[Madeline and April were sitting at Grandpas eating dinner. They were at the dining room table when, Grandpa noticed Madeline slipping her peas and carrots underneath the rug, in the vent, in the dogs mouth. Basically, she was putting them anywhere she could find. When dinner was over, Madeline and Grandpa stayed at the table to watch some television, while April gathered up the dishes and went into the kitchen to wash. As Grandpa and Madeline sat together at the table, he noticed a peas on the floor and since April and Madeline were just alike, he knew exactly how they had gotten there. That little girl is hiding her vegetables under the rug. God, she’s just like her mother.]


“I’m going to tell you a story today Madeline. I’m going to tell you about something that happened to me a long, long time ago; when your mother was just a few years older than you are now.”, said Grandpa, 66.
“Really Grampaw?” shouted Madeline, 6, “Is it a good one? Is it? Is it?”, as she leaped into her grandfathers lap.
“Well I sure do like to think so, but you’ll have to be the judge of that; wont you, little Madeline?” he said as he smiled a watermelon slice sized grin, and pulled her close.
“It was 1964 at the time; I remember this because my favorite program aired for the first time that year, Gilligan’s Island.”
“Oooohh I like Gilligan Island too, we’re just the same. Aren’t we Grampaw?”
As Grandpa gazed into Madelines’ eyes he said, “Yes we are, Maddy. Yes we are.”
“Yep!” said Madeline in her happiest of tones.
He continued on with the story:
“I was standing in the doorway right there”, he said pointing straight ahead of them.
Madeline nods her head, agreeing.
“It was just in front of the table we’re at right now.”
“What was Grampaw?” Madeline said, dying to know.
“It was a bump.”
“A bump?” she said in a what are you talking about, have you gone mad old man? kind of voice.
“Yeah, a bump. It was right down there.” he said as he pointed towards the ground.
“For a little bit I stood in front of it, just staring at it, trying to figure out what the hell…”
“Grampaw! You said a bad word.” Shouted Madeline.
“Well I'm sorry, I forget your just a young’ in sometimes.” He paused, “Well, anyway let me get on with the story:
I was trying to figure out what the HECK it could possibly be, but all I could come up with was your mother.
“Momma? No, she’d never do nothin’ wrong.”
“Well, I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, I just figured she was tryin’ to play another one of her tricks on me, because don’ch’ya’no she was just like you are, when she was a little girl. Always getting into things, tryin’ to trick me, makin’ messes all over the place.”
“She was?!” said Madeline in amazement.
“Ever since your gram’ ma had passed...”
“How’d she die Grampaw?”
“Well…”, as he sighed, “…lets save that story for another time. Why don’t we?”
“Awright.”
Continuing with the story:
“After passing the bump on my way to the T.V. I plopped down on the sofa couch to watch my favorite show. Gilligan was so funny, it’s like he got funnier and funnier, each episode.”
It had been about 15 minutes into the brand new episode, that I was so excited about seeing, when I heard some sort of scramble. What was that? I thought to myself, as I looked over the couch. I skimmed the room, looking for something out of place, trying to figure out what that noise was or if I was just hearing things; when I noticed that bump in the rug had moved.
I know you’re probably thinking ‘bout now, man Grampaw you’re nuts, and you have every right to think so; to be quite frank I would too. But before you go thinking those things, let me get on with the story so you know what it was.
The bump had moved, or so it seemed, but I wasn’t going to let myself believe that. Am I going insane? Did that bump really move? I could have sworn it was right in front of the table, but now its right in the middle of the room. I’m just crazy that bump never moved, I’m just seein’ things.
I went on with watching my program; it was almost over when it happened again.
“What was the bump Grampaw? What was under that rug?” Madeline said, completely enthused.
Grandpa cleared his throat and proceeded to say, “You have to wait until the story’s over to find out.”
Madeline started pouting, as he finished the story:
“This time I paid no mind to it though, and I continued to watch the Professor try to make a radio out of coconuts and foil, but every time he had it workin, that old Gilligan would just break it again.
I had started shaking and clenching my sweaty hands into fists, as I lifted my knees onto the couch to rock myself in a calming, back and forth motion.
I was scanning the room, with beady little eyes in the most proficient way I could, looking for something to blame the noises and movements on. There was nothing. No one was in the room besides me, I had no pets, and bugs don’t make that loud of a sound. At this time April was now out of the picture as the disturbance because, she was upstairs fast asleep. Who could it be? What is in my house? Is someone taking over my home? Something really weird is going on here, but what is it?
I tried shutting my eyes for a bit to take a little nap and to forget all about that bump, and how it was movin’ my eyes on me.
Just moments after I shut my eyes it happened again. Oh my god its back. This time I was going to find out what it was.
“What was it Grampaw? What was it? I just gotta know!” whined Madeline.
“Get some patience girl! You’re just like your momma.” Grandpa giggled, continuing with the story:
“I got up off of the couch and walked hesitantly over to the mysterious lump under the carpet, and lifted up the rug to find…”
“What’d you find?” she paused, and then, “Huh?” Grandpa started laughing at Madeline, and how just alike her and her mother were; It was like havin' his little April back home.
Laughing he told her, “Vegetables! They were vegetables!”
Madeline turned red in the face, and said, “Vegetables? huh? I wonder how they got under there...”
“Yeah, I wonder how they got there too; because they weren’t just any regular ol’ vegetables… they were moldy, rotten, vegetables.” Told Grandpa.
“What?” Madeline said in amazement.

“You see your mother hated eating her vegetables, just like you.”
“What are you talking about Grampaw? I always eat my vegetable; I love ‘em.” she said unconvincingly.
“Hah, yeah, okay…” he went on, ”Anyway…so every night at dinner when I wasn’t looking, or when I would leave the room she would shove them underneath that rug, just like you did tonight.”
“I’m sorry Grampaw,” she told.
Grandpa looked at her, all-knowingly.
“And one day, you know what those vegetables you hate eating so much turned into?”
“What?” she said curiously.
“They turned into… A LITTLE GIRL EATING MONSTER!!” he said, with his hands up by his face, and his fingers in a claw like stance.
Madeline ran away screaming, “Mommy! Mommy!”
Madeline ran straight into her mother, almost knocking her down, and squeezed her so tight that she practically cut off the circulation to her legs.

April hugged her back softly, and then slightly pushed her back, saying, “Maddy, calm down. What’s wrong?” while Grandpa lay in his chair laughing louder than the footsteps of a giant, with a raunchy rumble, “Now Dad, what kind of story did you tell her?”, April asked.

“Well, I don’t know what you’re talking about April. I didn’t tell her no story I never told you when you were young.”

“Well that’s not sayin’ a lot, now is it?” she said in a very stern voice.

“I was just playin’ with her April.”

“See Madeline, he was just playin’ around. It’s okay.”

The three of them moved to the couch to watch T.V. for the night. They got all snuggled up close under a blanket, and watched Gilligans Island, Grandpas favorite.

“Which one did you tell her anyway?”

“The one about the little girl eatin’ monster.”

April sat up and turned around with an amazed look upon her face and said, “The one about the vegetables?”

“Yeah,” he said laughing.

“I can’t believe you would do that. You know how much I hated that one.”

“She’s fine.”

“Yeah, I know; but no more stories for Madeline. Okay?” April said lifting her eyebrows.

“Okay, ruin all my fun.”, he said in a bratty two-year-old tone.

“Now you…” April said, before getting cut off by Grandpa,
“I’m just kiddin’, don’t get all riled up.”

“Alright… I guess you bothered learned your lesson tonight.”

“We sure did!” said Madeline and Grandpa with a big smile and in unison,
when they heard a scramble coming from the dining room. Grandpa gulped loudly, and the girls screamed, “Ahhhh!”, right in Grandpas’ ear, scaring him half to death; and the girls giggled and giggled at how they turned his trick around on him this time.