Sugar Plum Possum Fairy

One of our neighbors, Grant McMaster, is always telling tall stories to the Kirkpatricks. For example, he told me that chicken eggs are called bumnuts. So with my newly acquired Kiwi lingo, I asked the grocer where the bumnuts were and received a startled and confused look. I returned to Grant to discover bumnuts is a word coined by Grant's grandfather and used only by Grant and his grandfather. We are all wary of any information we receive from Grant. His stories sound authentic, despite their absurdity.

Colin and Liam have been planning a practical joke for Grant for months. To perform their joke they have been waiting to trap a possum. We still haven't caught one, but another neighbor aware of the boys' plans, who has also no doubt been the victim of a Grant joke, left a dead possum on the bench by our front door. The boys spent an evening creating a costume for their stiff creature dubbed the Sugar Plum Possum Fairy! Colin and Liam snuck down under the cover of darkness to Grant's house and positioned their fairy outside Grant's front door, terrified as the automatic garage light illuminated them. They ran all the way home. Once home they began to worry whether Grant would see the fairy possum that night. The suspense was too much for them. They snuck back to Grant's circling around the yard to avoid setting off the garage light. While Liam remained hidden in the bushes Colin raced to pound on the front door and then tore back into the bush with Liam. They didn't wait for the door to open. Grant is the type of adult that both fascinates the boys and slightly terrifies them. They love to hang out with Grant, but they can't read him. They can never discern the truth and seriousness from jokes and play with Grant.

Both boys wait expectantly with giggles and a bit of trepidation for Grant's retaliation. Colin peaks out the front door when he wakes. The boys say they are fortunate that they can stealthily pass Grant's house, shielded from his windows by the manuka, on their way to their hens. They aren't sure what Grant's next move will be. The suspense continues uncomfortably.