A Bandicoot Holiday. Sherman E. Hister

me put it in neutral,” he shouts, giving a thumbs-up then goes to the front of the car.

      The mud had hardened enough from the night’s cold air that Wayne doesn’t get stuck or slip as he walks toward the driver’s side of the car. He opens the driver-side door and leans into the compartment to put the car in neutral. Quail notices the car jerk when Wayne shifts it into gear. Wayne pulls himself out of the car and motions Quail to start backing up. Quail slowly reverses the tractor to tighten the chain. Once the chain is pulled tight, the car slowly moves backward out of the mud and snow heap it was stuck in. Once the car is back on the road, Quail loosens the chain by rolling closer to the back end of the car. Then he puts the tractor in park so he and Wayne can detach the chain from each four-wheeled machine. They shake on a job well done.

      Wayne rolls up the chain then hands it to Quail while saying, “Let me see if it starts, then I’ll follow you back to the house.”

      “Gotcha!” Quail shouts over the tractor’s running engine.

      The sun was beginning to cascade light on the surrounding area. Quail climbed into the tractor’s seat and chuckled to himself as he watched his brother stuff the mud-covered blanket into his trunk. Wayne slams the trunk and rubs his hands on his jeans before looking in the tractor’s direction. Then he shakes his head while smirking back at Quail with this “I know I’m and idiot” look. Wayne walks to the front of his car and gets in. The lights come on, and the car starts at Wayne’s first turn of the key. As Quail wheels around in the tractor, Wayne does the same in his mud-soaked car before they both head for their parents’ house.

      By the time the two brothers reach their parents’ residence, the sun is already on the back of the house. Wayne parks his car while Quail drives the tractor back to the barn it came from. Wayne walks in as his younger brother parks the tractor in its designated spot. The tractor rumbles to a stop, startling some of the scattered dairy cows.

      “Want to milk these heifers then see if Mom will rustle up some breakfast.” Wayne says in an exuberant tone.

      Quail likes the idea but asks, “Don’t you have to be getting up to the office soon?”

      “Nope! I let Juna May know I wouldn’t be in until around lunchtime.”

      Quail approves. “Yeah, lets milk these dairy monsters then get something to eat. I’ve been hungry since we woke up.” Quail says this to his brother then motions toward a stack of stools. “I’ll get the clean buckets out of the washer.”

      Wayne opens the sliding doors of the washer. He grabs two buckets that have already been cleaned. He and Quail trade a bucket for a stool then begin milking. They do this like clockwork.

      Halfway through the herd, they both look up after hearing their mother’s voice. “Boys, are you hungry?” Samantha Rivers was standing near the barn’s entrance, watching them work.

      “Yes, ma’am,” they both respond accordingly.

      “Do you guys want pancakes or eggs with bacon or both?”

      The two brothers agree by saying “Both!”

      Mrs. Rivers leaves the barn while they continue milking.