The Cooper Saga 28 (Stories 271-280) by Bill Bernico

Author:Bill Bernico [Bernico, Bill]
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

276 - Don’t Lose Your Head

“Make sure you rake everything into one big pile in the middle of the yard,” Nick told his son, John as the two of them raked leaves that crisp fall day. They were almost done with the front yard and decided to leave the back yard until after lunch. When they had finished lunch they both headed back outside to the back yard where they continued raking leaves for the next two and a half hours.

John stood back to admire their handiwork and let out a deep breath. “Well, that was a big job,” he told his father. Now what?”

Nick gestured with his chin toward the garage and said, “Bring out a handful of those big black plastic bags and we can get this whole mess to the curb.”

John brought out five of the bags and began bagging the leaves. The two of them had the back yard completely cleaned up, bagging and all, in a little more than three hours. They each grabbed two leaf bags and dragged them around the house and to the curb. As soon as they had made the corner of the house they noticed that their neatly piled leaves from the front yard had been destroyed and kicked all over the yard again. They’d have to start from scratch with this huge task. Neither of them had any strength left to tackle the task then and there and decided to let the bagging part go until tomorrow. They could bag it up then but for now all they wanted to do was kick back and relax in front of the TV.

Shelley was waiting for them in the kitchen when they came inside. “Did you get it all raked and bagged?” She asked.

Nick and John exchanged a knowing glance and shook their heads. “Not quite,” Nick explained and told his wife what they had found when they went back into the front yard. “Probably some damned kids.” he guessed. “We got it raked up again but we thought we’d leave the bagging until tomorrow.” He took his seat on the sofa in the living room and John joined him shortly after.

They were engrossed in one of their favorite TV shows an hour later when they heard the commotion in the front yard. Nick and John rushed to the window in time to see some large, young adult male jumping into the center of the leaf pile. He got out, flipped onto his back and then rose to his feet, kicking the pile to shreds before hurrying off again.

“Did you get a good look at him?” Nick asked.

“Sure did, Dad,” John said. “I know who that is, too. That’s Huey Magnum. He lives around the block behind us. I think our back yards touch. Some of the neighbors have also complained about him messing up their leave piles as well. No one’s ever been able to catch him or get any photos of him in the act and so far he’s gotten away with it.

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