Singed Synapses and Deranged Dendrites

Points for Creativity (#time)

It was time to clean the garage. Some varmint had tracked corn all over the floor. To Catherine's dismay the corn appeared to have come from the bean bags that accompanied a game of corn hole that nobody had used in a decade. A feast for a rat, she thought.  

Catherine's husband Wade helped half-heartedly, most of the items in the garage having predated their marriage. 

"Why do you have four rakes?" he asked.

Duplications and mystery items were inevitable after many years of having a rotating cast of roommates. When an item was needed someone went out and bought a new one. Catherine and Wade had had a similar experience reconciling the kitchen ware when Wade had moved in. 

"This heavy wood crate takes up too much space for just the few garden tools it can hold," reported Wade.

Catherine agreed. The small items inside were also no longer needed. They carried all of it to the curb and taped a sign that read 'free' to the crate. 

A few hours later Catherine checked the curb. The crate was still there but its contents were all gone. 

I really don't want to haul this heavy thing to the dump, she thought. Then an idea struck and she went back into the house and found another piece of paper and a pen. 

"What are you doing now?" asked Wade.

"Getting rid of the crate," replied Catherine.

She returned to the curb and taped the new sign onto the crate. Then she went for a walk around the park. 

Forty-five minutes later she returned and to her delight the crate was gone. She returned to the house.

"Where is that old vacuum cleaner we don't use anymore?" she asked Wade.

"In the basement," replied Wade. "Why?"

Catherine didn't answer but went downstairs and returned a minute later with the vacuum cleaner. Then she got out another piece of paper and wrote another sign, taped it onto the vacuum and brought it out to the curb. 

As she closed the front door, Wade walked over to the front window and saw a car stop and a woman get out to read the sign on the vacuum. Then she opened up the trunk of her car and put it in and drove off again.

"What's your new secret to getting rid of stuff?" Wade asked Catherine.

"Well," she said, "I made a sign for the crate that said 'free ghost puppies (if you decide to take them you might want to bring the crate to to carry them in).'"

"That's creative," replied Wade, "especially so close to Halloween. And how did you 'sell' the hoover?"

"I wrote 'Soul sucker, works well," said Catherine. "Do we have anything else we need to get rid of?"