by Donna Thacker

Created on: August 03, 2010

“Oh stop Charlie! Stop!” Carla yelled with intense excitement.

Startled, Charlie slammed on the car brakes and nearly skidded sideways in the old dirt road. “What!” He nearly screamed in alarm.

“Back up, back up!” His wife had always been a bit excitable, but even Charlie hadn’t ever seen this type of pure joy bubbling from Carla. She was nearly turned around in her seat and was trying desperately to unhook the seat belt.

Charlie slowly put the car in reverse and looked behind him to see what the cause of her excitement was. He saw overgrown trees and shrubs and weeds. Nothing excitable there, he thought, but he backed up very slowly, still wondering what Carla had spotted to warrant such squeals of joy.

“There stop!” Carla yelled once more and was out of the car before Charlie had it fully stopped. His wife was hurrying towards the side of the road. He quickly put the car in park, shut off the engine and got out.

Charlie looked around in confusion. They had been driving on an old country road trying to get to the next town over. Neither of them had ever been on this road as far as he could remember. There had been nothing to see for miles and miles and he still didn’t see a thing of interest.

“Charlie look.” Carla exclaimed, as she stomped and pushed at the weeds. Charlie walked over for a closer look and found that Carla had exposed an old wooden sign.

“House for Sale,” it stated in old hand painted faded out letters. If he squinted just right, Charlie could make out a phone number. Charlie stared at the sign, wondering how in the world his wife had seen it amongst all of the weeds.

Carla was still stomping and shoving. “She’s going to get poison ivy.” Charlie thought to him self. “Or she’ll kick a snake straight up into the air and we’ll both be a screaming!” The thought of his wife kicking a snake straight up into the air made him chuckle.

“Where are you going?” Charlie asked as Carla continued stomping a path into the weeds and brambles that led farther into what Charlie assumed was a field.

“It’s a road!” Carla’s exclaimed. “I want to see the house that’s back there!”

Reluctantly, Charlie followed her through the weeds and brambles, as she fought her way through them. Now he was worrying about his own case of poison ivy, or his own encounter with a snake. He was sure that he couldn’t

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