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 |    We live much of life amid unique choices. Joy is anchored in The One beyond our life. |
| Azul tasted the musty air of the long hallway of her clapboard farmhouse home as she headed toward the front door and freedom for the rest of the day. Chores were done. No more beds to make. No more clothes to fold. No more dust clouds to sweep into action on this Saturday afternoon in August, that was weeks past the last good gully-washer, which had made her and her brothers look like red clay monsters as they lined up for their Saturday night baths. The sun caressed her skin as her fertile mind embraced freedom mere steps from the front door. The cool pond water will be such a relief, she thought. It's been in the 90s for days. Peaceful reverie caused the door to virtually float open as she took her first step out into the Joy of an untethered middle of her glorious Saturday afternoon. SMACK! The red clay rock clod whizzed past her head, exploding on the door jamb, pelting her with crusty little red pebbles all over her sweaty white T-shirt. Startled, Azul tucked and rolled to her left, finding safety behind the old rocking chair. She didn't have to think. Her body knew what to do. Living with four older brothers had taught her to be resourceful in her self-preservation. Peeking out from behind the rocker, Azul wondered, Who's out there? Where are they? Will I ever get a few minutes' peace? 12-years-old in a war zone or brothers, who love to play pranks. It's about the same. "There she is! Get her!" Joel, her oldest brother jumped out from behind the China Berry Tree. Whizz, whizz, whizz. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! Three more red clods continued the transformation into the Monster from the Clay Gully. "Leave me alone!" she screamed. "I just want to go to the pond." "That'll be the day," Merv smirked, jumping out from the left side of the wrap-around porch. "Not if I sit on you, and fart in your face." More red clods breezed past her, but none of these landed near her. Second oldest, but couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, she chuckled, being very careful to let none of that slip out of her lips. She squirted past him by crawling under the row of rocking chairs. He was older and bulkier, but she was younger, smaller, and weasel-like. His right hand slapped at her torso, but she landed her two hands on the porch railing on that left side of the house, swinging her body up and over, flying, landing, rolling, and running through the side yard before her brothers could recover, giving chase. Her two youngest brothers were twins, and just a couple of years older than Azul. Mack and Dodge were cagey, hiding in the lofts on either side of the door as she retreated to her place of safety, the barn. She nearly fell through the barndoor, but she caught herself, bending double with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. That's when she realized her mistake as two bucketsful of clay water soaked her from both sides. By this time she was pissed. "Mack & Dodge, you better hope I don't catch you, or I'll tear you limb from limb." "Ooooo, we're frightened, you sissy little girl," they taunted. She was up the ladder before Dodge knew what hit him as she landed a little sister belly flop hug on him, slapping at his face in a blur. "Off me, ya dang kid!" "Muggy water doesn't feel good when it's you, does it?" she snapped at him. By this time, Mack had joined the scene of the slime, getting just as muddy, hay-hairy, and itchy as the other two, trying to drag the fireball of a baby sister off his twin brother, whose nose was already quite bloody by now. The twins weren't that much bigger than Azul, but seeing the two older brothers run through the barndoor, she left off sliming the twins and headed for the window in the loft, flinging herself out into the elm tree, shimmying down to the safety of the ground. Once on terra firma she headed to the China Berry Tree, where she loaded the front of her shirttail with China berries, and headed back to the barn to unload her arsenal. This painted all of her brothers' faces with terror because Azul was a sure-shot with these spiked balls. Her right arm became a circular blur, hitting brothers in the head, chest, arms, and legs. "STOP! STOP! STOP it, you idiot! That hurts!" they all screamed in near unison. "Good. That's what I meant to do," she snarled as she chased them out of the barn. Engaging the water hose, she covered the opening with her thumb, chasing them with the water for quite a distance. "Sis, you're crazy! Why can't you take a little teasing?" The boys slogged across the porch, and through the front door, bolting it behind with a loud, "SCHLOCK!" "You can dish it out, but you can't take it," she yelled in her smugness as she strolled down the driveway to the pond. Serves 'em right, she thought. I'm smaller, but I'm not helpless. I guess peace comes after you show 'em, who's boss.. A broader smile has never coursed across a little sister's face. "I guess I'll just swim in these clothes," she said to no one in particular. "After all, I've got to wash out the Georgia red clay." by Jay O’Toole on October 9th, 2021   |
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