Smokey Mountain Breakdown

I gots nothin’!

Well, almost nothin’.

By this weekend I expect to be goatless. It’s been a long time since I’ve been goatless, but it’s just not safe here for the goaties anymore. I’m keeping the sheep to keep the grass down should it return before the house sells. This should make it easier for me to get the house ready to sell. I’m hoping to be moving by mid to late spring, depending on how fast I can get the house ready. The goats have really been holding me up in that respect.

I’m just tired of being a nervous wreck all of the time about them and not having enough money to fix things so they are safe…so I’m safe. I hate it that I can’t continue my dream here, because I really do love this place and the people here. I’ll just start my dream up somewhere else.

But…I think I’ll always write about this place.

I’ve had my head down polishing “The Ghosts are Dancing”. It's the first piece I've developed completely off the blog. Honestly, I miss doing them here. But I can't if I want them published. I hate that. I think I have two more passes until it’s completely ready to run with the big dogs.

The Ghosts are Dancing

Joel woke up earlier than usual. He felt Trudy’s long braid of red hair tickling his arm. He heard the hard rain on the roof and the plinking of the gutters, like pennies pouring from the sky. He thought about sleeping in, since he couldn’t do anything in such a downpour.

He thought this, but heard the groaning and the popping. It was a sound like no other, like the earth screaming for mercy. First, a sound like a giant chewing tin starting high and raggedly ripping low, then--a sound like a rifle shot. Joel sat up in the bed and strained to hear. The noise made him afraid and he shivered in his bed. He felt like a child, hearing a new sound never heard before, never imagined. The sound made him want to cover his face. The sound made him want to hide.

Joel sat on the side of the bed. He moved Trudy’s hand back under the quilts. Lord, Jesus, he thought, what is going on out there?