Inkling 2023 - Flipbook - Page 17
I have an imaginary friend. I like to
call him Tommy. He sits across the
river from me and traces circles in
the smooth sand. He gets mud on his
pants and his parents don’t yell at him
about it. He doesn’t ever talk, so I don’t
say much to him. I just sit in the wet
grass and show him the shells I dig out
of the dirt.
It’s summertime right now and I spend
hours at the river every day. I know
this because my older brother just
taught me how to read the numbers
on my watch. It’s the nicest thing he’s
done for me in a while. Today the
sun passes over my head, bleaching
my hair and kissing my arms, leaving
stars on my cheeks and a burn on my
shoulders. Eventually, the world quiets
a bit until I can hear the crickets singing
their nighttime song. I wave goodbye
to Tommy before skipping home.
Through the tall grass, through the
field, and through the mud puddles.
My pink dress ends up brown. I walk
into our farmhouse. There’s dirt caked
under my fingernails and grass stains
on my knees and I will never feel this
free again. Momma looks me up and
down and scoffs.
“Josephine, you know the rules about
mud,” she says. And I do. I know that
mud stays outside and I must not get
my good dresses dirty. But the mud on
my dress is proof that I had a wonderful
adventure today.
“Raise your arms”, she demands as she
walks over from the kitchen counter.
Momma pulls the dress off my dirty
body and throws it into the sink. I
stand there in my underwear and pink
rain boots. She looks at me again and
she looks sad, or mad, or something
else I can’t explain. She always looks
like that when I’ve done something
bad and I can’t understand why.
“Go wash up in the bathroom and I’ll
read you a story before bed.” I drag my
feet upstairs and suddenly my eyes
feel heavy and my feet feel weak.
I kick my rain boots off, put a nightdress
on, and climb into bed. I watch the
numbers on my watch for 3 minutes
before Momma joins me in my room.
“Did you wash your face?” she asks,
“or your hands at least?” I didn’t, but
I nod anyway; both of us know I’m
lying. I don’t wash my hands or brush
my teeth because I’d like to make this
daytime feeling last and my older sister
says no one cares about those things
in the summertime.
Momma reads me my favourite book
before bed. I almost fall asleep as she
recites the last words of the story. She
tucks me in and kisses my head.
I fall asleep and dream of suncatchers
and glitter pens. I dance through fields
of mushrooms and fairies, I slide down
rainbows and balance on logs that
are outstretched over creeks. When
I wake up the sun is already shining
through my windows and I know it
will be a fantastic day to play outside.
I quickly eat breakfast and stomp out
of the house in my rain boots. I sit
by the edge of the river for only ten
minutes before Tommy joins me. After
a while of making sand castles, I hear
INKLING 2023 | 17
