Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Shrewdness (03/07/05)
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TITLE: Grandma, Give Me That Fix... Or Else! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lynda Lee Schab
03/10/05 -
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His bedroom door was open, which made it even harder. Through the bars he could see his Grandma, but her back was to him. She sat in her raggedy, puke-green recliner, watching Wheel of Torture. And it WAS torture because the volume was turned up so loudly he was going insane. But his grandmother was as deaf as a snake. Even though the television was turned up full blast, to her, the voices were probably no more than a muffle. The one thing she didn't have a problem with, though, was her eyesight. At seventy-two, her vision was still twenty-twenty. Grandma was always bragging about how she had never needed glasses. He wished she had eyes in the back of her head so she would see him now. He needed that drink.
He had pretty much become addicted from his very first sip of the stuff. Lately he would drink and drink until he finally passed out. His Grandma had informed him on several occasions that he had a drinking problem. But that didn't stop her from giving him more. She couldn't stand to see him when he was coming down from a fix. She always gave in, practically shoving the bottle into his mouth herself.
How could he get her attention? He stood up and banged on the bars with his fists and yelled as loudly as he could. Even though she couldn't hear a mosquito if it flew right into her ear, he gave it a shot because you never knew. But the white head remained still, most likely fixated on that stupid wheel. Not one to give up, he tried making as big a stink as he could. Still nothing. Frustrated, he sat down, fighting the urge to cry.
He looked to his left toward the window. The sun was beginning to set and he squinted against the light. He looked around for something he could use to get old granny's attention. Ah-ha! There it was - the perfect thing to get Grandma to tear her twenty-twenty eyes away from that screen. Attached to the bars of his cage was a mirror. He assumed it was there for him to look at himself in case he forgot what he looked like, which he could definitely imagine happening. It seemed like forever that he'd been locked up. Granny should be thrown in a jail cell herself for the abuse and neglect of her own grandson! Her behavior was unforgiveable!
Hands trembling, he reached through the bars and grabbed ahold of the mirror. He held it on an angle until the sunlight hit it head on. He carefully turned the mirror until the beam of light was focused on the back of old granny's head. Up a little, to the right….bingo! The television screen now reflected the light, causing a blinding effect, to say the least.
"What's going on!" Grandma shrieked as she struggled out of the recliner, her perfect eyesight momentarily hindered. "I'm seeing spots! I can't see!"
He watched as his grandmother blinked rapidly several times. When her sight returned, she trained her eyes on him. He cringed as he prepared himself for the raging fit that would no doubt ensue. But surprisingly, Grandma's mouth turned up in a grin.
"Well, what a shrewd little fellow you are - getting my attention like that." She approached his crib and held out her arms. Wrinkling her nose, she said, "Oh my, you made a stink didn't you? We'd better get you changed and then we'll get you that bottle you're probably fixing for. I don't know where you put it all, that's for sure. You know, you have quite a drinking problem," she chuckled.
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