Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: MEMORY LANE (04/23/20)
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TITLE: Out of the Pothole | Previous Challenge Entry
By Francy Judge
04/30/20 -
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So that mornin’ as soon as the sun peeked over the corn stalks in the distance, I skipped over to the field to pet the kittens’ silky fur before school. I go to the regular middle school with Jerry, but I have the special classes to help me untwist the words I read.
Halfway there, Ma called me. “Mel, breakfast is ready.” That’s when I spotted a hawk circling over the shed, each circle angled a little lower than the last. Once I saw a hawk steal a bunny, and hawks have pointy talons, so I ran the fastest I could and found the calico kitten alone in the grass. He wasn’t too smart to get left behind. I scooped up the kitten and bolted back to the house with the tall grass tickling my bare legs like feathers as the hawk swept down a few feet from me. Dad’s tractor was humming at his farm down the road as I slammed the storm door shut and watched the hawk fly away.
Ma let me keep the kitten. The next day I was still smiling. I could tell Jerry had a baseball game since he changed into his uniform. I grabbed my bubbles and pompoms that I always bring when I watch his long games. Jerry frowned and whispered to Ma, “Please don’t bring her. She can stay with Grandma. I can’t concentrate on pitching when she cheers.”
I put my bubbles away and stopped smilin'. It wasn’t a good day. I didn’t want to watch TV with Grandma. She would fall asleep and snore. But I didn’t want to go and get Jerry mad at me.
That night, I asked Ma, “Why did God make me stupid? That’s why Jerry doesn’t want me to be around his friends.”
Ma hugged me, warm and smellin' like a field of flowers. “Sometimes I think you’re the wisest person I know. You know how to be kind to everyone. You have God’s eyes to see the good in people. Your mind isn’t filled with the clutter that makes some forget what’s important. And you are brave, a hero, saving your sweet kitten.”
I still didn’t want to smile.
A few days later, Jerry went out practicin’ his swing in the field across the street. I found my glove, so he could show me how to play baseball. Then maybe he would let me play in a pickup game with his friends. I wouldn’t ask to play on his team that he wore his striped uniform. It was all boys, and they were real good. Any day the sun shined, I could hear the thwack of Jerry hittin’ the ball, sometimes across two fields.
Some boys yelled, “Look who’s coming. Catch this, dummy.” After the thwack, Jerry screamed, “Mel...!” Pain shot through my head like a bullet exploding over my left ear and my right shoulder as I dropped to the ground. The air turned black.
Ma says there’s a lane that leads us back to our memories, but the lane splits in two, a fork in the road. The fork looks more like the top of a big Y. She says you can choose the one that leads to the bad memories that knot a ball of hatred in the heart and hold onto grudges with superglue or choose the lane that’s lined with days that make you smile. Those memories are God’s gifts.
Some of my memory got stuck in a pothole. Ma said, “Your brother scooped you up and held you until the ambulance came. He never left your side.”
That memory doesn’t have a lane, but when I opened my eyes in the hospital, Jerry was there, reading The Outsiders to me ‘cause he loves that book. He hugged me and handed me his Derek Jeter signed ball. I added that day to my good lane.
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“I will remember the deeds of the Lord.” Psalm 77:11
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