Free Odd Billy Todd by N.C. Reed Page A

Billy did something he almost never did.
    He went back to bed.
    The sound of rain hitting the roof soon lulled him back to sleep.
     
    *****
     
    The rain lasted for three days. Hard at times, gentle at others, it continued without ever stopping completely. For the first day, Billy stayed in the house. He read some, he made notes to himself, and he rested.
    He hadn’t realized how tired he was. He had slept off and on for most of the day. Usually just for a half hour or so at the time, once for almost two hours. He had fixed a light lunch, having forgone breakfast to return to bed. Supper was also just a light meal, as Billy didn’t have much of an appetite.
    He tried to stay busy, though. Idle time was Billy’s biggest problem, he knew. If he didn’t keep busy at something, then his mind would wander and latch onto some imagined problem, possibly one he couldn’t let go of, and he couldn’t afford that.
    He had placed notes all over the house to remind him that he had to focus. This was something he’d learned from his folks, as they tried to help him get his business started. He had notes to help organize his supplies, keep his books, tend to his daily chores.
    He spent part of the rain filled first day making a list of all the things he should check on each day and another for things that needed checking at least twice a week.  He then made one more for weekly items that needed looking after. The lists were part of the instructions left in the many notebooks his parents had assembled for him in the event he found himself alone, just like now.
    Billy knew he wasn’t ‘dumb’, his parents had taken great pains to ensure that, but he was aware of his limitations, and his weaknesses. His parents had taken steps to ensure that as well. His father had translated that into car jargon, as he did most other things.
    If you know your car is burning or leaking oil, you keep a check on it, right? Add oil when the car needs it. When you know that your clutch is slipping, and you can’t get it fixed right away, you baby it, until you can fix it. So, when you know something will cause you problems, you baby it. Never approach it head on, like dumping the clutch under a load. Never run the engine’s RPM so high that losing some oil will hurt it.
    When you know what your weakness is, just like the clutch, or the oil leak, you can work around that weakness.
    One of Billy’s weaknesses was remembering things. So he made notes. He made lists.
    Check PV cells and batteries
    Check fuel tank
    Check house for leaks
    Check water pump on well
    And on and on. Billy wrote out four copies of each list. One for the front door, one for the back door, one for the barn, and one for the truck. He would always have a list somewhere nearby, reminding him of things that needed to be done.
    Billy went to bed that night, satisfied that he’d done a good day’s work.
     
    *****
     
    When Billy awoke the next morning, the rain was falling heavy again. He sighed, torn between being frustrated and a little bit glad. He was frustrated because he knew there was a lot he needed to do, and the rain really kept him from doing that.
    But he was a little bit glad because he really wanted to take the day off. The day before had been a wakeup call for how tired he had been.
    He decided that he would remain indoors. He could let the eggs go one day, he figured, and the cattle had grass and hay available to them, as did the horses. His truck and trailer were locked securely in the barn so they were in no danger.
    Yep, he’d just rest today, and take it easy. Billy loved to read. Despite his struggles in school at times, he’d always been a good reader. Billy found that he could get lost in a book. Almost as if the book drew him in, and took him away to wherever the book led. It had been a great escape during tough times when he as younger.
    He walked to the study and browsed for a few minutes. His mother and father had, over the years, amassed a large library