Boots

 

His granddaddy said, “Always smack your boots upside down before putting them on in case something is hiding inside them.”

And religiously, he’d done just that. Never did have anything alarming fall out of them, just empty inside every time.

But he did it anyway.

He was cutting up an apple for a snack, trying to be healthy and all, when the knife slipped and he damn near cut his thumb off.

Shoving his feet into his boots to drive himself to the ER, he felt the sting of the scorpion.

And his granddaddy in heaven just shook his head.