Kate & Kylie - Part 1

 Good morning,

Welcome to summer. Oh, wait. I guess it has been summer for a while now, hasn't it? I suppose I could say welcome to the 100º+ temperatures. Last Saturday we had a lovely day! It was so nice out in the morning and it never got beyond the low 90ºs. And my sis and I have gotten to walk 4 mornings this week before it got really hot. Yesterday was 102º. The next five days or so are supposed to be really hot with one day being 106º and that doesn't count the heat index. And things are dry. We got a very little bit of rain Tuesday morning. Very light so that if there were trees it didn't reach the ground. The grass is turning brown. Plants need watering daily, our lilac bush had to be watered because the leaves were starting to curl. We went from a very, very wet spring with so much rain we longed for sunshine, to a very, very hot summer with not much rain at all.

But this week has been good on other fronts. I got some words written on Monday's Mystery, and I was able to format Don Wood so that when I get a synopsis, I can upload it all and order my proof copy. I also reread and edited and fixed and wrote a new part that hopefully ends Lawrence & Lenexa! That was exciting! Many thanks to the girls in my tent who joined me for Motivation Pushes that helped me finish it. I also brain stormed with another friend for ideas for the Christmas Play for church. Now I need to write it.

Today my grandpa and aunt are coming down to visit.

 I decided to give you the first part of Kate & Kylie again. I know you probably read it last year, but since it's been a while and I have more of it written, I decided I'd started over and let you read it all together. Enjoy!

 

Kate & Kylie

Part 1

    Kylie settled herself in a lawn chair beside her sister. “Are you sure you should be out here in this crowd watching fireworks this late in your pregnancy? We could have watched the neighborhood ones and stayed home. Or–”
Mitch    “Oh, Kylie, stop being a spoilsport,” Kate scolded. “I’m not due for three weeks, and the neighborhood fireworks will be lousy compared to this display. You’ve never seen our fireworks.” Kate spoke of “our fireworks” as though she had had a personal hand in the selection and arrangement of them.
    “Well, I did promise Joe I’d take care of you while he was away,” Kylie began. “And this just seems like a crazy idea.”
    Kate laughed. “I’m fine. Even if my water breaks and I go into labor here, we’re closer to the hospital than we would be at home.”
    “Fine. You win. We’ll stay here.” Kylie pushed a few pieces of hair off her face and looked back in the direction their car was parked. The grassy field was filling up quickly, and she couldn’t help wonder how hard it would be to get to the hospital, after they got through the crowd.
    “Ky,” Kate scolded, “stop worrying and enjoy the evening.”
    “I’ll try.” And Kylie smiled at her twin. “We still have half an hour to wait before the fireworks start. We should have brought something to do.”
    “We can talk. Tell me about Mitch.” Leaning back against the back of her chair Kate looked expectantly toward her sister.
    “Mitch? What made you bring him up? I haven’t heard from him in two years.”
    “Has it really been that long?” Kate looked confused. “I thought you sent me a picture of him not long ago.”
    Kylie shook her head. “Couldn’t have. I haven’t seen him or talked with him.”
    With a thoughtful look, Kate began tapping her upper lip, a habit she had when trying to remember something. “I know I saw his picture and not long ago. Where was it? Joe didn’t send it. Are you sure–”
    “Miss Kylie!” A shrill voice made every head in the area turn as a young child raced across the grass and flung herself against Kylie.
    “Hi, Lilly.” Kylie hugged the small girl and looked up for the rest of her family.
    “I love you!” Lilly exclaimed, her arms still around her friend.
    Kylie laughed. “I love you too.”
    “Kylie, I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Matthews said, hurrying over.
    Kylie quickly assured Mrs. Matthews that she loved getting hugs from her exuberant daughter.
    “Are you looking for a place to settle down and watch the fireworks?” Kate asked. “There’s some space right here if you want to join us.”
    “We don’t want to be a bother,” Mrs. Matthews began, but her words were quickly brushed aside by both sisters. And so, in a few minutes, the Matthews family settled themselves beside Kate and Kylie.
    The fireworks began with a glittering display of lights. The crowd exclaimed over the colors and loud explosions.
    Kylie’s attention was often distracted by Lilly’s antics, for the young girl couldn’t sit still. She danced and jumped, tried to turn somersaults, and often tripped over legs.
    During the lull before the grand finale, Kate leaned over and asked softly, “Are you sure you didn’t send me an old picture of Mitch?”
    Kylie nodded. “Positive.”
    “That’s so strange. I know I saw his picture not that long ago.”
    “Maybe it was just someone who looked like Mitch,” Kylie suggested.
    But Kate shook her head. “No, it was Mitch Standish. Either the picture said his name or someone told me who it was. Now it’s going to bug me.”
    Kylie laughed merrily. “Are you sure you didn’t just dream it?”
    There was no time for Kate to reply before the sky was again filled with lights and colors. Red fountains, gold stars, silver, green, blue, and purple exploding one on top of another.
    The crowd was cheering when a sudden, shrill scream of pain pulled everyone’s attention from the fireworks to Lilly. She lay on the ground, crying and holding her arm.
    Instantly forgetting the display above them, Kylie joined Mr. and Mrs. Matthews beside the little girl. “Her arm is hurt.”
    “We need a doctor,” Mrs. Matthews exclaimed.
    “We’ll have to take her to the hospital, but–”
    “Is there something I can do to help?” a new voice asked.
    Kylie looked up. A man stood beside her, his visage hard to distinguish in the kaleidoscope of colors, but the voice. Had she just imagined it?
    Mr. Matthews answered, “I think her arm might be broken.”
    “I’m a doctor, can I check?”
    This time Kylie was sure, but she couldn’t speak. Not then. She doubted he would even know her now.
    “Does anyone have something we can use for a sling?” the man asked after a quick examination. “I don’t think it’s broken, just sprained.
    Kylie pulled off her bandana headband and held it out.
    “Thanks, Kys.” The man smiled at her as he took the offered cloth.
    Only one person had ever called her that.
    After the Matthews family disappeared into the crowd, Kylie looked up to see Mitch watching her.
    “I thought I heard your laugh earlier, Kys,” he said quietly, “but I thought I was mistaken. I’m glad I wasn’t.”
    “Me too.”
    “Do you live here in town?”
    “With my sister for now.” She nodded back to Kate. “Until her husband returns from deployment. You?”
    “Yep. I just got a job at the hospital.”
    Kate’s voice broke in. “That’s where I saw his picture! It was in the paper from the hospital!”
    Kylie had to laugh, and Mitch joined in.
    “Can we have lunch together sometime soon?” Mitch asked, acting ready to give Kate a hand if she needed it as she stiffly rose to her feet, but glancing at Kylie.
    “I’d like that.”
    “Tomorrow?”
    Kylie nodded. This was a fireworks display she wouldn’t soon forget.

 

Have you ever run into someone from your past?

Which story that I mentioned today are you most eager for?

Have you gotten to walk this week?