Summer House Part I

She wore bright red Mary Janes.





The first thing I noticed as I topped the hill - those shoes. It was a one stop light town in rural Ohio, and I was on my way to better places...but I wasn't in a hurry.

The little girl with straight bangs was sitting on the curb focused on the task at hand. I watched her closely, since the odds being what they always seem to be, the one stop light in town turned red as soon as I neared.

She was vigorously rubbing something against the sun bleached pavement, but it took me a while before I understood. Of course... a Popsicle stick.

On the side of this pseudo two lane highway which had slowed to a momentary crawl, a child sat in shadows of the day...only a Popsicle stick for entertainment.

The light turned green and I sped away, noticing that the girl barely took her eyes off the task at hand to briefly glance in my direction.

She had old eyes.

I drove off thinking how she must have wanted that Popsicle stick to be as sharp as possible.

It was Sunday, that explained the Mary Janes. Bright red seemed an odd color though..especially for such a little girl in the winter.