One morning, a flash of inspiration hit the Gronk-LaTwonk household. It was Gronk’s idea, but Munter assisted ably. They devised a five-point plan to guarantee their rise to the top of the Snook social stratosphere.
1 Cheating is winning
2 Lying is clever
3 Fear commands respect
4 Win at any cost
5 Rules are for breaking
Official recognition as a Poshey and a Gossip had been taking too long. Gronk and Munter gazed at the plan and smiled to one other, admiring their calculating masterminds. They could just about taste success. It was sealed with an awkward embrace.
The one fault in their whole ambitious scheme was they lived on the Wrong Side of the tracks according to honourable Poshey tradition. Their house was along Loone Lane, although Gronk poshed it up with a red marker pen to become Looné Lane. But it was not an affluent estate, which was a problem. Gronk nailed an upside-down horseshoe to their front door to bring them some extra luck.
The properties along Looné Lane were nearly all the same. Double-storied with three front windows and the front door to one side. Each house had a driveway and a tree. The leaves were just beginning to turn red and orange on that early autumnal day. In one place, however, a tree had only a few dried, crinkled leaves on its spindly branches. The Gronk-LaTwonk household towered over it with a dark, unfinished turret to one corner. It had meant to be a terrific landmark in the neighbourhood, but the Gronk-LaTwonks had driven the builders off with their constant gripes. One of the shadowy windows had a broken pane of glass with a deep crack darting upwards. The front door was covered by a canopy. The house was foreboding, with a hollowness in the air. It had fungi-encrusted brickwork and a broken gate hanging on by a single, creaking hinge. Dead leaves and twigs scattered around the front garden amongst the spare pipes and other builder debris left behind. It seemed like a stark warning for people to stay away.
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