| General Non-Fiction posted March 19, 2025 | Chapters: |
...22 23 -24- 
|
Phoebe gets in trouble.
A chapter in the book Reminiscing
Chapter 24 What could go wrong?
by barbara.wilkey
| Background We don't remember the days; we remember the moments. |
Chapter 24
I had planned another post, but after a FaceTime conversation with Andrew and his family on Sunday, this one just had to be written. It's almost too funny to be true. At least in my opinion.
I knew the St. Louis area had at least a tornado watch for Friday evening. My first question to Andrew was, "Were you affected by the severe weather Friday evening?"
"We were but that was minor compared..."
Eleanor began talking at the same time, so Andrew said, "Eli wants to tell the story."
He handed Eleanor the phone, and she told the story in one very long sentence as a typical, excited four-year old would do, "Grandma, the basement flooded and Daddy got a huge vacuum to suck up the water, and there was a snake and a duck, and the dog got all wet."
"Eli, did it rain so hard that the basement flooded?" I asked and then paused. "How did a snake and a duck get in the basement?"
"No Grandma." Then she repeated her previous long sentence almost the same.
"So, the basement flooded during the storm. Were you in the basement when it flooded?"
"A lot of rain and thunder. We hid in the basement."
"While the basement flooded?"
"No Grandma!" The young child started her story over again.
"Eli, give me the phone. Grandma's confused." Andrew retrieved the phone and chuckled. "Eli, told a great story."
"I somehow missed a few parts."
"I'm not sure how. Eli had all the events listed."
He gave me that ornery grin that all my boys have, before he proceeded to share the story.
"Okay Mom, on Monday Katie called me while I was still at work. She'd gone to a parent-teacher conference for Charlotte, and I figured she wanted to talk about it while fresh in her mind. I told her I'd be leaving in about ten minutes. I'd call her then. She said, 'On the way home stop and rent a vacuum that soaks up water.'"
"But the storm didn't happen until Friday. What happened?" I asked.
"Mom, be patient. This is a long story that spans the entire week."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's not." Andrew took a deep breath, and I got that grin again. "On the way home, Katie described the problem. Eli and I stopped and bought a vacuum that soaks up water. I figured we'd need it again."
(Andrew picks up Eleanor from daycare. She goes to the one at the hospital where Andrew works.)
"Okay, already, what happened? Did your plumbing leak?"
"Mom, I told you to be patient." He gave me that grin again. "We decided with everybody gone it wasn't fair to Phoebe to leave her in a kennel all day so fixed an area in the basement for her. We'd put her pee pads in the shower so there wouldn't be so much of a mess to clean up. Evidently, she jumped up and turned on the shower. The pee pads soaked up the water and clogged the drain and the basement flooded."
"Oh no! Poor Phoebe. I bet she felt bad."
"Mom, no poor Phoebe. Poor Andrew. I had to clean up the mess."
(I need to mention that last summer they finished the basement, so it is like a family room. It has a sliding glass door that opens to a patio in the backyard.)
"I'm sure she also heard some bad words."
"MOM!"
"I don't understand how the snake and the duck got involved."
"That's a totally different story on a different day."
"What about the severe weather?"
Katie answered this question, "Six tornados touched down in the St. Louis area. We had warnings and the sirens went off. We went into the basement, but none touched down in our immediate area."
"Did they do a lot of damage in the area?"
"Not really, they were pretty mild for tornados."
"Good, but what about the snake and the duck or did I misunderstand Eli?"
Andrew shook his head. "No. There was a duck and a snake." That ornery grin, again. "Saturday, I was cooking dinner and Katie rushed into the kitchen with her hands held out and said, 'Move I need the sink. I had to fetch a snake from Phoebe's mouth.' I move aside so she could wash her hands."
(I need to mention that on weekends, Andrew cooks. Katie cooks during the week.)
"On my! I hope it was a friendly snake. Was it one of the ones that lived in the shrub by the steps?"
"Mom!" He faced Katie. "It was one of the garden snakes, right?"
"The remains looked like it," replied Katie.
Andrew nodded. "Good. Katie was outside getting the garden ready. She noticed Phoebe chasing a snake. Phoebe's really fast. Phoebe caught the snake, and Katie chased the dog around until she caught her and then fished the snake from her mouth."
"Harley has a bad habit of killing snakes too, but he doesn't eat them. At least not yet. But how did the duck get involved?" I asked.
(Harley is my dachshund. I think most of you already know that, but there might be some new readers.)
Andrew, again, gave me his grin. "We don't know how the duck got in our back yard."
"Was it a pet duck or a wild duck?"
"Mom? How would I know that?" I got a head shake with that answer.
"What color was it?"
"Does it really make any difference?" He exhaled. "It was brown, and I didn't check the sex of it, either."
"I wasn't going to ask that."
"Just letting you know in case you did. I think it was injured. I tried to catch it. It ran from me, flapping its wings. Before it took off it ran into the fence. I went inside and asked Katie how much space does a duck need to take off?"
Andrew said, "Katie looked at me like I'd grown ten heads and said, 'Why would I know that?' I answered her, 'Because you're the biologist of the family.' I didn't get an answer so went back outside and to catch the duck."
"Did you catch the duck?"
"I didn't. Now the girls and Phoebe came outside, so I gave up. The duck was in some tall grass in the corner. The girls and the dog played on the patio."
"What happened to the duck?"
"I don't know. But I haven't seen it since."
"Sounds like you had an eventful week."
"Phoebe caught and ate another snake. Couldn't get it away from her. Man, she's fast." Andew shook his head and said, "Two little girls, a puppy, and two parents who work all week. What could possibly go wrong? Well, it did."
Eleanor yelled, "Grandma, Grandma, I need Grandma."
Andrew handed her the phone. "Okay, talk to Grandma."
She carried the phone down the hall and pointed it toward the bathroom door. "Grandma, I have to go potty and the door's shut."
"I can't do anything about that, Sweet Pea. I guess somebody's in there. You'll have to wait."
"But I can't. I have to go now."
Andrew took the phone. "Bye, Mom, I need to handle this. Love you.
"Love you, too. Hug the girls for me. 'Bye."
Next Sunday, I'll ask about the parent-teacher conference.
I had planned another post, but after a FaceTime conversation with Andrew and his family on Sunday, this one just had to be written. It's almost too funny to be true. At least in my opinion.
I knew the St. Louis area had at least a tornado watch for Friday evening. My first question to Andrew was, "Were you affected by the severe weather Friday evening?"
"We were but that was minor compared..."
Eleanor began talking at the same time, so Andrew said, "Eli wants to tell the story."
He handed Eleanor the phone, and she told the story in one very long sentence as a typical, excited four-year old would do, "Grandma, the basement flooded and Daddy got a huge vacuum to suck up the water, and there was a snake and a duck, and the dog got all wet."
"Eli, did it rain so hard that the basement flooded?" I asked and then paused. "How did a snake and a duck get in the basement?"
"No Grandma." Then she repeated her previous long sentence almost the same.
"So, the basement flooded during the storm. Were you in the basement when it flooded?"
"A lot of rain and thunder. We hid in the basement."
"While the basement flooded?"
"No Grandma!" The young child started her story over again.
"Eli, give me the phone. Grandma's confused." Andrew retrieved the phone and chuckled. "Eli, told a great story."
"I somehow missed a few parts."
"I'm not sure how. Eli had all the events listed."
He gave me that ornery grin that all my boys have, before he proceeded to share the story.
"Okay Mom, on Monday Katie called me while I was still at work. She'd gone to a parent-teacher conference for Charlotte, and I figured she wanted to talk about it while fresh in her mind. I told her I'd be leaving in about ten minutes. I'd call her then. She said, 'On the way home stop and rent a vacuum that soaks up water.'"
"But the storm didn't happen until Friday. What happened?" I asked.
"Mom, be patient. This is a long story that spans the entire week."
"That doesn't sound good."
"It's not." Andrew took a deep breath, and I got that grin again. "On the way home, Katie described the problem. Eli and I stopped and bought a vacuum that soaks up water. I figured we'd need it again."
(Andrew picks up Eleanor from daycare. She goes to the one at the hospital where Andrew works.)
"Okay, already, what happened? Did your plumbing leak?"
"Mom, I told you to be patient." He gave me that grin again. "We decided with everybody gone it wasn't fair to Phoebe to leave her in a kennel all day so fixed an area in the basement for her. We'd put her pee pads in the shower so there wouldn't be so much of a mess to clean up. Evidently, she jumped up and turned on the shower. The pee pads soaked up the water and clogged the drain and the basement flooded."
"Oh no! Poor Phoebe. I bet she felt bad."
"Mom, no poor Phoebe. Poor Andrew. I had to clean up the mess."
(I need to mention that last summer they finished the basement, so it is like a family room. It has a sliding glass door that opens to a patio in the backyard.)
"I'm sure she also heard some bad words."
"MOM!"
"I don't understand how the snake and the duck got involved."
"That's a totally different story on a different day."
"What about the severe weather?"
Katie answered this question, "Six tornados touched down in the St. Louis area. We had warnings and the sirens went off. We went into the basement, but none touched down in our immediate area."
"Did they do a lot of damage in the area?"
"Not really, they were pretty mild for tornados."
"Good, but what about the snake and the duck or did I misunderstand Eli?"
Andrew shook his head. "No. There was a duck and a snake." That ornery grin, again. "Saturday, I was cooking dinner and Katie rushed into the kitchen with her hands held out and said, 'Move I need the sink. I had to fetch a snake from Phoebe's mouth.' I move aside so she could wash her hands."
(I need to mention that on weekends, Andrew cooks. Katie cooks during the week.)
"On my! I hope it was a friendly snake. Was it one of the ones that lived in the shrub by the steps?"
"Mom!" He faced Katie. "It was one of the garden snakes, right?"
"The remains looked like it," replied Katie.
Andrew nodded. "Good. Katie was outside getting the garden ready. She noticed Phoebe chasing a snake. Phoebe's really fast. Phoebe caught the snake, and Katie chased the dog around until she caught her and then fished the snake from her mouth."
"Harley has a bad habit of killing snakes too, but he doesn't eat them. At least not yet. But how did the duck get involved?" I asked.
(Harley is my dachshund. I think most of you already know that, but there might be some new readers.)
Andrew, again, gave me his grin. "We don't know how the duck got in our back yard."
"Was it a pet duck or a wild duck?"
"Mom? How would I know that?" I got a head shake with that answer.
"What color was it?"
"Does it really make any difference?" He exhaled. "It was brown, and I didn't check the sex of it, either."
"I wasn't going to ask that."
"Just letting you know in case you did. I think it was injured. I tried to catch it. It ran from me, flapping its wings. Before it took off it ran into the fence. I went inside and asked Katie how much space does a duck need to take off?"
Andrew said, "Katie looked at me like I'd grown ten heads and said, 'Why would I know that?' I answered her, 'Because you're the biologist of the family.' I didn't get an answer so went back outside and to catch the duck."
"Did you catch the duck?"
"I didn't. Now the girls and Phoebe came outside, so I gave up. The duck was in some tall grass in the corner. The girls and the dog played on the patio."
"What happened to the duck?"
"I don't know. But I haven't seen it since."
"Sounds like you had an eventful week."
"Phoebe caught and ate another snake. Couldn't get it away from her. Man, she's fast." Andew shook his head and said, "Two little girls, a puppy, and two parents who work all week. What could possibly go wrong? Well, it did."
Eleanor yelled, "Grandma, Grandma, I need Grandma."
Andrew handed her the phone. "Okay, talk to Grandma."
She carried the phone down the hall and pointed it toward the bathroom door. "Grandma, I have to go potty and the door's shut."
"I can't do anything about that, Sweet Pea. I guess somebody's in there. You'll have to wait."
"But I can't. I have to go now."
Andrew took the phone. "Bye, Mom, I need to handle this. Love you.
"Love you, too. Hug the girls for me. 'Bye."
Next Sunday, I'll ask about the parent-teacher conference.
 Recognized |
This is a photograph of Eleanor while she was visiting over Christmas.
A little over 1200 words.
I do not edit these as much as I do my novels. You'll find many errors. I do edit about three times, but that's not nearly enough. I just posted this and have already corrected three mistakes. I'm sure there's more.
Pays
10 points
and 1.00 member dollars
(and maybe more). A little over 1200 words.
I do not edit these as much as I do my novels. You'll find many errors. I do edit about three times, but that's not nearly enough. I just posted this and have already corrected three mistakes. I'm sure there's more.
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