the other side of the mountain

 

 

one time i had a dream that my grandmother thought she owned the whole town because the street sweepers saw a bear.

it was very early in the morning in the late spring. they had got their brooms, mops, and buckets. they were walking down the road to buy coffee before beginning work when they saw him. the sun was just coming up. the bear was slowly ambling along and ready to go back to sleep. he stepped off the side-walk pavement stones, over the curb, onto the tarmac street. he disturbed the little grey pebbles that accumulated in the gutter. they rolled and scattered across the street. the coffee seller watched the street sweepers. they were imitating the bear as they approached her counter.

when my grandmother got word that the bear had been spotted she was ecstatic. she went to the city hall and told them it was her building now. in fact, she said, the whole town was her's. she owned it. the bear had been up all night acquiring the land for her. everything was now her personal property.

the officials tried to protest. she threatened to fire them, tear down city hall, and build a theatre on the spot. some of the lawyers objected and told her there would be lawsuits. however, she held up the papers, and they had to agree that it was all legal.

 

some of the townspeople wanted to challenge the bear's right to act as advocate. the judge said that the bear held the original deeds and had sold them fair and square.  

 

the street cleaners didn't know what to do. my grandmother told them that as long as they continued to pay their rent they could continue to clean the streets.