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e _ -"'"' ""'"' We. mug its flanks, some sumac and slash pine and great flocks of goldenrod. but the cattle didnt care and the kids made little kingdoms of it building huts in its tall grasses. People called it an eyesore but old Bob owned it tree and clear and no upstart town planners were going to slop their slick sticky topping on his part of the plate. Even his yard was a wilderness, rust and wild (lowers blossomed profusely in hay high grass round his house, making a garish moat to pro- tect his hermit privacy. The house itself nestled against the civilized lawns of the schoolyard. The house was close to falling over, threaten. ing daily to quash the school's tool shed, taking a life with its own when it tell. Its windows were always frosted with grease and the doors stood aslant burdened by the sag of an old grey root. There was always a faint disgusting smell wall- ing from the house into schoolyard imagina- The Cattle Walker by Brian Van Norman Bob Little's lield sort of took a slice out of Smallville's cake. Surrounded by suburban homes and swimming pools it glinted like a bare plate through the candied topping of a town in the throes of upward mobility. It wasn't really good for much, that field, just a small herd of cattle and neighborhood kids. A weak stream dribbled over brown gorse through its middle and there were only weedy trees along ite “gala- mun- ....--- -,J -r, . _ b--------------------, Expires Oct. 31/91 Free Happy Hour Buffet Quinn's Specials 2 for 1 New York Steak Watch the World Series on K.W's Largest Screen Short JYlNNflliclllCtr t 31/91 Not valid with any other specials. 255 KING ST. W. V (IN THE KING VALEIE QENTRE) Tuesday and Sunday Wednesday-Friday 5:00-6:00 p.m. __ Chii"iiikk 571-9040 Ae FOR 1 ENTREE 15' Wings Monday _ - -- .. --... ”my, up "in wA' and-shell and chuckle on through half the night to recorded scratches per decoding memories 'Fr he knew all the right places to laugh. , Beside the house was a crumbling bam, the habitat of rusting machines and musty straw and a law rats that kids would kill when the Rh dents trespassed on school property. There were penalties for lrespassers going the other way too. Everyone had rules against visiting the Uttle place: parents, teachers. cops tt» ev. eryone. He was labelled a drunk eccentric hold. ing back town progress, a canker on the clear face of Smallville. The only people who tried to visit him, besides stealthy schoolboys. were health officials and lawyers, Granted, he didnt look like much. i mostly re- member him as grey. like his peeling house. His hair and beard were matted grey, he had an old grey lace and fingernails and even his clothes were weathered colorless. He always looked dirty somehow, but it was work-dirt from cattle herding and odd jobs. Bots would never take charity. His lace always showed the film of a 6ay's sweat, his rough hands were earth scarred, his Ateeth, slainéd dark from tkiild:; lions. ft was nothing you could ever label, just a sort of ethereal vomit. The house had sounds too: the rough cough of Bob's old hound or an ancient crackling crys- tal set barking into classes, or sometimes at night the scratching voices of comedians on old Victrola cylinders. Bob would crank up his box. and ALA“ __A AL . . -‘ The Waterloo Chronicle presents the winning entries in our 2nd Annual Short Story Contest GO BANANAS AT liRIJNCH ! 28 31 dim» Giiiiiiiiis _ h- Waterloo He would take us, a few, to help In his sunset cattle retrieval. Criss-crossing the stream wad- ing through goldenrod we walked In dusk maguc as we searched for strays. Old Bob would show us exotic weeds explaining thelr htstones Ilke each was a country. He would plck sweet fern and crush its scent out and we would walk In evening perfume. His ash stick nudged show beat or prlcked at ant hills and we would see m- sect worlds at our test, He spoke to us otten at cattle society. f ___ “"1 :1" “W“ 'w Fllrl5 in their vague way, enough to avord hen and his weird kingdom There were some, though, who did not try to avoid old Bob 'PV quite the re- verse, in fact Frequently boys too young tor tear would sneak into his rusting yard and lay In the dust at the old man's toot From a ragged arm chair on a sagging porch he would gun as his petulance subsided in sweet red wine It dribbled a bit through his chin hair. And he would teach them, not in Socrates but Simply In thoughts as he rambled his stories through pathways of nostalgia, No one ever really be. lieved him. We were beamnmn tho mm». in: lieved him. We weFe beginning ihé 56551 for greatness; he was finished with It, juice and red wnne. He had his comforts too No one liked him; his hermit gruttness made suburbanites uneasy, But they got used to him = M.-:. _ - -P - Brian Va law I: I mun“ rhotilt-tafhtghttandttmmi. " bun with; for a m trf your: and mum In " Mn " may!“ I tht id 1 Min! '/r,,'Ut ttUlf/g',',",' att", 'g I, ' a a llama!“ Itifktt Shy! Sum ”mama. so: in W7 stiiikri, tlttll?? Litton Mu than mm 165M -t1iiiiWii UnduS " " WATERLOO CHRONICLE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1991 _ PAGE At? OPEN CLASS We’ll“ you’lloseyour‘u- “when”: mow-mm- “mutiny: mum wanna tee.tt'sMreuttd, [Conunueo on page A42] 725-5050 l Waterloo’sl l NETWORK: PLUS ', BATTLE OF THE SEXES Sat. Oct. 26/91 Stamng at 9 p m featuring I l Guiden Eagle I 2 Loverboy COMING: Oct. 28 to Nov. 2 Jan Us Every Sunday for our -iiili'-!,-,-ti-f!-'-1'" SPOTLIGHT 1 2 3 Show mes- 12 30-5 00 930-1230 Mistress of Magic Miss Nude South America WE ND Y WHOPPERS SINGLES DANCE 7 00 _ 12 00 a m WMOdS 3 Waste"; Mustang BOLERA This Week Oct. 21 to 26 FREE ADMISSION but? tang I