"Chow is on the table." The old man shouted through the little shack. For a
person almost deaf, he sure did have a mighty powerful voice. The Twins
made their way to the small round table placed in the middle of the
scrunched up kitchen. A flickering oil lamp in the middle of the table gave
the only light. The kitchen was so small and crowded you'd have to be
careful and not fall out of the window when you reached across the table
for the salt and pepper. Or at least that's how Two felt about it. The
place was just big enough for one person, a table, several more crates of
canned food, a small wood stove, and a pump handle sink, and even then it
was cramped. Two extra people made it totally unbearable.
The Twins seated themselves the best they could around the table. Two was wedged between a storage cabinet and the wood box beside the stove and One's chair was half in the doorway of the room the farmer had given them to spend the night in and half in the kitchen. They stopped when they looked at the tin plates in front of them. Knowing that the man couldn't hear well, Two didn't bother with asking what kind of food it was and tapped the man on the arm. When he got the guy's attention, Two pointed at the plate and gave a questioning look.
"Oh, that's chitlins and possum belly. You'll love it." the old man chuckled before diving into his own plate. The Twins wrinkled their noses and looked at each other. Two felt like he was going to be queasy.
"Here's some cornbread to sop it up with." The man handed the Twins a small plate of cornbread. Two forced a smile and accepted the plate then looked at One again. For a few minutes the Twins eyed the old farmer as he ate. The guy soon looked up at the blank faces before him.
"What are yer waitin' for? Dig in, friends. There's plenty for everyone."
Two calmly set the plate of cornbread down on the table and picked up a fork. Poking at the slop in front of him, he just couldn't bring himself around to eating it and placed the fork back down.
"So which one of you is Drew again?" the man looked up, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Not Drew, Two! My name's Two."
"You'll have to talk a little louder, sonny, I'm a might hard of hearin'."
"You're telling me." Two mumbled under his breath. "I said that my name is Two!" Two shouted.
"Too what? The food too rich fer ya?"
Two slapped his forehead in frustration and sighed.
After dinner, the Twins walked into the man's living room, if you could even call it that. The old hound dog lay sprawled out on his rug in the middle of the floor.
"What do you do for entertainment around here?" One shouted at the farmer. The man pointed to the bookshelf before seating himself in one of the rocking chairs. Two walked over to the shelf and tried to make out the names on the ends of them, but it was too dark to see anything.
"Hand me that lamp will you, One?"
One picked up the oil lamp and handed it to Two. After looking the books over, Two picked up one, walked over to a table and set the lamp down. He was about to sit down in the chair that was placed by the table, but stopped himself and looked down before rubbing his hand over it. Two groaned.
"What's wrong with you now?" One whispered, looking up at Two.
"I can't sit in this chair."
"Why?"
"It's too dusty! It'll get my lovely coat dirty."
"Well wipe it out."
"With what?" Two placed his book on the table.
"With a cloth."
"What cloth?"
"I don't know. Go find one somewhere. There should be one around here, knowing how much other junk's here."
Two wanted to stomp the ground with his foot, but decided to walk into one of the other rooms to look for a cloth instead. He came back with a white rag of some kind, which he firmly wiped the dust out of the chair with. One glanced over at the farmer. The old man's head was leaning to the side, his mouth open, and snoring.
"Wish I could fall asleep that fast." One said to himself before looking down at the book he was reading. He looked back up and in Two's direction at the noise his brother was making. Two was busily cleaning the arms and back of the chair while talking to himself, or to the chair. One couldn't tell who it was he was mumbling to. In his frustration, Two picked up the pillow propped up in the back of the chair and threw it, hitting One in the head.
"Two! What on earth's the matter with you?" One gasped for air after the pillow hitting him caused a dust cloud to irrupt. He sneezed and coughed a few times while struggling to get the pillow away from him. He grabbed onto the troublesome thing and threw it to another corner of the room. The old hound heard the noise and shot up from the floor as fast as his old body would allow and started howling the best he could.
"Sit down!" One managed to get out before sneezing again. He motioned for Two to sit down in the chair he had been cleaning. Two did as he was told.
"Oh shut up!" One called over to the dog, who was still howling and barking at the pillow. The dog whimpered a little then shut up and lay back down.
It was soon time for bed. The farmer woke up from his nap and made his way into the bedroom that was beside the Twins' room. Two was cautious about getting in his bed and eased himself up and into it trying not to make very much movement for fear of the whole thing collapsing onto the floor.
"I'll be glad when we get out of here." He said, finally settling down and reaching for the sheet.
"Where's your sense of adventure?" One smirked.
"I like adventure, but this is too much!"
One reached over and turned out the oil lamp before they both settled down in their beds. With each movement they made, the beds creaked and groaned.
"Perfect. I'm gonna have to hear that each time I roll over." Two said through the darkness.
At that moment, something else got the Twins' attention. The room suddenly began to vibrate and shake like an earthquake. It got worse and worse. Both of them sat up in bed and looked at each other while feeling the shaking. The oil lamp on the table started to dance around, making its way to the very edge. One caught it before it fell off and set it back.
"One, what's that?" Two whispered.
"I don't know."
It wasn't long before the shaking got so bad that the beds started to move across the floor. An ear-piercing whistle sounded through the chaos and the roar of a train drowned out everything else.
"He didn't say this place was beside a train track!" One shouted to Two while he held onto the bed as it scooted itself across the floor to the other wall.
"What?!" Two shouted back, not hearing what One said because of the noise. Two's bed walked across the room too and stopped when it got to a wall. Before the train left, though, the beds walked back to where they had been before and stopped. After the last of the train was heard going by, both Two and One were pretty well shaken up.
"No wonder that old man's hard of hearing. Living here all of your life with that going by all the time would be enough to make someone lose their hearing." Two breathed, letting go of the bed when he saw it wasn't going to move anymore.
"I wonder if there's anything else we should know." One looked around the dark room while running his fingers through his dreadlocked hair.
"Don't say that!" Two gasped.
Both of them stayed awake for several minutes, making sure another train wasn't going to come through.
The Twins seated themselves the best they could around the table. Two was wedged between a storage cabinet and the wood box beside the stove and One's chair was half in the doorway of the room the farmer had given them to spend the night in and half in the kitchen. They stopped when they looked at the tin plates in front of them. Knowing that the man couldn't hear well, Two didn't bother with asking what kind of food it was and tapped the man on the arm. When he got the guy's attention, Two pointed at the plate and gave a questioning look.
"Oh, that's chitlins and possum belly. You'll love it." the old man chuckled before diving into his own plate. The Twins wrinkled their noses and looked at each other. Two felt like he was going to be queasy.
"Here's some cornbread to sop it up with." The man handed the Twins a small plate of cornbread. Two forced a smile and accepted the plate then looked at One again. For a few minutes the Twins eyed the old farmer as he ate. The guy soon looked up at the blank faces before him.
"What are yer waitin' for? Dig in, friends. There's plenty for everyone."
Two calmly set the plate of cornbread down on the table and picked up a fork. Poking at the slop in front of him, he just couldn't bring himself around to eating it and placed the fork back down.
"So which one of you is Drew again?" the man looked up, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Not Drew, Two! My name's Two."
"You'll have to talk a little louder, sonny, I'm a might hard of hearin'."
"You're telling me." Two mumbled under his breath. "I said that my name is Two!" Two shouted.
"Too what? The food too rich fer ya?"
Two slapped his forehead in frustration and sighed.
After dinner, the Twins walked into the man's living room, if you could even call it that. The old hound dog lay sprawled out on his rug in the middle of the floor.
"What do you do for entertainment around here?" One shouted at the farmer. The man pointed to the bookshelf before seating himself in one of the rocking chairs. Two walked over to the shelf and tried to make out the names on the ends of them, but it was too dark to see anything.
"Hand me that lamp will you, One?"
One picked up the oil lamp and handed it to Two. After looking the books over, Two picked up one, walked over to a table and set the lamp down. He was about to sit down in the chair that was placed by the table, but stopped himself and looked down before rubbing his hand over it. Two groaned.
"What's wrong with you now?" One whispered, looking up at Two.
"I can't sit in this chair."
"Why?"
"It's too dusty! It'll get my lovely coat dirty."
"Well wipe it out."
"With what?" Two placed his book on the table.
"With a cloth."
"What cloth?"
"I don't know. Go find one somewhere. There should be one around here, knowing how much other junk's here."
Two wanted to stomp the ground with his foot, but decided to walk into one of the other rooms to look for a cloth instead. He came back with a white rag of some kind, which he firmly wiped the dust out of the chair with. One glanced over at the farmer. The old man's head was leaning to the side, his mouth open, and snoring.
"Wish I could fall asleep that fast." One said to himself before looking down at the book he was reading. He looked back up and in Two's direction at the noise his brother was making. Two was busily cleaning the arms and back of the chair while talking to himself, or to the chair. One couldn't tell who it was he was mumbling to. In his frustration, Two picked up the pillow propped up in the back of the chair and threw it, hitting One in the head.
"Two! What on earth's the matter with you?" One gasped for air after the pillow hitting him caused a dust cloud to irrupt. He sneezed and coughed a few times while struggling to get the pillow away from him. He grabbed onto the troublesome thing and threw it to another corner of the room. The old hound heard the noise and shot up from the floor as fast as his old body would allow and started howling the best he could.
"Sit down!" One managed to get out before sneezing again. He motioned for Two to sit down in the chair he had been cleaning. Two did as he was told.
"Oh shut up!" One called over to the dog, who was still howling and barking at the pillow. The dog whimpered a little then shut up and lay back down.
It was soon time for bed. The farmer woke up from his nap and made his way into the bedroom that was beside the Twins' room. Two was cautious about getting in his bed and eased himself up and into it trying not to make very much movement for fear of the whole thing collapsing onto the floor.
"I'll be glad when we get out of here." He said, finally settling down and reaching for the sheet.
"Where's your sense of adventure?" One smirked.
"I like adventure, but this is too much!"
One reached over and turned out the oil lamp before they both settled down in their beds. With each movement they made, the beds creaked and groaned.
"Perfect. I'm gonna have to hear that each time I roll over." Two said through the darkness.
At that moment, something else got the Twins' attention. The room suddenly began to vibrate and shake like an earthquake. It got worse and worse. Both of them sat up in bed and looked at each other while feeling the shaking. The oil lamp on the table started to dance around, making its way to the very edge. One caught it before it fell off and set it back.
"One, what's that?" Two whispered.
"I don't know."
It wasn't long before the shaking got so bad that the beds started to move across the floor. An ear-piercing whistle sounded through the chaos and the roar of a train drowned out everything else.
"He didn't say this place was beside a train track!" One shouted to Two while he held onto the bed as it scooted itself across the floor to the other wall.
"What?!" Two shouted back, not hearing what One said because of the noise. Two's bed walked across the room too and stopped when it got to a wall. Before the train left, though, the beds walked back to where they had been before and stopped. After the last of the train was heard going by, both Two and One were pretty well shaken up.
"No wonder that old man's hard of hearing. Living here all of your life with that going by all the time would be enough to make someone lose their hearing." Two breathed, letting go of the bed when he saw it wasn't going to move anymore.
"I wonder if there's anything else we should know." One looked around the dark room while running his fingers through his dreadlocked hair.
"Don't say that!" Two gasped.
Both of them stayed awake for several minutes, making sure another train wasn't going to come through.