Jem… Chapter 209

Jem…Chapter 209 by Bailey Summers Copyright © 2013 Bailey Summers All Rights Reserved.

Usually I write, to quote a Guest Reader, ”short, light and witty tales”. However, every now and then I post a dark story. This is a rather dark story. Actually I think it’s quite dark which is why I have flagged CAUTION above. Please note that there is a reason why.

I never liked driving into town. People acted strangely around me so I usually stayed on my property and put off going as long as I could. Now I really needed the petrol so this morning I went into town. ”Old” Tom at the petrol station wondered why I filled up three jerry cans of petrol. I told him that I was getting old and the new ride-on mower was a gas guzzler. The lawn between the Old House and the lake is huge. So is the Old House. My family built it some 200 years ago. Then we had already owned the land for over a century. Quite a lot of land. Most of it still untouched forests, lakes and mountains. Most people never realized where the border between the National Park and the Delaforge land was. We have always had a very strong bond - the Delaforges and the land.

Chapter 25

The rest of the day was partially planned. Eve had managed to shift her schedule so that we could still do the singing lessons and gym, even if I was at school. Eve had her lesson or practice session, starting at three and mine was at four pm. Jane was due to start the personal training at five. In the meantime, I had to make some choices as to what to study. Eve and Laura were going to call some friends and see if they had any recommendations regarding therapists.

The school had a course in Civics during the first semester of the year with U.S. History during the second semester. For reasons which were rather unclear, all seniors had to take the Civics course and pass periodic exams in Civics to be allowed to graduate.

Becky, Sue, Joe and I were doing a joint study session at Joe’s house. The topic was the functions of the federal, state and local governments, and how they interrelated. Joe, the cynic, expounded, “All these layers of government do is pass silly laws, tax us to death, and then spend the money foolishly.”

“Yeah,” opined Sue, “let’s say that Roy was all dressed up as Renee, which washroom would he or she be allowed to use?” She turned to me and said, “What do you do?”

“Learn to hold your water and not drink too many soft drinks.” I responded, not wanting to go into the issue too deeply.

"You could just have a taste?” I suggested.

 

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