Teaser
I didn’t want to leave you with nothing at all to read here today, so I’ll tell you a little story.
Once upon a time, there was a little red cottage. The little red cottage couldn’t hold many people. In the summer time, she occasionally held a couple people and their things, but she wasn’t anyone’s favorite place. And in the winter time, she was lonely, and left to shiver in the snow.
Then, one year, a crazy old man came by. She had a sign in front of her, but she couldn’t read. The crazy old man must have been able to read, though, because he called a number on a phone. He came back with some other lady that the little red cottage vaguely remembered, and they were shaking hands. After the lady left, the crazy old man spun around slowly, thinking of ideas. “Yes, this will work nicely.”
Through the next year, the crazy old man spent hours with the little red cottage. He would hurt her, but then make her stronger. At first she wasn’t sure if she liked him very much, but as her front porch grew, and her sides pulled out, she began to realize that he was making her a better cottage. Maybe she could have more friends over to visit!
That next summer, the little red cottage was standing proud just four houses away from the sand dunes and the beach. Before that was her only positive attribute, but now… now she was beautiful herself. She had a porch where her new friends could sit and enjoy cocktails. She had a new big-screen TV. She had a giant kitchen – maybe people would even stay with her for dinner (most of the time, people avoided her except to sleep).
And so it was that many people started to visit with her. They paid the crazy old man (who likes to mow her yard wearing plastic baggies over his shoes) and spent the week going through her doors. They stayed in the new pretty little beds and watched Red Sox games on her big-screen TV at night. They trudged sand into her, but she didn’t mind, because they were friendly. And sometimes, they might spill a little bit of their pina coladas on the ground so that she could taste.
The crazy old man keeps coming back to make the little red cottage bigger and stronger. He gave her a back porch, completely enclosed with screens. Her visitors like that, because they can sit outside without actually being outside. And now, he is filling in her basement with things other than crap. There is even a fancy bed that moves up and down.
The little red cottage just knows that she has found a good friend in the crazy old man. And she likes her visitors too. They come back year after year to see how she’s grown, and to keep her company. She still gets a little lonely in the winter, but at least she has the big-screen TV to keep her company!