Laura gave me a sharp push, and I fell to the ground.
“I am sick of all your complaints!”
“Don’t be mean to your brother!”
“Whose side are you on?” Shouts and curses came from all directions.
“Stop fighting!” Mum shouted. “Calm down and listen to me: You two are always fighting and making up again. This is the world’s largest and most expensive spacecraft, and you are a part of this family, whether you like it or not. You can go if you want—we have robots that we could send to the moon.”
There was an awkwardly long silence. Harry took a sip of tea. Aunt Mary shuffled the cards. “Now stop crying and pull yourself together.”
Source: Collins COBUILD Primary Learner’s Dictionary
I’ve got a sick cousin over Fayetteville way. Her sight’s none too good. I rang her this morning. Idle chatter and tall talk about the mysteries of life. She said she missed me something fierce.
Her boyfriend left her for another woman about a year ago, if memory serves. I heard tell that he went out west. Damned if I care. Impertinent boy. She grew her hair long, decided to change her name, moved into that barn of a house. After the accident, she didn’t feel up to driving, so she took to her room and was not at home to friends.
I didn’t like it, and I told her so. People who live in a vacuum so that the world outside them is of no moment. Bad news.
It was easier in the old days. We used to go hunting, we done a lot of rodeoin’—we had a good time. A child’s idea of time. We were always within sound of the train whistles, the lowing of cattle, the distant bark of some farm dog, the spit and hiss of a cornered cat, tunes in waltz time . . . Animals in close confinement. I will never, ever forget it.
Life goes on. I’d better give her a ring tomorrow.
Sources: New Oxford American Dictionary, Macquarie Dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary