Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There?<\/p>\n
By Kate Chamberlin<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they\u2019re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated by the fictional characters in these stories are valid, tried and true.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/a>#12 Knight With Shining Flatware<\/p>\n \u201cHi,\u201d Heather said in her little girl\u2019s voice. \u201cAre we having a good time?\u00a0 Kenny told me you were here.\u201d<\/p>\n Grace didn\u2019t know what to say. She felt her face flush.<\/p>\n \u201cHeather, where\u2019s your date?\u201d\u00a0 Edie asked.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, he\u2019s here somewhere. He\u2019s mad at me for talking to Kenny,\u201d she crooned, taking his hand.<\/p>\n Edie was about to say something else, but a big football player came up and re-claimed Heather. She quickly dropped Ken\u2019s hand as she flounced away with her date.<\/p>\n \u201cShe sure is hot for you,\u201d Joe teased. \u201cI think Grace will have to put a leash on you just to keep you safely out of Heather\u2019s clutches.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be no need for that,\u201d Ken said, taking Grace\u2019s hand. \u201cI know where I want to be and with whom.\u201d<\/p>\n Grace\u2019s face flushed even more. Did she really hear what she thought she heard?<\/p>\n They danced the slow ones. They danced the fast ones. They danced the night away, until, the principal announced that the bonfire lighting ceremony at the beach would start in15-minutes. The four friends returned to Stang and drove to the beach.<\/p>\n The girls took off their shoes and left them in the car. The beach sand felt warm between their toes and the bonfire\u2019s heat flushed their faces. The sound of the gentle lapping of the lake mixed with the chatter of the other students, alums, teachers, and some parents, made the late night festive.<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d Edie said. \u201cSmell those roasting marshmallows.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHam-m-m,\u201d Grace said, wiggling her nose. \u201cI think some of them are burned, fried crispy.\u201d<\/p>\n Laughing, they picked up some sodas and went for a walk along the shore. The small waves lapping at their bare feet felt cool and soothing. Ken held her hand and leaned close to her ear.<\/p>\n \u201cGrace, do you know how to swim? he asked, nudging her a little deeper into the surf.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d she said nudging him back. \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to go in tonight!\u201d He relented and guided her back to the warmer sand.<\/p>\n Joe and Edie had spread out a blanket and were quietly talking and sipping their sodas. Ken and Grace joined them. The bonfire died down and people were wandering back to their cars, heading for home.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, this has been great,\u201d Edie said, \u201cBut it looks like it\u2019s time to hit the road. Joe and I will be going to the school\u2019s Memorial Service tomorrow. You two going, too?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t talked about it, yet,\u201d Grace said. \u201cCan we let you know later?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d Joe said. \u201cNow, let\u2019s boogie on out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, with Crackers on her leash, Grace and Ken slowly walked hand in hand along Grace\u2019s street.<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d Ken said softly, \u201cwould you like to go to the Memorial Service tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay,\u201d Grace said, not at all sure what would be expected of her. She was used to going to service in her regular church, but didn\u2019t know how Crackers would do in a new church.<\/p>\n \u201cI have something for you,\u201d Ken said. He let go of her hand and put something small and warm in her palm. \u201cDo you know what this is?\u201d<\/p>\n Grace looped Crackers\u2019 leash over her arm and held the item in both hands. She felt a warm, heavy circle with a lump in the middle. She had a good idea that it was a ring, but why?<\/p>\n \u201cGrace, that\u2019s my senior class ring,\u201d he said. \u201cWill you go steady with me?\u201d<\/p>\n She was surprised and in her confusion, she said, \u201cIt\u2019s too big. It won\u2019t fit on my finger.\u201d\u00a0 She was mortified to hear her own voice and the stupid thing she\u2019d just said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if you say yes,\u201d he said with a smile in his voice. \u201cI have a solution to that problem.\u201d\u00a0 She felt a chain going through the ring she held in her palm.<\/p>\n Grace hoped the moonlight showed him the big grin she had on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d she happily accepted his ring, as she thought: This was another one of her Mother\u2019s opportunities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n kathryngc1@verizon.net<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey! You Got Eyeballs In There? By Kate Chamberlin As Grace grows up, some of her stories are happy, some trying, some enlightening, and a few themes are sad, but, they\u2019re all the warp and woof of what goes into the tapestry of life we call Family. The daily living skills and techniques demonstrated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1094"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1096,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1094\/revisions\/1096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>#13. The Locker Fiasco<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#14. Lost In Thought<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#15. The Musician<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#16. Day Two And Beyond<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#17. First Date<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#18. The Zipper Creep<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#19. Making Up<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#20. Mall Cruising<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#21. And More Questions<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#22. Homecoming Dance<\/h1>\n
<\/a>#23. Loyalties<\/h1>\n