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As tired as I was I still didn’t sleep long. For some reason I kept imagining that I was hearing Daniel up and wandering around … and dreaming that he got into something that hurt him … or Jeff going outside and never coming back. Even at thirteen I knew it was all psychological because I was anxious but no way would those words have left my mouth exactly like that.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyv6PfPEqv
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It was more tiring jumping up and down than it was just to go ahead and get up. Besides I knew it was time I let it out and cry in private or I was going to wind up doing something embarrassing in front of Jeff and scaring Daniel in the process. I wandered around the cave in my socks and scuffy slippers, noticing all the things that Dad had mentioned doing that he’d never get a chance to and seeing all the things Momma meant to put away and hadn’t had time to. I wanted to go into their bedroom but I just couldn’t do it; it was hard enough running across the family pictures that Momma had stacked in different places meaning to hang them up just as if we'd simply moved into a new house.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58itiXRbGg
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Every once in a while my eyes would get watery but that was about it. I missed them but at the same time it was kind of comforting to know that they were out of all of this and with each other. It felt like they were some place waiting for us and that someday I’d see them again. It was when I looked in on Daniel that I got upset.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRE2klwQzZ
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I didn’t know how I was going to take care of him. I knew it was my place more than it was Jeff’s. I also knew that Jeff would leave … maybe not tomorrow but eventually he would leave. I think he needed to as much as I had needed to do those things at the re-education camp. But I was thirteen and Daniel could be a handful for Momma and Dad to manage and they were parents and grown adults. He only minded me when he felt like it. How was I supposed to suddenly become both parents to him when I still needed my parents myself?320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjatLrTkNwH
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Then I just switched it off. I didn’t stop thinking about it exactly but it was either box it up and put it on a shelf or lose it and make things even harder. I walked into the kitchen area and before I even realized what I was doing I was making one of Daniel’s favorite desserts.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQaFguJzPL
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When Daniel was really little they wondered if he was like he was because of allergies and one of the allergies they tested him for was dairy proteins. I remember that and when they tested to see if he was allergic to wheat and corn. It was awful. Momma thought that if Daniel had to suffer through it then the rest of us did too. About the only good thing that came out of those tests was some recipes that Momma kept making. One of them was a cake recipe this real old lady in our church gave us that she said came from back around the Civil War.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwBFrLh9Oc
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You start by putting a cup of brown sugar, a cup of cold water, one and a half cups of raisins, a third cup of shortening, a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg, a half teaspoon of cloves, and a half teaspoon of salt in a big pan and heat it up and then boil it for three minutes solid. At the end of three minutes you take it off the burner and mix in a teaspoon of baking soda that you’ve dissolved in two tablespoons of water, two cups of flour, and a half teaspoon of baking powder.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyOiNk19Hs
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Takes a pretty strong elbow to do this but once you’ve done it, you pour it into a prepared cake pan and bake it thirty-five to forty minutes in a 350 degree F oven … or if you don’t know exactly what your temp is like you are cooking in a cranky wood stove or fireplace, it is finished when a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡucF4KJnNsY
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While the cake baked I made easy potato soup. First I brought eight cups of water to a boil and then I dumped in three cups of instant potato flakes, one cup powdered coffee creamer, one package of chicken gravy mix, two tablespoons of dried parsley flakes, a quarter cup of Parmesan cheese from the shaker, two tablespoons of Italian seasoning, one teaspoon of dried minced onion, and half a teaspoon of pepper. I stirred it a minute until it thickened and then took it off the heat.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMey49liX3q
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I turned around and ran smack into Daniel. I don’t know how long he’d been standing there but he was soaked through, lucky for me it was just from sweat.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZaHnn20A8
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“Jeffy’s sleepin’.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h1vqqM1i3
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“I know, he’s tired. He helped us get home.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOV8l5UfRqu
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“This is the cave.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMQA7mdX6zx
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“Uh huh.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2NMeR28oa
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“This is the cave. The house is home.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6m2DMaVvsn
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Uh oh. I wasn’t ready for this.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzDzVtKqnq
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“Remember? We brought all our stuff here so this is home now.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBB6eP8GMxD
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“This is the cave.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ88Qhe2IVDj
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I wasn’t going to argue with him, not when he was finally talking again so I decided just to get him dressed and try and get him to let me do something with his hair. Forget the scissors, as soon as he saw them out of the corner of his eye he jerked away from me.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKKff2nHrD
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“Oh all right Daniel but your hair is full of knots. It’s going to hurt for me to try and comb them out.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrTcXk0Ovw
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“Daddy went to Heaven.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnGUbgu6lSP
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I couldn’t even breathe so I ignored what he said.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNIg5ONXfej
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“Mommy went to Heaven.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshxtgDdSG5
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He was waiting for me to say something. Finally I managed, “They’re up there together.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeKz4lbH3Zb
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“Yep. The man told me.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvEsRvhBG1y
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Suspicious I asked, “What man?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZY9I6oAsgA
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“The man with the red X on his purse.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oEnzNhdv7
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I figured he meant one of the red cross workers. Jeff, who’d woken up too stood in the bathroom door and said, “What did the man look like?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRUqNcwwhT
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“He had a red x on his purse.” I looked at Jeff and he shrugged like it had been worth a shot. Daniel didn’t really see people, he saw things and apparently the only thing about this man that he’d noticed was his red cross bag.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7XXvci6V63
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“I’m hungry.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8eac1jHOg
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I’d done just about all I could with Daniel’s hair so I said, “Then come on. Let’s eat.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZa6n70cCG
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Daniel nearly fell asleep in his plate again so Jeff carried him to bed and once he was down he didn’t move.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrhxtc2112Q
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“Any more soup left?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLl3OowwpRF
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“About half a bowl. You want it?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjd54Rmw6NE
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“You didn’t eat did you?” he asked. It was more a statement than a question.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwVt9VWW1q7
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“Almost a whole bowl so don’t be an old fuss budget.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuYA3HFUGs
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“Dacey, if we’re going to work together I wish you wouldn’t be so … so snarkey.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNEyQe0xld
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Knowing he was right and admitting he was right wasn’t the same thing but I finally said, “I don’t really mean to be Jeff. Things are just … just …”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkZJDkPkuTH
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“God awful. Yeah, I get that. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that my own dad died. I wish I could tell you that it gets easier but it doesn’t, it just gets different kinds of hard. But it does stop … stop feeling like your brain is going to explode … eventually anyway. I miss Uncle John real bad too. He did more for me in less than a year than … than my dad did for most of my life. I loved my dad Dacey and Uncle John let me go on loving him even though I got dumped on him with no warning. Your dad was a good man. And your mom was cool too. They were good people and I know they never meant for you … for any of us … to wind up like we have.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyiBKvvY4GX
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I shrugged. “I don’t blame them if that’s what you think. I blame the blue hats. And I blame our so-called friends that didn’t stop the Blue Hats even more. What happened isn’t fair but it isn’t my parents’ fault.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKuTadH11Z
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“Ok. I was just wondering. I … well … I blamed my dad for stuff but your folks … you know?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrm6bOYmsH3
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I shrugged again. I seemed to be doing it a lot. “Yeah, I know.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡstFBaR1eS6
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He finished the soup and I did the dishes again. Momma and I had always done the kitchen clean up. Looks like it was going to be my job alone from here on out.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO85EQLiULs
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“Dacey?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9OfpVJ05Gx
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I turned around and looked at Jeff who was standing in front on the pantry. “You still hungry?” I asked.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFXG9SzjPTo
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No … well, yes but that’s not what I was asking about. Didn’t Uncle John have a big notebook around here with that inventory he kept up?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8D80NaEb1
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“Probably in the file cabinet by his desk. Why?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVNG6vy8Fh
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“Come on Dacey, you know why.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxuVS2I1Yi
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I did know, I just didn’t want to think about it. “You think it is going to get bad here like it is every place else in the world and that we’re going to run out of food.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6U8MiAwEeW
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“I don’t know about run out of food. Uncle John seemed to have a pretty good plan.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1r0GMvxe4Y
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“Over three years.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXlrVuGYMa
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“What?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OUj78aD0R
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“Momma said that there was enough grain and canned goods to last more than three years plus all that weird stuff Daddy bought online. But that was before y’all slaughtered the cows and pigs and we had to preserve all of that on top of everything else we already had. I heard her and Dad talking about it. Momma thought he was going a little over board and he was telling her … I don’t wanna talk about it.” I said turning away.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhLiWBWBCtr
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“Dacey, we gotta talk about it. Things have changed; Uncle John isn’t here to make the plans anymore. I know I’m the oldest and I’m supposed to do it since he isn’t here but I don’t think I can, not without … you know … you helping. Your parents raised you to do this stuff, I only know enough to barely get by.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyMeorrvWo
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I looked at him and saw how it must have hurt his pride to say it so I figured it must really be true. “I guess neither one of us has a choice.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKu4OlI5UXB
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“Sure we do. We can sit down and feel sorry for ourselves and let the bad stuff win.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fmPkhwTGT
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I rolled my eyes, “Forget it. You might be able to swing Daniel like that but that hasn’t worked on me since I got into middle school. I’m not stupid Jeff.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWI1b4mNIMI
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“I didn’t say you was.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMJ1hQD5nMo
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“No … but maybe I was acting like it. And maybe you’re just trying to work me around so that when you leave you can do it with a clear conscious.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3AuJQ97pw
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“Hey …”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3VnTRmBgn9
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I walked over and opened the filing cabinet and pulled the big D-ring binder out and then put it on the table before sitting down. “You are going to leave. We both know it. We just don’t know when you are going to leave. But maybe before you leave we could figure some stuff out.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwpShr14kc
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He sat down in one of the other chairs. “You’re mad.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ40Hj0GjNgd
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“I was. But I’m not right now. I might get mad again. Depends. So maybe you need to go. Maybe I need to let you go. Maybe that’s just the way things are … people have to leave. Some of them come back, some of them don’t. But I’ll be like really made if you leave and don’t come back sometimes at least.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1QFMYMuQi
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Jeff sighed and then said, “Dacey I swear you make my head hurt. How about this? I won’t leave until I’m sure you and Daniel will be OK, or at least as OK as things can be.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDouqHiXiX
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Something made me say, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gMFWvhB3J
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“Now what’s that supposed to mean?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPD5dmzTxqe
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“I don’t know. Sometimes I just … it just seems like after what happened to Dad and Momma … and Daniel … it is bad luck to just make promises like that.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWubwXOl7u
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He didn’t say anything to that but instead started looking at the binder. “I wasn’t here when Uncle John started doing all of this but he showed it to me. I guess he wanted me to know that I was really family.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53ehvVvDfM
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“Yeah. That’s what he told me. He said you were going to be like our big brother and that’s the way we should think of you.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5k1obWWm7
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Jeff got a funny look on his face, “He said that?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZCk2ql1XH
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“Sure. It’s not your fault that your dad made choices to … um … be wild and junk.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeoL2khQlnS
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He didn’t have anything to say about that either.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Y50Oipj0w
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“Dacey, how come you can cook like you do? Monica can’t cook worth nothing. Jackson was always ribbing her about it.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxD8Xq9K0Qk
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“Yeah, well Momma wasn’t our housekeeper, she was our Momma. And Momma was real nice about some stuff but you know she could be a real bear about things too. No mud in the house, everybody had to help with laundry, if you put food on your plate you were going to finish it or you wouldn’t get anything else until you did, and even Daniel could make his own bed … sorta.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dj9T5e21V
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“Your mom was totally nice. I never ever heard her holler about anything.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCkavVx86Y
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“Sure she was. But that’s because I wasn’t stupid enough to go around breaking the rules just because I could. See she …” and with no warning it hit me and I did what I said I wasn’t going to do; I started crying. I missed Momma. I missed her bad. I realized that she wouldn’t be around to tell me what to do anymore, that I’d have to figure out everything on my own. I’m not a big noisy crier like some girls are, my tears just kind of leak out … but the hurt settles in my chest and makes it hard to breathe.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2X4HHDkt7e
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I think I remember Jeff patting me on the back and telling me to go lay down for a while and that we’d talk later. All I know for sure is that I woke up in my bed with Daniel in there with me and something smelling like it was burning coming from the kitchen.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNQ3YogieT
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I jumped and ran down to where the kitchen was. Jeff was trying to cook some eggs and having a hard time of it.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zSsYDqFIW
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“Stove’s too hot,” I told him as I took the skillet from him and moved it away from the heat.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HxstkcSqg
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“How the heck do you tell?! I only put a little bit of wood in it. There aren’t any knobs on this thing,” he said in obvious frustration.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfHO6iPB6m
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“Practice. Lots and lots of practice. Just pretend you are cooking over a campfire and adjust from there. Where’d the eggs come from?” I asked thinking he’d gone out without telling me.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kvLgCQvRG
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“The cooler. Everything in there looks OK except for a few pieces of sliced cheese that are hard on the corners.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkiDpljvCZX
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“Did you check to see if the warning light was on … the one Dad set up to come on if there was a power interruption?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeI7taZxyi
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“Yes Granny,” he teased, relieved I think to see I was over crying for a while.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hnBjnKMRC
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The eggs were a little crispy around the edges but they weren’t bad. I fried up some canned potatoes and made some pan biscuits to go with the eggs and even Daniel held out his plate for more. It was the first of many good signs. Instead of going back to sleep or acting like a zombie Daniel pulled out his blocks and started playing with them without even being encouraged to do so. He even put on the fleeze scuffy slippers that Momma made him wear around the house when it was cold outside. While he did that Jeff and I went over the cave and everything in it.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ERjGR8irB
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When we were through Jeff said, “I’ll finish putting the shelves together and nail up all of the molding your dad already cut, but not tonight. I need to check out the house and I think it is better that I do it at night.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiXbPfqAGK
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“Don’t you mean we need to check out the house?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOS2wu5NYT2
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“Dacey, let me go the first time by myself. I promise that if everything is all right we’ll try and all go tomorrow or the next day.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkUhD1Jhpe
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I wanted to argue but maybe I was starting to learn so I didn’t. It was real hard to let him do it his way but I did.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYA5KaWmEpZ
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“I don’t plan on being there long. Figure half hour there and back, plus half hour or so at the house, so call it two hours more or less. You cool with that?” He acted like I was Daniel's age.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM9Pbg255L
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“Relax Jeff. Dad made sure I could spend the night in the cave by myself before you came to live with us. That’s one of the reasons Momma made him put the door on the cave before he got it all prettied up. When she wasn’t around he used to fuss about how much trouble it was getting wide stuff through the doorway.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AXeIuRIZv
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“Seriously?”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMgT5tLhGy
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“Seriously. Dad is … I … I mean … he … Dad was really cool,” I finally managed to stutter out.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ83OVCBTtv
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Jeff nodded solemnly and said, “Yeah, yeah he was.” After sighing sadly he hefted a lightweight backpack he had set aside earlier. He was walking towards the exit door when he did this weird kind of dance that made him look like he was having a seizure. “Rrrrr!” he growled while slamming his fist down on his thigh.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqJYN9BmClC
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“What?!”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItexR9hryc
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“Dang it. Dang it, dang it, dang it!! Stupid. Geez!!”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvccUpltxz
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“Yo Jeff!! You’re kinda freaking me out. Enough being weird already.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMgg7v4WD5
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He was smushing his hat down over his ears. “The radios.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoAw3ys1ni
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As soon as he said it I felt pretty stupid too. “Oh.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdjLkMCjcu4
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“Yeah. Oh. Look, while I’m gone put the radios to charge. I’ll run the antenna up the trees tomorrow. Maybe we can hear what is going on, get a better idea of how bad things are.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCpc4QBSAB
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Walking over to the cabinet where the little hand held radios were kept I said, “Uh huh, and find out if we can pick up stuff from the grocery store or if they are closed.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhrJFU4L52
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Jeff shook his head. “Dacey I don’t think we could get to the grocery store even if it is still open. That would be a good way to get picked up by the Blue Hats all over again.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW197WGdrpF
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“I know that, but we still need to find out if there is any food out there. Dad used to talk about that a lot. Remember he said that if the grocery stores closed it would be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGcQV2z4HKh
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“All bets would be off at that point. Yeah, he explained it to me. He said people in general will follow whoever has the food. Control the food, control the people.” I handed him a canteen of water and a Clif bar to still in his pack then he left making sure that I locked it behind him.320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKuXv71ess
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The situation we found ourselves in started feeling bigger. When it was just my parents it was just my world and I didn’t have to share my fear or sadness with anyone, it was mine and I could be selfish with my fear. It was mine and no one else could understand it. If the problem was more than just my parents being gone then I had to accept that other people scared and sad too and that maybe I couldn’t control things the way I wanted to. 320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodnLe0hxAk
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