There was a carnival-like atmosphere in The Sack as the demolition began. A very odd, creepy kind of carnival, but a carnival nonetheless.
It was more than a little ironic that Burning Manor would come down on Halloween. The trick, Oscar says, will be if Dirk and Dora return to a new Burning Manor. It will be a treat if they don't.
***
An unusually high number of people seemed to be at home for this fateful day. Oscar claims that almost everyone took the day off just to see Burning Manor get demolished.
If you're a junior high school kid in the old town and you had a supply teacher on Monday, there's a pretty good chance your real teacher was at home in The Sack watching a house getting trashed.
***
A convoy of small trucks pulled into The Sack at exactly nine o'clock in the morning. A crew of workers clad in yellow hard hats gathered around the excavator parked on the front lawn of Burning Manor.
Amongst the crew were two fellows who were more smartly-attired than the rest. They stood off to the side looking at some blueprints.
They were the engineers.
***
I am told that the process of tearing down the two-story structure was fascinating to observe.
The workers had to tear it down without causing damage to the adjacent houses. They had the added pressure of doing it in front of the owners of the houses on either side of Burning Manor. One of the owners, of course, is Elizabeth.
Talk about pressure.
***
The demolition, however, went off without a hitch.
They dismantled the house, charred contents and all, within about three hours. What remained was a mountain of wood, shingles, siding, drywall and worthless personal effects.
After the demolition was complete, a parade of dump trucks lumbered into The Sack. The debris was quickly transferred to the trucks and before the day was over, all that remained of Burning Manor was its foundation.
The last thing the workers did was erect a bright-orange snow fence around the foundation.
***
Watching all of this was Dirk.
Sources say he was required to be present during the demolition. I'm not sure if this is true or not. Of course, I've never had my house torn down before.
Touch wood.
***
A group of curious Sack residents held court throughout the day.
At the centre of the crowd was Elizabeth. She had to pay a five hundred dollar deductible when her charred siding was replaced. As folks in these parts like to say, "She's still some mad about it."
Surprisingly, Elizabeth did not accost Dirk as previously threatened. She would prefer that Dirk and Dora stay away from The Sack for good. She says her five hundred bucks would be well spent if she never sees the backs of them again.
If they do come back, Elizabeth says she expects Dirk to "fork over some dough."
***
Instead of approaching Dirk, Elizabeth did something else.
She disappeared into her house and returned with a large tray containing freshly-brewed coffee and matching cups. She also had some homemade banana bread.
That's right. . . banana bread.
***
Elizabeth made a big production of serving coffee and banana bread to everyone. She even offered some to the workers. She didn't offer any to Dirk.
She spoke in an overly loud voice, telling everyone that "today was a day of celebration."
She asked everyone to be extra careful with their cups and saucers. Apparently, she was using her good china for this affair.
She said she only takes out the good china for "special occasions"
***
All of this, of course, was meant for Dirk's ears. He was clearly keeping his distance from the crowd, spending most of his time inside his car. The only time he got out was to inspect a photo album that was retrieved from the house. He glanced at it briefly, then tossed it in the back of a parked dump truck.
Mrs. Wonders says Dirk definitely would have heard Elizabeth's performance. She said Elizabeth was speaking in the manner of a seasoned actress, always conscious of projecting her voice to a large audience.
***
I must admit to feeling sorry for Dirk as he would have watched his house being demolished. I say this even though, indirectly, he almost caused real harm to all of us.
It must have been like watching his whole life reduced to a mountain of garbage. I'm not sure if anyone would feel good about something like that.
At the very least, let's hope this becomes a bit of a turning point for both Dirk and Dora.
***
Tomorrow: More about Demolition Day in The Sack.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment