Story #10: "The Knuckleball Artist" (Chapter 22)

Big city burglars, tea towel wisdom, the President of the 4th of July, fossilized gum, and a baseball card.

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CHAPTER 22

THE NOTORIOUSLY LONG RED LIGHT

It was the big day, and all of What Cheer was off to the Championship Little League game. Cougars Volkswagen was playing Misfit Tailoring for seats at the banquet table—the one that looked out at all the classmates that lost.

There wasn’t a second car in a single driveway. Even the parking lot over at Final Sunset Nursing Home was a ghost town.

On the drive into town, birds had settled on the friendlier scarecrows, and the farmers left house keys poking out from flower pots. “I don’t want burglars breaking all the windows.” This had never happened in What Cheer, but during one of the kids’ big games up in Cedar Rapids, burglars did this very thing.

“Well, that’s no surprise for the big city,” the mothers agreed.

The mothers, a more forgiving bunch, set out milk and cookies on the kitchen tables, with tea towels “folded up all nice.” You never knew when a Game Day Burglar might need a glass of milk or a…