Synopsis: Two Blocks from Slab Town is based on the actual events of Cissy, an eight year old girl, growing up in a Southern, rural town during the 1960's. Her father was a World War II veteran suffering from a post traumatic stress disorder. Cissy lives two blocks from Slab Town, an area where homes were made out of rough, slabs of wood. These huts provided little protection from its predatory environment, animal as well as human. Cissy's mother was a clairvoyant, while her father was a clairsentient. She was able to survive and protect those around her by unleashing her sixth sense. As Cissy, I was glad to have this experience. I learned that a single flame can cut through the darkness making its own path.
Two Blocks from Slab Town The Scissorsby Joey Boon 
Posted: 14:00 December 20, 2009
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
Emily Dickinson
In memory of our mother, Amelia
When Cissy and I were growing up, there’s one thing I will never forget - it’s how we couldn’t find this particular pair of scissors that our mother was so insistent on locating. I don’t know if they were made out of gold, or some other precious metal, but they sure meant a lot to Mom. And when she couldn’t find them, it was always our fault.
Now, I had lost many things throughout my childhood. And, every time I asked Mom just where she thought they might be, she always said to me," Look behind the shed! "I did what she told me to, and one day, realized that she was just telling me that to keep me busy for a while.
I remember telling Cissy," I can’t believe that I’m lookin’ back here - behind this shed - and I can’t find a darn thing that I’ve lost and am lookin’ for!" She looked at me like she couldn’t believe just what I was sayin’ and barked, "Are you as stupid as you sound. I mean do you really think you’re ever gonna find anything back here behind this shed besides maybe your own shadow?!!"
Well, that was probably the first time I’d shed a new light on Cissy - apparently, she wasn’t quite as dumb as she obviously looked. You see, she was my sister…… and way back then, well I don’t think any of my friends cared that much about girls and the way they looked, besides. Anyhow, I’d spent just about enough time behind that shed and still didn’t have any clues as to where those stinkin’ pair of scissors were.
One thing was for sure, though, you’d better not wake Mom up before 9:00a.m. in the morning. Cissy and I were playin’ one morning and I remember her sayin’ to me," Ssshh!!! You’re playin’ too loud! You’re gonna wake up Mom and you know what’s gonna happen then, don’cha??!" Well, I’d been on the receiving end of that big ole’ black belt more than once and knew exactly what she meant. Of course, the obvious happened! - We woke up Mom…and before 9:00a.m.
I don’t think it mattered all that much to Mom just who’s fault it was at the time, but she and that big ole’ black belt - we called him "Blacky" - tore our butts up….I mean to the point where I really didn’t care about sittin’ down for a couple of hours, or so.
Now, our Mom was on the short side of life. She had a hard time getting things down from the second shelf in the kitchen cabinet. Well, you see, she barely stood over 5 feet tall. But, as they say, dynamite comes in small packages - and our mom had no shortage of that particular ingredient. I mean, back then when we were younger, and so was she, our mother could scare the white off a ghost.
So, when she asked for that particular pair of scissors from Cissy and me, we both looked at each as to say," We’re gonna find’em, Mom. We’ve never seen them, never touched them, don’t even know what they look like……but, we’ll give it our best effort to locate them ‘cause we don’t wanna get too close (again) to our good friend, "Blacky". You see, Mom had these pair of jet-black eyes. I think she could literally scare the "green" off a "green" bean, if she wanted to. So, when she said, " fetch!"……well, all of a sudden we understood just what our dog "chum" always did - and that meant if you want the bisquit (so to speak), you better do what she tells you to - otherwise, ole’ "Blacky" just might pay you another visit! - and that was one "friend" we didn’t want to have visit us, too often!
One day, I guess the Lord must’a blessed Cissy and me, both. Our Daddy always told us not to go under the shed - why?……I don‘t know!. But, after lookin’ just about everywhere we could possibly think of , Cissy and I decided to take the plunge……that’s right , under the shed we went.
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