Page 9 - January15-Catalyst

THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE
By Gladys Grimaud | Continued from page 5
because he had not taken prerequisite high school chemistry. Even with the professor’s discouraging words, Joe decided that he would stay with the Bootstrap chemistry course even if he had to stay up studying all night for six months, which is pretty much what he did. When that rebel yell bolted me out of bed, I knew exactly where to find Joe. I made a beeline to his study spot in the kitchen, only to find an angry man with clinched fists, squared off jaw, and squinted
sound this time at the front door. He quietly stepped the short distance from the kitchen into the living room to investigate, and it became obvious that it was not the wind making the noise. With the porch light on and through the windows at the top of the front door, he could see that indeed there was somebody trying to break into our home.
That’s when that terrifying rebel yell kicked in and knocked me out of bed! I was eager
“Every person’s ship comes in at least seven times in life, but most people don’t recognize it and get on.”
eyes. Joe was pacing back and forth in the living room with fire shooting out his eyes looking like he wanted to pulverize some- body. “Are you all right? What happened?”
Calming down somewhat, he pointed to the kitchen table and said, “I was sitting there studying as usual when I heard a light clicking sound at the door.”
“Well”, he said, “I knew that if someone was out there, he could easily see me through those broken slats in the Venetian Blinds. I briefly entertained the thought that some- one might be trying to break in but dis- missed that thought and told myself that it was probably the wind blowing.” That was wishful thinking on Joe’s part because a minute later, he heard another clicking
to know, “What did you do?”
“Gladys, I was so angry. Without even thinking, I yanked open the door and yelled at the top of my lungs. Whoever it was fell on his back, fumbled, got up and took off running.” Joe began to chuckle, “It was the same kind of action you might see on the football field when a player gets tackled. Yep, right now, there’s a man in the alley somewhere sitting down wiping sweat off his brow...just thankful to be alive.”
I couldn’t believe my ears and failed to see the humor in this. “Joe, what if he had been armed?”
Continued on next page
January 2015
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