Crouching, Angela and Joe chowed down. They were in paradise. They had found a garden behind a fence in someone’s back yard. The fence was low enough to simply step right over. There was luscious lettuce and marvelous green beans. It was their version of the sweet shop delights. Eating all those vegetables was like eating cakes and pies to them. There were other vegetables too, but they decided to leave those alone. Angela and Joe didn’t want to take more than what was necessary to hold them over, until they could find some substantial food.
After eating, they rested for a moment in the tranquil garden before deciding it was time to get going. Joe pulled out the map and realized it wasn’t too much further now.
“Almost there?” Angela asked when she saw a relaxed smile on Joe’s face.
“Yes.”
“Good, because the sun is starting to rise,” Angela remarked. At that moment, they heard a car start nearby. Joe and Angela remained very still until they heard it drive off.
They traveled the rest of the way in total stealth mode, super-fast and sneaky. Within minutes they were at Peter’s house. It was at the corner of a cul-de-sac in a nice neighborhood. The lights were on. Someone was up.
“What now?” Joe asked. “We can’t very well just go to the door, can we?”
A moment of silence passed and the garage doors opened. Angela and Joe ducked behind a car parked on the side of the road. It was Peter’s dad leaving for work. He was tall, thin, dressed in a navy blue blazer with a crisp white collared shirt, and he carried a tan leather briefcase. He entered the SUV parked in the garage and drove off. The garage door shut. Joe and Angela ran over to a row of thick bushes against a fence in Peter’s yard and wedged themselves in. No one could see them there.
A half hour later, Peter ran out the door. He headed to the car on the side of the road. His mother parked it there last night because Papa had parked crooked when he had taken him home the night before. His mother unlocked the doors from the driveway to let Peter in the car and she soon slid into the front driver seat.
“Well, what do we do now?” Angela whispered.
“I don’t know. It looks as though Peter is going to school. He may be a while,” Joe whispered back.
“We can’t stay squished in these bushes all day,” Angela whined.
“Then what do you suggest?” Joe asked.
Angela peeked out from the bushes and scanned the area. “Let’s get in there.” She pointed toward an old boat at the side of the house. It looked as though it had been sitting there for quite some time. Joe agreed and they found their temporary new home in the dirty old boat. It was better than being squished up against the fence with branches in their ears and they could get some much-needed rest.