking for me. Dr. Kerstina called Baldwin and asked him to try and get Dr. Jorgenson back from his vacation. “Sky needs an MRI and he is the only one who can do it,” she said. Baldwin was on the phone immediately and 3 hours later Dr. Jorgenson was on his way back to the clinic. Sky had her MRI right away when he returned.
Meanwhile, back to Jennifer and I. Jennifer came into the room and found me crying and shaking uncontrollably. She sat beside me, putting her arm around me. “Come, lie down,” she said, so I did, putting my head on her lap. She had gotten a blanket out and put that over me. “You need to be careful, dearest Steve,” she said, “or you will end up in the clinic too.”
“I, I, just cannot handle this,” I said, “that makes 3 times now, but this one was the worst yet. But she is okay with everyone else. Why? How could Carmen get her to hate me so much in such a short time?” “That I do not know my dearest Steve,” she said, “but we need to find out, and soon, or you will have a total collapse.”
“Yes, I am afraid that Galyna will tell that to Mr. B soon,” I said, “and that would finish me with the Investigators.” “They would not kick you off the team my dearest Steve,” she said, “so do not even think that way.” After Sky’s MRI, Dr. Jorgenson was looking at everything and then pointed at something in Sky’s brain.
“There we have it Kerstina,” he said, “something has been planted right here which would affect this area of her brain. Carmen could then have programmed Sky to hate Steve with that little device.” “If we remove it,” asked Kerstina, “would Sky stop hating Steve?” “That I cannot answer,” he said, “but we would need a brain surgeon to do the work, I am not qualified for something so delicate as this.”
Kerstina called Baldwin again and told him the finding and gave him the name of the surgeon recommended by Dr. Jorgenson. Baldwin was in touch with the surgeon right away and he would be here and able to do the surgery 2 days from now. Sky was so excited that she wanted to see me again. “I cannot do it Jennifer,” I said. “You must do it,” she told me.
Off we went and Jennifer came in with me. Sky said nothing at first, but I could see the hatred in her eyes. Then she exploded and threw her water jug at me! Jennifer took me back home after that. The surgeon arrived and after studying things he talked with Sky, then with me. “We do whatever Sky wants,” I said. “Then we do the surgery tomorrow morning,” he said, “that was her wish.”
“I will not get much sleep tonight,” I said. “Oh yes you will,” said Jennifer, “even if I have to knock you out.” She then smiled at me. I think she must have knocked me out though, because I did sleep. The surgery was successful, the device was removed and Sky was now awake and recognizing everyone. Now it was my turn. There was nothing she could throw at me, Muffin and Snow were with her.
I went in the room, Sky began yelling at me and picked up Snow to toss at me. Meowy!=No, not throw me! She put Snow down. Meowy!= You polly gize to human Steve for being bad! “Snow, no, don’t do that,” I said. Meowy!=Mommy Muffin always teach me that if bad then to polly gize and human Sky teach daughters that too! Now mommy Sky need to do what she teach! “Snow, no, not now,” I said.
Meowy!=NO! Human Sky bad, like evil woman Carmen, need polly gize! I had walked out of the room and started down the hall. I could hear Sky yelling in the room, though I could not tell what she was saying. Then she was in the hall, yelling and swearing at me with Kerstina and Bridgette trying to hold her. Suddenly there was a change in her voice. “Steve, come back, please,” said Sky…
To Be Continued.
©2024 Steve McLeod.