"You gotta baby plants up here," Marge said, as she carefully plucked a weed away from her cherished tomato. "Not like to home in Tennissy. "There, you coulda throwed a bolt on the ground, and up growed a Ford!"
Marge's spare plot of earth was tightly packed with spinach, leeks, radishes, potatoes, carrots and other assorted vegetables. Her favorite, tomato, had a select spot in the sun, with southern exposure. No space was wasted.
The twins were already learning to crawl. It was a slow, arduous process. Their little arms and legs kept getting tangled. Joe and Mary tried to coach them, but they had difficulty cooperating. One would try to go forward, the other back. Jerry often screamed in frustration and hit Joey.
"Here, come git this," Marge said, placing a juicy red raspberry on the ground in front of them. Jerry lurched forward. Joey tried, but couldn't make his limbs work as well as Jerry's. Jerry screamed and hit Joey, dragging him toward the prize. With a great lunge, he finally grabbed the enticing red fruit.
Joey began to cry. Marge gave him a raspberry too. Jerry immediately snatched it out of Joey's hand.
"Be nice, share with your brother," Mary said. She took the stolen fruit away from Jerry and handed it back to Joey. Jerry gave her a terrible look of outrage and howled. Joey smiled and gave the raspberry back to Jerry. Jerry greedily wolfed down both berries. Mary disapproved with a "tch...tch." Joe looked at her and shrugged.
Marge pulled Mary and Joe away to tour the rest of her garden. She was especially proud of her collection of herbs. "Too fur away to the drugstore or doctor," she said. "If you need something in a hurry, here 'tis."
Just when Mary started wondering what the twins were up to, she heard a menacing clicking sound coming from a bush. She turned, took a few steps toward the sound -- and froze. Inches away from the twins was a coiled rattlesnake, hissing and shaking its rattles. Before she could say, "No, stop!" Jerry leaped forward and scooped up the twins. Marge dispatched the snake with a hoe. "Hmph! First time I seed one inside my fence!" She tried to look matter-of-fact, but she was shaking as hard as Mary.
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