A Strange Day in July
The car rolled into the gravel driveway; as soon as it stopped, Peter and Becky jumped from the car and started running. Their mother was yelling to them to change their cloths, but they didn’t listen. They just ran across the field and into the woods. Soon, they came to McMillan’s pond. Becky asked Peter to teach her how to skip stones across the pond’s cool blue water. “You do it like this…” said Peter as he showed Becky how he held the stone in his hand. ‘Watch how my arm throws it sideways and not overhand like a baseball.” Becky watched his arm movements closely. Peter threw the first stone, then the second. Just to show off, he throw with all his might, but the third stone came skipping back. Both children just stood and stared at the stone as it finally plopped into the water near Peter’s feet. Becky sat down on the large rock where she was standing.
Unbeknownst to the Brody kids, Ella hid in the cattails behind them snickering. She loved playing this game. The children never know what to do. All of the other kids just ran home, but not these kids. They just stared in amazement at the stone. Peter picked up another stone, turned and looked at his little sister. She smiled, and he threw it. They both watched it skip across the pond. Nothing. Then Peter threw the second stone; it skipped across the water. “Look at this,” whispered Ella to little Roxie sitting next to her. Roxie’s eyes grew bigger as she said “Look.” Ella pointed her finger at the skipping stone and then gave her finger a bit of a twitch. The stone reversed directions and skipped back towards the Brody kids. The two small girls nestled in the cattails just giggled quietly.
Becky screamed with amazement, “Do it again!” Peter picked up a stone and tossed it. Little Roxie clapped her hands and said, “Do it again!” and with that Ella twitched her finger at the stone. All of a sudden, a voice trying to shout but whisper at the same time said, “Cut that out! You’ll get into trouble.” It was Samuel, Ella and Roxie’s older brother. Ella looked at Samuel with an eye of defiance, and then she looked Roxie with a big smile and said, “Watch this.” Little Roxie parroted her older sister in a high pitched tone, “Watch.” Ella lifted both hands and began twitching all of her fingers.
Becky started laughing with delight as the stones around her and Peter started dancing in front of them some splashing against the water almost creating a tune. At this point, Peter looked at Becky and said,
“I think we should go home.”
“No, teach me. I want to make the stones dance,” yelled Becky with delight at seeing the stones frolic above the water.
“I’m not doin’ it.”
Becky paid no attention; she stood up and started to clap and dance with the stones.
Samuel grabbed Ella and Roxie’s hands and took them home.
Peter stood up and grabbed Becky’s hand. All of a sudden, the stones fell to the pond. There was a wrestling noise coming from the patch of cattails behind them. Peter and Becky turned towards the noise. They both looked at each other then back at the cattails. “Did you see?” Peter hesitated
“ Kids, they flew away. Where did they go? Peter, where did the kids go?”
