Tyler and Abigail lived down by the river. It was cool and shady down there. They had a homemade dock and some yard chairs to sit in.They would catch fish in the morning and cook it on the grill in the evenings. But one day when they looked outside, the dock was underwater and the yard chairs were floating down the river.
By evening, the whole yard was underwater. Fortunately, his truck was parked up by the road, which sat on higher ground. “What’s happening?” asked Abigail as she surveyed the yard.
“Must be raining in Georgia!” replied Tyler.
Abigail sighed and shook her head.
“If it don’t stop raining, we’re gonna have to put pontoons under the trailer!” Tyler put in.
“Looks like the Smiths are the only ones in this neighborhood that aren’t gonna float away.” Abigail pointed out.
The Smith home sat on a small rise surrounded by a deep drainage ditch, on the other side of the road. Mr. Smith sat on his front porch, looking smug. When he spotted Tyler and Abigail, he waved at them and shouted, “I like yer new swimming pool!”
Abigail waved back, but Tyler stomped inside and sat down on the couch. “If this keeps up, we’re gonna have to move in with Mama ‘tll the water goes down,” he stated gloomily.
“I’d rather grow gills and stay right here,” said Abigail. Tyler’s mama, Emmagene, was a great, big domineering woman who loved to order people around. Abigail couldn’t stand her, but in order to keep on living with Tyler, she had to put up with her. The prospect of having to be under the same roof with Emmagene put Abigail in a touchy mood.
Just then, the dreaded in-law pulled up behind Tyer’s truck in her huge green Eldorado. “Uh oh!” muttered Tyler when he saw his mama sloshing through the muddy water.
“Tyler!” she hollered halfway there. “Pack yer bags!” Abigail peered around the kitchen door and saw that her worst nightmare was about to come true. “Tyler, that water ain’t in the trailer yet,” she said, hoping to stall the inevitable.
Tyler’s mama burst into the trailer and looked around disdainfully. Abigail wasn’t the best housekeeper. In fact, she would be a surefire winner for the World’s Worst Housekeeper award. And Tyler was even worse. “How in the heck can you live in this mess?” she demanded.
“What mess?” asked Tyler.
Abigail swallowed her misgivings and offered Tyler’s mama a cup of coffee.
“Just make sure my cup’s washed real good. That kitchen of yours is alive!” snorted Emmagene.
“Don’t worry. Heat kills the germs.” Abigail answered sarcastically as she sat it down in front of her mother-in-law.
“It would take a bonfire to get rid of the ones in this house!” sneered the impossible in-law..
“Now, Mama . . .” Tyler started.
“Mama nothing. You need to pack up all your good things and let these roaches drown!” huffed his mama.
“We were just talking about that,” stated Abigail.
“That water ain’t gonna get no deeper!” suggested Tyler hopefully. “The heck you say. That river ain’t crested yet. When it does, your neighbor over there is gonna be stranded on his own little island for awhile,” predicted Emmagene.
Shortly, while Tyler and Abigail were in the bedroom packing up clothes and things to take with them, Abigail said “I don’t think I’ll be able to stand this. She’s so bossy.”
“Come on Abigail. That river is still rising. We got to go somewhere ‘till the flood’s over," pleaded Tyler in his sweetest voice.
“I guess you’re right. I just hope it gets over quick. I won’t be able to put up with her for long!” she moaned.
Meanwhile, Tyler’s mama looked around their living room, occasionally running a finger through the dust on everything. When she sat back down to drink her coffee, she saw a cockroach climbing up the side of the greasy cup. She whacked it off and thought to herself, “I sure hope this flood don’t last. I won’t be able to put up with these two slobs for long!”
