What Did She Say?

Teenagers. Grrrrr....I can't understand a word my daughter says. If she isn't mumbling, she's talking faster than the speed of light. Even when she does speak in an audible voice and at a normal rate, most of the time, she still doesn't make sense.

This morning, some time before 6 am, as I am denying that it is time to get up, the teenager in question comes roaring into our bedroom in a panic. "The power went out!", she shouts and runs out of the room.

Rolling over, I mumbled to Kevin, "What did she say? The power is out? It can't be out. The lights are on."

Kevin grunts.

As the teenager continues her panicked rant (No power means no flat iron. No flat iron means no perfect hair. No perfect hair means bad day for all.), I stumble across the landing and into the kid's apartment. Sure enough, a flip of the switch confirms her story. There is no power on that side of the house.

Teenager continues flailing around while I stumble back to my room to get Kevin to check the breaker box. While I'm dragging Kevin out the bed, teenager decides to be proactive and fix the breaker herself. The door opens, shuts and then opens again a few seconds later.

I shouted down the stairs, "Dad will fix it," and heard her shout back very calmly, "Good. There's a possum in the pool."

What? "Kevin, did she say there was a possum in the pool?" Kevin grunts.

Maybe my brain just delivered the wrong translation. "What?" I shouted.

"A-possum-in-the-pool," she over-articulates, slowly, as if I am dim as well as deaf.

I trip down the stairs, still half asleep, and peek out the window. (I'm no idiot. I won't go outside until I do a little recon.)

Guess what? There was a possum in the pool. Here is the pictorial proof.