The two little girls shared the little bedroom in their little house, which was on a little street in a little town.
Each night, after jumping on their little beds, they’d switch on their little unicorn and dinosaur night-lights, close their little eyes and fall fast asleep.
Every morning they’d wake, give a little stretch then start to dress. Each had their own little dresser filled with little shirts, little pants, little socks, and little stuff. They shared a little closet full of wonderful little dresses and colorful little shoes.
Being only 5 and 6 years old, everything about their world was little — except their imaginations, which were so big they flowed out of their heads, filling their little bedroom and their little house before spilling out to their backyard to fill it, too. And that’s where this big little adventure began early one cool spring morning.
Little One and Sweet Caroline bounded down the wooden steps and out into the backyard. After chasing a family of chipmunks, the girls slowly crept up behind the giant blue butterflies to ask them questions.
They could ask any of the backyard butterflies questions, but they knew the giant blues were the ones who answered, and only while balancing on the tip of the little girls’ fingers.
With all their questions answered, the two girls waved goodbye to the giant blues, balancing butterflies watching as they fluttered back to their flowers. That’s when the girls started to play their favorite game: Cats and Dogs.
Each happily took turns being either the cat or dog. The dog chased the cat all over the backyard, making sure not to disturb any of the bushes the giant blues were resting on. Eventually the cat started to scale a small tree climbing up as high as she could while the dog circled around the bottom watching and barking.
After the cat was treed, the roles of cat and dog were reversed, giving each girl ample barking, meowing, and climbing time.
Then, suddenly, a far-flung pinecone hit near the littlest of the little girls, bringing their favorite game to an end. It was a pinecone thrown by none other than Billy from next door.
“Wanna play?” He pitched another pinecone at the “cat” that was jumping back to earth. Reaching down, he gathered up an armload of pinecones, walking to a small mound of bare dirt at the edge of his yard.
He watched as the girls turned around and quickly picked up their sticks. Pinecone baseball – a game they had played many times before. Each pinecone was batted right back as the three friends took turns being batters and pitchers.
With their morning adventure done, two tired little girls walked back up the steps and into the house for much needed snack time. Their Big Papa, gazing out into the backyard as they came in, asked them if they had any adventures.
Exchanging smiles, they replied, “We talked to the big blues, played cats and dogs, and played pinecone baseball with Billy from next door.”
He nodded, asking the girls to get washed up while he fixed them a snack of celery, peanut butter, and raisins: ants on a log.
Big Papa shook his head watching the girls dance their way to the bathroom. Walking towards the kitchen, he gave a little chuckle … just like my brothers and I use to play growing up back on Flamingo.
Some things, like pinecone baseball and big imaginations, never change.
[Rick Ryckeley has been writing stories since 2001. To read more of Rick’s stories, visit his blog: storiesbyrick.wordpress.com.]
