PIECES OF LAUGHTER AND FUN by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

there."
    Ma bustled off to do that, and Reuben and Roy looked at each other in dismay.
    "Grandpa Hobbs! He's as old as the hills, and he doesn't even have all his senses!" Roy exclaimed.
    Pa sat down at the table and looked sternly at Roy. "I don't want to hear any talk like that, young man. Grandpa Hobbs has been a good neighbor of ours for many years. He may be old and forgetful. But you'll be surprised to find out that he has more sense than many people you'll meet on the road. I want you boys to be kind to him. He's our guest, and he'll be treated like one."
    "Yes, sir," Roy replied. "I didn't mean that I wouldn't be kind to him. I just meant that he's awfully old, and you never know what he's going to do."
    "That's true," pa replied, rubbing his chin. "You don't. But that should make it all the more interesting, shouldn't it? I'll just go over and get him and save Ed a trip."
    Pa left to get Grandpa Hobbs as ma came back to the kitchen.
    "You can set the table," she said to me. "Put a place for grandpa next to your father. He'll be able to hear better there. It's going to be fun to have a grandpa in the house for a while."
    "I don't know," I answered. "I've never had one before. Do you think he'll know any good stories or anything?"
    "He did when I was a little girl," ma replied. "The Hobbs family lived in Canada, where I came from. Ed and Myra Hobbs moved to Michigan about the same time pa and I did. Then grandpa came later when his wife died. If he remembers any stories, he'll tell them, never fear."
    By the time pa was back, I was looking forward to having Grandpa Hobbs stay with us. I hurried to open the door for them.
    "This is where we're staying, is it?" grandpa asked.
    "Yes, we're home," pa replied. "Come on in and get warm. Supper will be ready right away."
    Grandpa hobbled into the kitchen and looked around. "Glad you got the fire going again, Myra. Was right cold in here when I left."
    "I'm Maryanne O'Dell, grandpa," ma told him. "You'll be staying with us until Ed and Myra get back. Come and sit down by the stove."
    Grandpa sat down heavily in the old armchair ma had put there for him. Almost as soon as he leaned back, he was asleep!
    "Ma," I whispered. "He's gone to sleep. Doesn't he want any supper?"
    "Oh, yes. We'll waken him when it's on the table. He'll probably sleep a lot of the time. Many old people do."
    "How old is he? A hundred?"
    "Not quite," pa laughed. "You ask him when he wakes up. He'll tell you."
    When the food was all on the table, pa shook grandpa's shoulder.
    "Time to eat, grandpa. Are you hungry?"
    "Eh?" Grandpa sat up and looked around in a daze. "Been asleep in the chair, have I? Is it time for breakfast?"
    "You just dozed off, grandpa," ma said. "It's suppertime. Come along and eat with us."
    "Nice of you to come to supper," grandpa replied. "Been here long, have you? Sorry I was asleep when you came."
    We sat down at the table, and I looked at ma in bewilderment. Her answering look warned me not to say anything.
    "You're at the O'Dell place, grandpa. You remember me, Jim O'Dell, don't you?" Grandpa Hobbs looked at pa sharply. "Remember you? Of course I do! Known you since you were a little tad. Why would I forget you?"
    He tucked his napkin under his chin. When pa had returned thanks, he began to eat. "You're a good cook, Maryanne," he said to ma. "Learned that from your ma, no doubt."
    He looked across the table at me. "You watch and listen to your ma, and you'll be a good cook, too. Mebbe I'll come and eat with you one day." He chuckled and turned his full attention to his supper.
    I questioned ma later when we did the dishes. "One minute Grandpa Hobbs thinks you're Myra, and then later he knows who you are. How can he forget so soon?"
    His mind goes back and forth between now and years ago," ma replied. "Sometimes when people get old, they become confused about time. Often they can remember things that happened in the past better than what happens today. If he calls me Myra, or