“I could see the zombies were about to get Grandma’s and Grandpa’s island!”
We’re heading down to the island which is the place of Suzy’s and my home in Justin’s dream. Joy is describing to Charlie how she survived.
“I went into the house. I knew that zombies weren’t that smart. I knew my weapons wouldn’t be enough. And I knew that ovens keep their smell inside.”
“So what’d you do?” he asks her wide-eyed.
“I went into the oven and closed it tight! The zombies went all through the house but they didn’t look in the oven! When Master Mind was there, he didn’t find me, either! Then when all the zombies disappeared I ran to Master Mind as fast as I could.” Listening to the description I shudder at how close she was to death!
“Jeez!” Charlie’s impressed. “That’s so amazing! And so dangerous!”
Justin docks Bonny’s Revenge in front of our home. And now it’s the grownups’ time to be horrified.
“Our home!” Suzy cries.
“Oh, my god,” Justin whispers.
The windows are shattered, the doors are broken, and the walls have scratches on them.
Justin lowers the ramp.
All of us except Master Mind walk down the ramp slowly, surveying the damage.
“Mom, Dad, I’m so sorry.”
“Look at this,” Suzy is shocked. “Look at this!”
We walk in through the broken closed door. The house is in ruins: The sofas, the pictures on the walls, the kitchen table - they are all in tatters on the ground.
“You survived this?!” Charlie is shocked. We’re all shocked.
Justin shakes his head. “I’ll fix it, Mom, Dad. I’ll destroy this house and get you a new one, just like the old one, in two minutes.”
“No you won’t!” Suzy stands in front of him and forces him to look her in the eyes. “You can’t get off easy or you’ll do it again! We all have to fix it, together, the old-fashioned way!”
“This is my dream, Mom. I shouldn’t spend hours fixing things when I can do it in a second.”
“This is your dream, but her home!” she points to Joy. “If you do it the long way, maybe you’ll learn never to do it again!”
Justin looks down, his teeth clenched.
Joy looks up at him.
After a few seconds, Justin unclenches. “Okay, Mom. Let’s fix the house the hard way.”
She nods.
I begin to turn when I see that Joy takes Suzy’s hand behind Justin’s back. She whispers to Suzy in a voice so loud everyone can hear, “I always get him to do what I want, too!”
I laugh. Justin laughs. Suzy winks at Joy and nods.
—Told by Grampa Walt