The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2004, Síða 37

Vol. 59 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
35
ment for one night, but no-one wanted to
go back to bed until each had had the
opportunity to tell the story from his or
her point of view. My father made hot
chocolate for everyone as my mother
* cleaned the gasoline off the floor and
opened a window to help get rid of the
odour. Everyone was glad that the officer
had shown up when he did, except Brian,
who said that he and Dad could have han-
dled Mr. Larson, at which I noticed my
father rolling his eyes behind Brian's back.
All Lisa had to say about the Mountie was
that he looked as if he had had a glass eye,
which she hoped would never happen to
Wes, because she felt it was (as she
expressed it) "totally gross." After drinking
our hot chocolate, we all turned in and got
some rest.
Things quieted down considerably
after that. My siblings and I had no more
major misunderstandings, and although we
did of course get on one another's nerves
from time to time, it never developed into
anything more than a few arguments. Mr.
Larson did not come back, and his house
eventually went up for sale. I looked for
stories of his case in the paper, but had no
luck, so eventually I gave up. My parents
were happy to be finished with the entire
affair and things returned to normal.
I often thought about that winter in
later years; I had my own theories about
the discord that had insidiously grown in
our home, although I had to admit that
whatever the cause, it was made worse by
the decided lack of communication
between my siblings and I. Although I have
never raised the issue with my family, I
believe that Mr. Larson had something to
do with it, that he was more than a mali-
cious arsonist. However, I have to admit
that whatever he may have done, he had
done it without attracting much attention;
far from being a loud, obnoxious neigh-
W bour, he was definitely low-key.
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