Spriggy: High School Pranks

Today Spriggy takes some time on the therapist’s couch.

Therapist:

Tell me about a favorite memory.

Spriggy:

In high school me and my friends liked hanging out at the community park. Sometimes we would play basketball, and other times we sat on picnic tables and shared cigarettes and booze that someone had taken from a parent or had gotten a college kid to buy.

One day a few of us had gathered but no one had brought any illegal substances and none of us felt like playing basketball. There was a frat house down the road and some of the brothers came to the park as well.

For some reason the college kids thought that all townies were losers and deserved to be picked on, and these frat jerks zeroed in on us. They were pretty stupid and couldn’t come up with any really good insults–just called us fags and losers who thought we were “really cool” to be hanging out in a little kids’ park. We observed that they had also chosen to come here, and then we left.

We went to one of the other guy’s house and came up with a plan to show them who the losers were–or at least to get them in trouble. That night we went around and spray painted their fraternity’s letters on some of the university buildings and some parked cars. We trashed the empty spray cans in a dumpster near their house.

Later, my friend’s brother who went to the college told us that the university believed it had been some kind of hazing ritual and put all the fraternities and sororities on probation. The one we’d picked on had to do community service too.

I think that was one of the best moments of my life.

What Is Your Favorite Part of Fall?

To the cast of The Partial Garden:

Dustin: I love raking leaves and cleaning out gutters–no, seriously–I do. There’s something about working hard in crisp cool air that really gives a guy energy. Oh–and football.

Amber: I like getting out in nature–seeing the leaves change makes me think about all the changes I’ve gone through and the new things I’d like to try next.

Tango: The animals! The squirrels scampering around, gathering nuts, the birds gathering and flying in a V, bears getting ready for a long winter’s nap–I feel like doing it all too!

Abbey’s Story: Part 1

In my new book, my main character (Lindsay)’s mom is arrested for murder, and in trying to prove her innocent, Lindsay discovers that her mom’s been hiding a lot of secrets. Her mom, Abbey, has a story to tell, but it doesn’t fit in my book, so I’ve decided to post a fairly spoiler-free version here.

Abbey Rosenbaum:

College was not going well. I didn’t have any idea what my major should be or what I wanted to do with my life, and I was bored with all of the general requirements. I also had absolutely no money. My parents were paying for school and room and board, and that was it. My summer job money was already gone–just from getting my first semester’s books.

Then I saw a man hanging a flier on the student center bulletin board. Something about a cashier job. I pulled the flier down as soon as he was gone and called him immediately. I got the job no problem–turned out I would be working at this little organic farm and greenhouse (and this was way before “organic” was cool).

After that everything changed. I’d always believed the planet needed to be protected, but I’d never really done anything about it. Now I saw how satisfying and freeing it was to grow real food that was chemical free. That farm was such a turning point in my life. I don’t think I’d change anything that happened there if I could.