Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ADAGE (10/05/23)
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TITLE: Easy come, Easy go | Previous Challenge Entry
By Jack Taylor
10/06/23 -
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She let me stay with her because “a penny saved was a penny earned.”
I had the distinct privilege of surviving college by bunking out in her guest room so after every day of classes I’d slink in to find her fixated in the same space. It was amazing she hadn’t knitted herself onto that chair. A typical conversation went something like this.
“Hey, granny. I see you’re still knittin’.”
Her fingers continued to rev along at Mach 2 and her rocking chair picked up its pace as well. “Don’t you be judging a book by its cover.”
I’d hover over her. “Are you by any chance knitting that cover?”
Her elbows would flare and her chin would jut out a little more. “You’re proving again that familiarity breeds contempt.”
I tossed my backpack on the loveseat. “The only contempt I have is for my law professor. I’m in over my head. I thought learning the law might help me take up social justice causes.”
She slowed a tad and peered over the top of her bifocals. “I did warn you to look before you leap. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.”
I rummaged through the kitchen cupboards and usually snatched one of her homemade cookies. Chocolate Chip was the favorite. “I’m thinking of changing majors.”
Her silver bun bobbed back and forth. “Strike while the iron is hot.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Better safe than sorry.”
She was more confusing than my philosophy, physics and law professors put together. “What would I be sorry about? I’m just thinking about it.”
Her elbow twitched at the pages of her Bible as she leaned forward and kept knitting. “Actions speak louder than words. A leopard can’t change its spots.”
I knew she wasn’t reading any of that stuff in the Bible. I slouched onto the plush carpet with my back against the loveseat. “It’s not me I’m trying to change. It’s my major. I’ve been looking at my options for a week already.”
She jerked her head back and forth as if stretching her neck. “A watched pot never boils.”
I tried to take the hint and bounced up to grab her cup. “Do you need more tea? I feel so alone in all this.”
She nodded. “No man or woman is an island.”
I’d had enough. “You’re as confusing as all my profs put together. Maybe if I get some help.”
She peered at me again and shrugged. “Better late than never. Practice makes perfect.”
I dumped the cold tea and plugged in the kettle. “I just feel that I’m not good at anything else.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers.”
I moved quickly in front of her with my knuckled fists on my hips. “How in the world did you convince grandpa to spend fifty years with you?”
“Love is blind and beauty in only skin deep.”
I put my hand on the arm of her rocker and stopped it. “Now, I know you didn’t find all that stuff in your Bible so what are you trying to tell me.”
She stopped and pointed with her knitting needles at an underlined passage in Proverbs. “In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”
I was taken aback. After my first year’s biology, geology and physics classes, I’d stopped going to church with Granny and told her I couldn’t believe what she believed anymore. I asked her not to preach at me and she hadn’t. But, to be honest, that open Bible burned into my brain every time I saw it.
Her elbow nudged the page over and I couldn’t help but look at another underlined Proverb. “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. Even in laughter, the heart may ache, and rejoicing may end in grief. The faithless will be fully repaid for their ways, and the good rewarded for theirs. The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps.”
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