buried treasure!

veteran's day, 2008

the little red-faced kid, before he got too red in the face, was exploring the mysteries of the attic in the bayside house.  this would be around 1956.

there was a curious book on parenting that showed a little boy being spanked in black silhouette.  he stayed away from that side of the attic.

the center of the room was floored, but under the sloping eaves, the joists were exposed, and between them lay strange gray cotton-y clumps.  of course now we know those clumps as insulation, 30's style, but the little red-faced kid thought that these clumps must be Grace, a word he had heard in a prayer to someone named mary.

and under the edge of the Grace, he found money, many many bills, and he ran as fast as he could down the attic stairs, and down the upper hall stairs, past the graphicly scary color painting of the Sacred Heart, dripping blood from those sharp sharp thorns driven deep into the muscle, to the kitchen.

there, at the kitchen table, playing Gin, and drinking Schaefer beer, were his mom and his dad.

"i found money in the attic!!!!!" he yelled, as he charged down the last steps, careful not to fall.

his parents scattered cards in their rush past him up those stairs, for he learned later that during the depression, they had stashed cash around the house, not trusting the banks.

he felt very proud.  he was the hero, finally.  he had found a lost treasure, under the Grace.

he ran behind them up the stairs, but did he get a surprise!

they were not happy!

"this is Monopoly money, little red-faced kid." his dad said, not very kindly, either.  his mother, as usual, said nothing.

he felt very sad as he watched them disappear down the attic steps.  sad for them, too.  he knew they could use a little Cheering Up.

it would certainly make the house a little safer.

he hid the book under the Grace on the other side of the attic.

then he went to his brother's room, which was now his.  he built a castle for his knights out of books.