The smell of frying meat and fat, dropping on the charcoal and burning there, filled the whole yard. The dogs knew that they would get their pieces too, and attentively watched what was going on in the yard.
The boys turned over the meat together – William was giving some light with a lantern to the pieces of meat, and Michael was carefully taking them with tongs, looking them over, and then moving pieces that weren’t done yet to where the heat was stronger.
The table was laid in the yard. The fragrance of a warm southern night mixed in the air with the smell of fried meat…
Crickets and slight crackling of charcoal, slowly getting cold against the background of the illuminated town and the vast dark blue panoramic sky, studded with blinking stars, added to this tangible composition.
It was already late, charcoal went out, music was turned off, and young people, yawning and stretching themselves from time to time, leisurely dispersed to their rooms.
In the morning, Michael woke up everybody very early:
«Enough sleep, or you’ll sleep away your whole life!» he yelled, knocking on all doors.
After such an awakening, sleep was gone for good. All quickly got up and went to take a shower. Julia tore away a disposable tooth brush set from a hanging band. The set contained water for preliminary rinsing, toothpaste and mouth wash. She cleaned her teeth, tore away a new set and gave it to Linda. Having examined the novelty, Linda was impressed – she had never seen such a thing before.
In some time, the girls fixed themselves up and went downstairs.
In the yard Michael was capturing the dogs on video – they all at once were sticking their tongues out, to one side, trying to push something out of their mouths. The dogs tossed their heads, but nothing came of this. Something remained in their mouths.
Michael roared with laughter; the dogs, however, did not reveal any displeasure. It appeared he had stuck some soft sticky candies on the dogs’ posterior teeth. It was incomprehensible how they allowed him to do that.
This silent concert made everybody else laugh, too. Michael suggested:
«Let’s walk the dogs down the street to frighten passersby – nobody will understand what’s happened to them. The candies will take five minutes to melt, and then we’ll stick in some more…»