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"How're you for walking?" Scott asked as they crossed the back yard to the fence. "I should be good for a while." Alex said. "Still a little slow." "We'll take a walk down to the creek then, and you can get a feel for it. Across the creek is all woods anyway, and I haven't explored it all yet." They walked down to the creek a few hundred yards away. Alex was slightly winded by then, and leaned on his cane as they looked into the creek. It was deep, but a good ten feet or so from the bank to the water, which was greenish and flowed sluggishly. "That's the usual depth." Scott said. "About four to five feet. During heavy rains it gets up to just a couple of feet from here, and then goes back to about where it is. It flows into Caney Creek a couple of miles south, and Caney Creek is like a small river. So the area drains well." They watched for a while, a fish occasionally breaking the surface, but otherwise the creek was quiet. "Pretty good fishing here," Scott said. "Mostly catfish and bluegill. Pretty good eating. If things ever get real bad, not a bad place to be." Alex picked up a pebble and tossed it into the water. It landed a good distance from the spot he aimed at. "I'm gonna have to relearn everything." he said. "Probably need to get a baseball to practice with. Something." "Let's see how you can shoot." Scott said. "Ya'll wanna get some lunch?" By the time they got back to the house Alex was ready for a rest. "You boys sit there and have a drink." Michelle said. "Jess and I will get us something fixed." Ready for a rest all right. Maybe a nap. Jessica and Michelle seem to be getting on well. Alex sank into the La-Z-Boy and closed his eyes. "Here you go man." Scott was holding a glass, and he took it. How long was I asleep? Probably not long. Enough for Scott to go and get a drink. "Irish Mist," Scott said. "We used to drink a lot of it. See if it stirs any memories." Alex took the glass, sipped. Not bad. He closed his eyes again. Where am I? Smoke, flashing lights, blurry. Noise. People yakking. Lots of'em. What's that noise? "Lunch is served." Jessica. No, who... Michelle, Scott's girlfriend. He opened his eyes. "C'mon, bring your drink." Scott said as he got up. Alex got up, remembered his cane. Where was it? "Here you go." Jessica. He took the cane, got up. "Pizza and pasta." Michelle announced as she and Jessica brought the dishes. "Courtesy of Red Baron and Stouffer's." Conversation was random items that came to the mind of either Jessica or Michelle, with Scott and Alex mostly listening and occasionally contributing, usually a response to a question from one or the other of the women. "Are you guys going to go shooting?" Michelle asked later. "Watching Alex trying to throw that rock, I don't know." Scott laughed. "Nah, let's get out there and see what you can do. Handguns or long guns?" Long is better I guess. Safer, for some reason. I remember shooting guns? Dunno. "Let's go find something to start with." Scott said, getting up. Alex followed. |
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