Friday, April 15, 2005

one day whispers of another. . .

My room is dark. Not dark like night, but dark like mid-afternoon and the sun has already mosied over the roof to the other side of the house. A cool breeze will blow my thin curtains in toward my cheek every now and then as I steal the days rays to see while I type. I wonder at the children. They keep squealing and shrieking. I imagine that they must be playing boys chase the girls or maybe freeze tag. A dog barks, too. He can probably see the little kids jumping from swing set to merry-go-round; probably wants to join in. My brother and sister and I played on a merry-go-round last Labor Day weekend when we went down south to visit Matt at college. My parents asked us to be careful, but Matt kept pushing us as we screamed "Faster! Faster!" I felt 3rd grade again, felt retainers and bad bangs again, felt top of the world again. Matt is a good merry-go-round pusher. I am holding on for dear life, legs wrapped tight around the cool rail and dizzying myself by looking up and swinging out my arms, chest up to the sun, smile up to the sky. When I hear Bobbie Jo start to mutter "Stop. Please stop." I look down near my ankles and see her rear end hanging off. She is gripping the bottom of the rail, where it meets the center of the platform, and her legs are trying to reach around mine. She is going to slide right off if Matt doesn't stop. She is so long that even though her feet and arms are holding tight to the center, her butt is almost brushing the ground. She can no longer scream, but just mutter, "Stop. Please stop." I half-heartedly reach for her, but know that if I get too close, she will pull me down with her, and as our eyes meet, we both know that she's a goner. When a twinkle appears in mine, horror appears in hers, and she knows what I will scream before I've even parted my grinning lips: "Faster!" And with one last heave, Matt gives it his all, and Bobbie Jo gives up, laughing as all 6 feet of her literally bites the dust. Matt and I giggle with glee and I ride out the last spin in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Matt cannot stand straight; his tiredness and happiness has him bent over. Bobbie Jo lies in his well-worn path, looking up at Matt laughing over her and watching me finish the cycle. She can't stop laughing either and doesn't even try to shake the sand from her hair. I was going to write about the constant chirping outside and the cool wind and the children, but I guess today is so much like that perfect Labor Day afternoon that the memory crept up through my fingers before I could stop the tale.

2 comments:

Claire said...

Hey girl!
just caught up on some of your blogging- I love to read what you write! I hope that you are having a great weekend- I am praying for you, that God can bless you and show you His path more clearly than ever. I'm excited to see what He has planned for you- and I can't wait to see you when I get back to NY!
Say hi to the city for me!

Bobbie Jo said...

Just like Dad, I have tears in my eyes. I am still in the library and I can barely contain my laughter. Instead I am basically heaving, trying my hardest to supress the laughter. One of my sisters just came up becuase she thought I was crying and needed some help.
What I found the funniest was not only mom's reaction to me careening of the merry-go-round, but the fact that Alecia felt the need to egg Matt on even though she knew I was only hanging on by a thread. FASTER! FASTER! Those words still haunt me in my nightmares.