Oh My God she fell. Why does that make me laugh? It shouldn’t. She really could have gotten hurt. But she didn’t. 

It was the Euclid house. The brown house on Euclid. I’m not sure how old I was, but my sister, Wendy, was and always will be four years older. 

Wendy always loved animals. We always had a cat. We had a Siamese named Sam. She was a good cat. She had a bajillion batches of kittens. She was a ho apparently. Carousing all night obviously. There were always lots of kittens running around. I seriously think she had 12 batches. 

Wendy thought mice, gerbils and other rodents were cool too. They freaked me the eff out and I wanted no part of them. Gross. She had a white mouse. A lab mouse. I don’t know what she named it. It was small, and white and had beady red eyes. Creepy. 

The Euclid house had a dirt basement. The door to go down there was on the floor of the pantry. Weird. I am guessing it was just a storage/cellar type basement. There were shelves down there. The shelves had empty jars on them. I would have hated to be down there when it was dark. Spiders and bugs and other things I’m sure relished in the environment. 

We were weird kids. We would go down in that cellar and we would open the jars and then smell them. It was kind of game. Weird for sure, entertaining for hours. Sometimes we couldn’t get the lid off the jar, so it went back to its place on the shelf and was never bothered again. We thought this game was hilarious. I also remember playing this game at our great grandparents house in Viborg. Same thing, same outcomes. 

Wendy was a good sister. She was carefree and a rule breaker. She pushed the envelope and the envelope got pushed right back at her. She hated school. She loved life. She loved music, animals and her friends. She loved us too. She looked out for us. She taught me to be responsible and respectful. She taught me to drive a clutch and she introduced me to all kinds of music. Her favorites were Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, but she also liked Simon and Garfunkel and Seals and Crofts. 

Apparently the mouse was kept in the pantry, near food, cause that was a good idea. One night she was going to put her mouse away and stepped into the pantry. I heard some commotion and looked inside. She was at the bottom of the stairs crying and I think her mouse escaped. The door to the cellar had been left open by someone. I swear to God and on a stack of bibles, it was not me!! Seriously, it was not me. 

She didn’t get hurt. That was good. I could not stop laughing. That was bad. I don’t know why it was so funny. I think it’s just one of those things that hits you and you can’t stop laughing. You know the kind of laughing that usually happens when you are in class or church and you are supposed to be quiet, but you can’t stop laughing. You try to hold it in and the person you are laughing with is also trying to hold it in. But you both can’t. You glance to the side out of the corner of you eye and you see the person shaking uncontrollably. Yeah, that kind of laughing. 

To this day, when I think of her falling through the floor to the dirt floor in the cellar I cannot stop laughing. Sorry Wendy, but it really was funny! I don’t know what happened to the mouse either. I think she rescued it. 

She walked down the gravel road with a cocky swagger. As cocky as an eleven year old can be. Her long blonde hair was in a low ponytail, with long wisps of bangs hanging out. She was wearing her usual summer attire, black Converse tennis shoes, blue jean shorts and a t-shirt. Today the shirt was yellow. Her legs were tanned and her knees were skinned. She felt strong today. She felt free today. By her side, as always, was her dog, Billy. 

It was already hot outside and according to her $5 digital Batman watch, it was just barely 9 a.m. The flowers were open and the colors were bright. The Russian Olive trees were blooming. The smell was sweet. That smell was Annie’s favorite. Annie took the time to learn about the trees in her neighborhood. There were many varieties, but her favorite was the Russian Olive. Everyone said they grow like weeds around here. She didn’t care. Hell, she grew like a weed. What would they say about that?

As Annie and Billy were walking down the dirty gravel road, she couldn’t help but think that it was a great day to have a great day. Everything just felt good today. Her mom was at work, but would be home soon. They were going to go out to eat. Every Friday night was hamburger night. Hamburgers. Annie’s favorite. But not just any hamburger. It was Annie’s favorite place to eat. It was kind of grimy and kind of greasy. The floor had those big square tiles with the alternating pattern of black and white colors. The signs were hand-written with chalk on a chalkboard. The food was great and the customers were even greater. Greater for people watching, if that’s something you like to do. Annie did. 

Annie liked her hamburgers interesting and adventurous, like her life. Even though she was only eleven, she was a hamburger connoisseur. She liked food and the beefier her burgers, the better. Her favorite combo was medium well beef, one slice of cheese on the bottom bun, then the burger, another cheese slice, pickles, sour of course, onions and then an egg on top. She liked jalapeño peppers on the side, sweet not sour. The egg had to be just right, not too done, but done enough. She liked the yolk a little runny, but not like water. That would be gross. 

As Annie and Billy were walking down the gravel, she heard something. Billy heard it too. He low growled. Annie didn’t know what it was and couldn’t tell from which direction it came. She looked around. Nothing. Billy was still low growling. Annie looked up. Birds. Dragonflys. Nothing else. Maybe it was a bird she had heard. Maybe it wasn’t. She looked down. Oh boy!  

Right there, about a skateboard length away from her, down in the weeds, was a snake. It blended. It blended well. Annie kept looking, trying to see what kind it was. She wasn’t scared  of snakes, but she really didn’t want to get bit. More importantly, she didn’t want Billy to get bit.  It was close enough that she didn’t want to make any sudden movements. Does anyone really listen to that advice, she wondered. Because, seriously, if there is a snake close, it has to be almost impossible to hold completely still. But, Annie did just that. Held still that is. Billy would not stop low growling. He was definitely protecting her. That made her more nervous. 

She watched the snake, it started moving in a circle. Dang. It looked like it was coiling up. She kept watching it. It was a game now. Could she hold still enough that it would leave on its own? Could she? Could Billy? That was the true question. Her dog is good, but is he that good? 

Annie kept looking at the snake. It’s tongue was moving in and out of it’s mouth fast. It’s true she thought, they do have a forked tongue. Annie noticed her fingernails needed clipped. She noticed weird things when she was stressed. She noticed there were five rocks five feet away from the snake. She noticed there was a brick ten feet away from the snake. She noticed Billy stopped low growling and was sitting quietly beside her. She noticed her breathing was almost non-existent. It was quiet. Her chest was barely moving. 

The snake uncoiled. It started slithering. Good, she thought. It’s leaving. Except it wasn’t. It was slithering right towards her and Billy. The test of all tests was about to be taken. Could they do it? She was pretty sure she could, but she was still worried about Billy. She kept eyeing the brick. She kept eyeing the rocks. Think, think, think, she told herself. 

The snake was huge. It’s colors were amazing. She saw yellow and some orange. She knew that was good. She still didn’t move. She knew she wouldn’t have to try and kill it. She knew it wasn’t a rattlesnake. She knew it wasn’t a bull snake. She felt much better. Now, they could stay still and see what the snake was going to do. They couldn’t fail this test. The snake would not poison them. 

The game became more fun with fewer consequences. They stayed where they were. Even Billy. He was doing great. The snake slithered closer. It was at her feet now. Slowly crawling over them. Slowly moving towards Billy. He growled. The snake stopped. Everyone stopped. Even through it wasn’t a poisonous snake, it was still a snake. And even though she wasn’t scared of snakes, it was a snake on her feet and on her dog. Deep breath. Deep breath. Stay calm. Stay calm. She told herself that over and over and over. 

Finally. Movement. Billy was being such a good dog. He was completely still. She was completely still and the snake was moving. She watched it slither across the road. She watched the way it slithered side to side. Interesting. It went into the ditch on the other side of the gravel road. Wow!!! She couldn’t believe they held still. She was so proud of herself. She was so proud of Billy. 

She walked over and looked at the snake swishes on the gravel. It was so cool. Billy walked over and sniffed like crazy, back and forth and back and forth across the road. She finally told him to stop and they headed back home. 

On the way home, she noticed the trees and the grass. She noticed the light green leaves on the Russian Olive trees. She noticed the darker green leaves on the Honey Locust trees and she noticed the varying green colors of the pine trees. She noticed the sounds of the birds and she noticed the sounds of the locusts. Buzzing and buzzing and buzzing. She noted in her brain that she would have to go look for locust shells the next day. 

About the time she and Billy got home, so did her mom. Her mom asked her how her day was and if she did anything fun. She told her, “No, just the usual.” 

They went to her favorite burger joint and she had the best burger ever. When they got home, she clipped her fingernails. 

It really was a great day to have a great day and she had had one.