More of My Newest Endeavor

Toby took the telegram and closed the front door. He stood in the hall staring down at the envelope. He had never gotten a telegram before, or a letter or a postcard. He carefully tore open the envelope and slipped out a small, thin sheet of yellow-ish paper.

Toby Turnkettle Stop

He did stop. And he was very confused, until he remembered from an old movie he once saw that telegrams use the word Stop in place of that punctuation dot known as a period. He read on.

Your great-uncle Sylvester Turnkettle has died Stop He has left his estate to you Stop Please report to the mansion this Friday July 8 at ten am Stop The address is 47 Bumblebeech Lane, Lesterville Stop Bring five dollars Stop

Most children who received a note of this kind would barrel into the kitchen to tell their moms all about it. Toby was like most children in the sense that he desperately wanted to do that. But he was unlike a lot of children in that he could not. His parents were not living with him at home. You will recall they were dreaming in sugar comas.