WORDZZLE #46

Next Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: tuna on rye, ghost hunters, I'm as corny as Kansas in August, sympathetic ear, science fiction, muffler, cavernous, giraffes, prospecting, paraphenalia

The men came into the little town of Prospect looking for a auto repair shop. The car's muffler had broken and they needed to get it fixed immediately. While waiting, they found a tiny little cafe called Nannie Faye's for lunch and to ask for directions to the mines. Nannie Faye came to their table and while they talked, she sensed they needed a sympathetic ear. So she sat down and they told her they were ghost hunters, hired by the city council to decide once and for all if these frightening visions the miners had seen were real or not.

It would seem that Nannie Faye had lived in Prospect for a long time and knew of all the rumors. She called it science fiction and said there was nothing to it but talk. Their orders were up and she returned with tuna on rye sandwiches for the men. Nannie Faye said " You know a lot of folks believe they have see giant giraffes in those mines. The men's eyes widened with excitement. "Please tell us more?" "Oh phooy!" she said. "OK, I 'll tell you what I know."

It all started late one August night when the moon was full and you could see everything. Some of the local miners had just finished their late shifts in that cavernous pit. Tired but filled with a little mischief, they decided to play a joke on the new hand. They ask Mike if he would like to go to the local tavern and raise a few beers. Off the headed to get drunk. After four hours in the bar, the headed home, but one of the men said he needed to go back to the mine to get his equipment and prospecting paraphenalia .

Mike was three sheets to the wind by now and could not make a coherent sentence. So he stayed in the truck while the others went into the office. Remember, Mike is drunk, the moon is full and the shadows do strange things in that pit. Mike dozed off and when he awoke, he was startled as he saw a giant giraffe coming towards him! He did not know what to think and sank down in the truck, all the while holding his breath and not moving an inch.

He whispered to himself, " I'm as corny as Kansas in August," and then the giant shadow came into the light. Whew, Mike was really scared, but when he opened his eyes he saw a huge yellow crane, he laughed at himself for imagining that was a giraffe. The men were laughing so hard at Mike! This was their ritual to welcome the new guy to the mines. Older miners had played it on them and now they were doing the same to Mike. Of course, Mike would have to endure lots of jokes at his expense. So you see that is how the rumors got started. Gossip went from house to house and the story got so strecthed that no one knew what the truth was.

The men curiously ask Nannie Faye how she new the truth? She said, "Well, that was my baby brother they played that trick on and if you don't want the same thing to happen to you , then you better get out of town." They paid their ticket, left a nice tip and went to get their car out of the shop. "That was quite a story! What are we going to tell the city council? You know that we have to investigate this hilarious story? Are you sure we want to do that?" Maybe not.

Mini Challenge: Key Lime Pie, porcupine, Library of Congress, fingernails, spell-bound

It is believed the Library of Congress list Key Lime pie as one of the first pies made in Key West. Long ago, limes were suppose to make you spell-bound from the taste of the lime. You used your fingernails to grate the skin of the lime or else porcupine quills.