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The Tree House
I don't suppose you could call it a proper tree house. It was just a couple of old boards nailed across a limb of the big silver maple in my grandmother's yard. I really loved to sit up there. It made me feel like I was on top of the world. On a long summer afternoon with the clouds drifting lazily across the sky, the blue and purple mountains looked close enough to touch. Sometimes they even had snow on top like the little hats the ladies wore to church on Sunday. Sometimes I sat there for hours thinking about nothing in particular. Sometimes there was a major crisis to solve. Once in a while the grownups would sit around after supper, talking. I especially loved being in the tree then, it was a very good spot to be for listening.

I remember one warm summer night in particular. The air was especially sweet with the scent of lilac and roses. My younger brother and cousins were running around catching lightening bugs and putting them in a jar. Being seven and bit older than the others, I was above lightening bug catching, so I was in my usual place high up in the tree. My daddy had his mandolin and Uncle Eldon was playing his guitar. My granny came out after the dishes were done and took her seat in the corner porch rocker. Daddy and Eldon played a few more songs as the darkness folded in around us.
My granny was the best story teller I believe I have ever heard. She waited until it got real quiet then she began to speak. "When I was a little girl in these hills, sometimes things happened that we couldn't explain, except it be the Devil."
"There was this old man living down the holler from us. Old man Mantiply we called him and, he was a real mean fellow. He didn't even want anybody to cross his yard, and if he caught any of the town boys in his apple tree he would kick them if he could catch them.
O'course there come a time when he got down sick and the preacher wanted us folks from the church to pray for him. Preacher Gravely come by and we all walked over to Mr.Mantiply's house. When we got there, Mommy tried to get him to eat something but he was either too sick or just too ornery."
Preacher Gravely tried real hard to get him to listen to reason asking, "Mr. Mantiply don't you want to invite Jesus into your life?" "If you was to die tonight don't you want to go to Heaven?" Well that old man set straight up in the bed and said right to the preacher, "Hell no! I reckon I've lived all my life for the devil, I guess I'll die for him too." Just about

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