---MYSTERIOUS WAYS~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----MORE THAN COINCIDENCE~~
--WHEN I WAS A GIRL, it was a treat to visit Grandpa and Grandma. I loved their German accents. Grandpa always made time to play with me. He could be stern, but he was kind--and sometimes I deserved a good scolding. "I tell you, stay out! I don't vant you to get hurt!" he'd say if I tried to play with his tools in the garage.I'd ask him questions I had about the world, like what was behind the stars?
"More stars, of course!" he'd say.
This particular day, my parents were quiet in the car on the way to my grandparents' house. I didn't mind. I was already thinking about the fun things I'd do with Grandpa. "You run along and say hi to Grandma. Dad and I have to talk," Mom said as we pulled up.
I burst into the house. Grandma was at the stove.
"Come, dear. I give you zoup," she said. Usually Grandma leaned down and gave me a kiss but this time she just took the pot off the stove and put it in the sink to cool. I went over and peered into the pot. Inside the steaming liquid was a whole fish looking right at me!
"Ugh, Grandma! There's a fish!"
"Susan, you don't vorry about that. Go play outside and I'll call vhen it's finished," Grandma said.
'Good,' I thought. I could find Grandpa.
I went out back and ran to the chicken coop, but he wasn't there. Was Grandpa playing hide-and-seek with me? He was probably tinkering with something in the garage. I poked around, looking behind shelves, even under the car.
Where was he?
Then came an unmistakable voice, sterner than I'd ever heard him. "Susan, get out now!" 
I bolted from the garage, with tears in my eyes from the reprimand.
I turned. "I'm sorry, Grandpa---" I started to say. No one was there. Just then, a giant metal pail, almost as big as I was, came crashing down from the rafters and landed right where I'd been standing.
I ran as quickly as I could to the house. My parents and grandma were sitting at the kitchen table.
"A big pail came crashing down. It would have hit me if Grandpa hadn't yelled. I couldn't find him. I'm sorry---"
"It's okay, Susan," my father said. "We have something to tell you. Grandpa's not here. He went to Heaven last night."~~ 
--GUIDEPOSTS/SBY ~ ------
