It only seems like yesterday.
***
But now a new chapter has begun.
Dirk and Dora finally made their long awaited return to the Sack yesterday. The street was abuzz from afternoon until night. It was, as Oscar described it, a most predictable return.
***
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, a familiar blue car drove into the Sack. It contained Dirk, Dora and a young red-haired woman. The young woman is rumoured to be Dora's niece, the same person who was the apparent target of the fire last August.
Dora and her niece proceeded into the house. Dirk stayed behind to unload some things from the car. He made three trips between the car and the house. During each trip, Dirk carried a large case of beer into the house.
***
About thirty minutes later, Dirk left the house. He was back within the hour accompanied by two men who were easily recognizable as friends of Burning Manor.
One of the men was the spitting image of the aging rocker, David Crosby (from the years immediately preceding his liver transplant).
Dirk and his two buddies each carried another case of beer into the house. The man who looked like David Crosby (before the liver transplant) wore a yellow T-shirt with the following inscription:
One Tequila.
Two Tequila.
Three Tequila.
Floor.
All Oscar would say after the men when into the house was, "Aw, crap."
***
Later in the evening, another car arrived at Burning Manor. It carried two more friends and two more cases of beer. Approximately one hundred and ninety-two bottles of beer had now entered Burning Manor within a six-hour period.
In fairness, it is common to have beer available during a move. Yet, throughout the day, no one in the Sack saw a stick of furniture or a single cardboard box show up at the house.
Computer Doug lives next door to Burning Manor. He is savvy to the ways and means of Dirk and Dora's parties. He thinks we're merely witnessing the "pre-move celebrations," rather than the actual move.
Unfortunately, he's probably right about this.
***
Reactions to the return of Dirk and Dora have been consistent and predictable.
Most people simply stopped what they were doing and gaped as they observed the steady parade of beer-carrying friends into Burning Manor. Oscar said it was the same look people have when they drive by a minor car accident.
***
The strongest reaction, of course, came from Elizabeth.
By all accounts, she was already at her limit of rage, before Dirk and Dora returned. But something happened to inch her ire into previously uncharted territory.
Earlier in the day, a van from the old town's cable company arrived at Burning Manor. Apparently, Dirk and Dora's television and telephone services were being installed. Shortly after the van departed, Elizabeth tried to use her telephone. The line, according to Elizabeth, was "dead as a doornail."
Elizabeth believes that the cable company somehow disconnected her telephone when they connected Burning Manor's. She came to the Wonders' house and called the cable company. She gave them a very large piece of her mind. She demanded that her phone be repaired immediately. The cable company would only promise to come today and set things right.
Oscar says Elizabeth should be careful when she's giving people a piece of her mind. He thinks she's getting perilously close to having none of it left.
I think he could be right about this.
***
So the next chapter begins in the life of Burning Manor.
The weekend weather is expected to be rainy. This should put a damper on any outdoor Burning Manor shenanigans for the moment.
Some Sack residents are wringing their hands with worry about what Dirk and Dora have in store for us. This is hardly surprising when an act of arson occurs on your street.
For the moment, I'm keeping an optimistic view of the whole affair. Firstly, it's not often that one gets front row seats to anything. And we actually have front row seats for the whole season of Burning Manor shenanigans.
Secondly, from an entertainment perspective, the return of the Burning Manor show is quite timely. The last episode of The Sopranos is scheduled for this weekend and we'll be getting rid of our digital cable.
And we don't have to pay the cable company anything to watch Burning Manor.
***
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