spacious skies - 21. the millingtons

by american joe

part 21 of 40

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judge roy brown and georgia were well pleased with georgia’s preliminary conquest of roger millington iv at the prom. georgia had arranged with roger to visit him at his home the following afternoon at three o’clock. she arrived at exactly five minutes past three, in the new ford truck the judge had given her for graduation. she could have had any vehicle she wanted, but she liked manly things. there was one person even more thrilled by the turn of events than georgia and judge roy, and that was roger’s mother. the afternoon passed pleasantly. georgia charmed roger’s mother, who was named dawn. after fifteen minutes they were “georgia” and “dawn”, and not “miss brown” or “mrs millington”. what about roger himself? he kept quiet as the two females conversed so happily, and a strange feeling of foreboding crept over him as the sun descended slowly in the blue sky. roger found his mind wandering to the two creatures he had felt closest to in his brief life. the first was his toy soldier sergeant burdock, whom he had received as a present for his sixth birthday, and who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances when roger was fifteen years old, but who continued to visit roger in his dreams. the second was his dog randolph, whom he had received as a present for his seventh birthday, and who had been hit by a truck and killed when roger was twelve years old, breaking his heart beyond repair. randloph also continued to visit roger in his dreams. randolph had been known as “buck" when he was alive, the name being insisted upon by roger’s father, roger iii, who did not think “randolph" a properly doggy name for a young boy’s dog, especially a young boy such as roger, whose natural manliness seemed a weak sprout that needed nourishment. next