Afterthoughts

     Pat Westbrook      I've never been afraid of living in the country.  Even the times the children and I found ourselves alone at night, I felt safe.  The night my husband went on a hunting trip everything at home seemed normal.      My two boys needed to go to the bathroom.  Since we had yet to put one in, I gave them a flashlight to see their way to the outhouse.  I told them I would wait for them on the porch so they wouldn't be afraid.      For some reason I looked over at the garage.  Now our garage happened to be made of used sheet metal.  Many a nail had been driven into it making it easy for the wind to blow right through.  Just as I looked, I saw a flicker of light. I assumed someone lit a cigarette.      Like a mother bear ready to protect her young, I went back into the house and got my husband's twenty-two pistol.  Seconds later I returned and hollered....