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.’‘Huh.’‘Yeah.Marge and I have got containers of water underneath our beds too.It’s valuable storage space.’‘So we’re sleeping on water beds.’ Dad positioned his hands to the side and acted as though someone had set him in a pool and he was ready to paddle away.Laughter bounced from wall to wall.Dad was a truly funny character and I was happy he was here.People like him are valuable assets during a depression- comic relief is never a bad thing.‘Okay, so let’s head outside, where you’ll see what used to be a vegetable garden.We’ve actually got a greenhouse in the community where the temperatures are regulated and so it does a lot better in these cold months than my little garden was able to do.’‘Gardening, I love it,’ mom did a little jumping dance to show her excitement.‘You know mom.If you’re interested.I can probably speak to one of the guys to see if they can put you on the greenhouse rotation.You’ll be there with some other lovely folk like yourself.’‘That sounds brilliant.’ Her face lit up and I could tell that she was truly happy that she’d be able to have a hobby to keep her mind off things.‘Okay.So mom will be running the garden and I’ll be running the supermarket.’‘It’s not a supermarket dad,’ I laughed.‘Surely has more stuff than the one in town did the last time Eleanor and I went.So I guess we can call it a super-super-market.’‘Stockpile,’ mom interrupted.I spun my head around so fast I was sure that I wouldn’t make it out of the basement without whiplash.‘Huh?’ I asked, focusing on her lips to see if the words really came from her or if it was Marge who, somehow, started to sound like my mother.‘You said it’s called a stockpile, didn’t you.’‘Oh mom,’ I threw my arm around her shoulder, ‘I’m so proud of you.I knew there was a prepper in there somewhere.’She snuggled her head into my shoulder and smiled.***The rest of the day went rather slowly.There wasn’t much to do, other than sit around and catch up on life.However, when it came to mom and dad, the humor was more interesting than any adventure they had embarked on- because, well, their highlight of the month was going to the farmer’s market.In the evening, I’d planned on taking them to a prepper meeting and getting them acquainted with the group.I would be the only member who had brought in family, in light of the situation that was going on.Those who had parents and children living in the city were the first to open invitations to Cherry Hills.Urban areas were the worst.There wasn’t a day that went by where stores and entire neighborhoods didn’t have to deal with robbers.Banks were being torched.Protests were alive and kicking and the police were hardly capable of containing the mess that society was turning into.Though I’d jumped in fright at the thought of mom and dad getting hurt in their neighborhood, I knew that they were a lot safer than they’d be, had they lived smack in the city.However, it’s better to be safe than sorry and so, my move to get them out of there as quickly as I did, had been the right one.***‘This looks like some kind of cult,’ dad fussed.He wasn’t a guy who enjoyed the cold of winter and thus, having to go on the two minute walk from the car to the auditorium stirred him the wrong way.‘Dad.We talked about you being on your best behavior today,’ I warned.‘I know.I know.This is important and all that but come on, you’re headed to a church for a meeting and everyone just looks so… uptight.’‘They’re all really lovely people and trust me, uptight is the last word that you’ll be able to call anyone in this group.Plus, it’s an auditorium, not a church.’Behind us, mom and Marge were engaged in conversation that didn’t allow for dad and me to get in the way.I figured they were either talking about mom knitting hats for the baby or just how adorable of a child we’ll have.Whatever it was, I was overjoyed that mom was on her best behavior.Though she’d been pleasant the entire time she’d been here- bar waking up before the sun- she too, could be a handful.‘Alright dad,’ I said as we approached the crowd that had gathered to the right of the auditorium.‘I’m telling you now,’ dad replied, tucking his hands in his pockets, ‘if y’all start praying, I’m out.’I shook my head before nodding the group who looked in our direction as we walked past.Though I wasn’t usually late, I don’t think I’ve ever- until today- been early enough to witness the gathering around that was done prior to the beginning of our meetings.I instructed dad to make his way to the front, where our seats were and I stepped back to speak to Tommy who was busy jotting something down in his journal.‘How’s it going, bud,’ I grabbed his attention.‘Oh boy, there’s so much to go over today,’ he tapped his pen on the pad of paper, ‘I just don’t know where to get started.’‘Yeah.Well I’m sure you’ll figure it all out.Say, I’m planning on skipping out to town in the middle of the week to boost up the stockpile.I would appreciate it if you could get everyone to 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