My Neighbors ’ House
Mr . Outerbridge
I was looking out my window one Afternoon when I noticed my neighbors ’ House was swaying . I have
Heard that skyscrapers sway , that the water In toilet bowls sloshes about on windy Days . But my neighbors ’ House is three stories tall and wider Than that . It was built a hundred Years ago . Built with dark red Brick , built to last by Old World Masons . It should
Not be swaying . Swaying Like the top branches of tall Trees on a blustery autumn day . Then I watch
It fall over . Not a crash with billowing dust And noise , but a sliding , slipping fall , almost silent . Fortunately , the neighbor ’ s Kids were at school and they Were at work . Even the feral Cats they sometimes fed were off somewhere Else hunting or mating . So no one
Was hurt . But the Volvo was Crushed , and the furniture and the crockery and Stuffed animals and the piano . When we went
And looked , we saw that there was no Mortar between bricks . They had been held In place by gravity and friction and Inertia . What were the masons
Thinking ? Every child who has played With blocks knows how easy It is to knock over a block Structure ( especially a brother ’ s
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