A Man In The Grass
Carl stumbled on the surprising guest
Carl Monroe, in his casual blue & brown summer clothes with a blue Duke cap on his head, allowed himself to take in the humidity that was around him after coming outside. It was 92 degrees Fahrenheit in Leland, North Carolina, on July 4th.
While many of his neighbors were preparing to unleash or watch fireworks later at night or have a cookout, there was only one activity in Carl’s mind since the week started: cutting grass in his front and back yard. Carl had his eyes on his 2018 Orange Riding Lawn Mower, which was further down near the left side of his mobile home.
He walked to the machine while the tall grass in his front yard stood still in front of several Eastern Red Cedar trees. Each step Carl took left a big footprint in the dirt on his walking path. He eventually arrived at the lawn mower while hearing small birds singing in the trees in his backyard.
Carl quickly sat down in his lawn mower seat. Dust and small pieces of grass were all inside his lawn mower. Carl grabbed his lawn mower key from his left pants pocket and put it in the small ignition hole. Once he felt the key was inside the hole, he cranked the key to the left, turning the lawn mower on.
The loud roaring sound of the lawn mower drowned out every other noise that was in the area. Carl was excited to start cutting grass in his yard. He pondered for a couple of seconds before deciding to cut the grass in his backyard since his lawn mower was closer to the back of his mobile home than the front part.
Carl slowly let his lawn mower glide towards the backyard. He quickly heard grass being cut underneath his feet. Hearing that pleasant sound made him think of getting his hair cut at the barbershop he goes to in the main part of Leland.
Carl kept gliding through the tall grass that was in his pathway and felt accomplished the more he drove in his backyard. The tall grass that was near the end of Carl’s yard made him want to drive in that direction. So he proceeded to the tall grass that awaited him.
While driving, Carl saw what looked like two green human eyes staring at him in a sea of grass above. The eyes startled Carl. He quickly stopped driving his lawn mower and kept staring at the eyes.
The eyes remained locked on him. The being inside the grass began rising from the ground. Carl felt uneasy and defensive about the being that looked like a Caucasian male. The man had on a torn white t-shirt, torn grey jogging pants, and black and white Champion shoes.
‘‘What the?’’ Carl said silently. ‘‘Who are you? What are you doing in my yard?’’
The man remained silent and kept looking at Carl with suspicion. His deer-like movement made Carl even more confused.
‘‘Hey, I mean no harm. I’ll… just… head back inside my mobile home, okay?’’ Carl stuttered on his lawn mower.
The unusual man thought for a few seconds about his next move. He then began hopping like a rabbit away towards some Eastern Red Cedar trees. This action stunned Carl by what he had just seen.
A relaxed Lexi Monroe sat on a burgundy couch in her black Storm X-Men shirt and white shorts near a blasting air conditioner, watching her favorite soap opera, One Life to Live. She enjoyed being lost in her world again, inside and outside her mind, and being home with her man, Carl.
Lexi heard the white screen door open wide and felt a wave of heat come inside the mobile home. Her eyes gave the scene her complete attention. She saw her husband come in slowly and have a dazed look. A worried Lexi sat up on the couch and kept her eyes on Carl.
‘‘Hun, are you alright?’’ asked Lexi.
‘‘No, I don’t think I’m alright,’’ Carl answered. I saw something very bizarre.’’
‘‘What was it? What did you see?’’ Lexi leaned a little for Carl’s answer.
‘‘I saw… a man in the backyard.’’ Carl remained still and kept standing.
‘‘A…what? He wasn’t dead…Was he?’’ Lexi asked concernedly.
‘‘No, oh no, this man is alive. He was chilling in the grass like an animal, then he rose and looked at me like I came from another planet, then he hopped away like a rabbit.’’
The last part Carl mentioned made Lexi laugh out loud.
‘‘I’m serious, I saw this man… hop… like a rabbit.’’
Carl began to laugh along with Lexi. They laughed for three minutes before silence took over the living room.
‘‘Well, I hope the man is okay or will get okay,’’ Lexi said, breathing the silence.
‘‘Yeah, me too.’’
‘‘You know, it’s the summertime, Carl. All kinds of people come out in the summer.’’
‘‘True, but this is new, even for summer standards.’’
Meanwhile, further away in the woods near the Monroes, the hopping man kept hopping towards a grey rabbit that was waiting for him. Once the man got within an inch of the rabbit, he stopped hopping.
‘‘ I don’t see any carrots on you, Derek. Where are the carrots?’’ asked the grey rabbit.
‘‘I couldn’t find any in this area. I looked hard for them, but nothing came up.’’ Derek said with his head down.
‘‘Some carrot finder you are!’’ the grey rabbit shouted. ‘‘You’re dismissed, Derek. Take a hike.’’
‘‘Good! All this hopping was wearing on my knees anyway.’’ Derek stormed off and was already thinking about job hunting again.
‘‘I put my life on the line for this ungrateful creature, and this is the thanks I get,’’ Derek mumbled.
The grey rabbit shook his head at a fading Derek.
‘‘Now I have to put out another ad on Indeed.com for a Carrot Hunter.’’
Thanks for reading!
Interesting plot, Gerald