Summer Days

 It was July in South Carolina. A time where the Earth literally held its breath with a muggy stillness that made you feel as if you were standing underwater. The sky was a brilliant blue without a trace of clouds. My cousin and I raced through the woods, impervious to harm, as any 9 year old feels. Snakes were too hot to attempt to poke their fangs around the dry creek beds, but just in case, we were ready with our swords made of twigs and briars. My granny had packed two sandwiches, thick with mayonnaise and a fat juicy tomato slice. Sweet tea filled a Scooby Doo mug, making us ready for the heat of the day and all the adventures it held. 

My cousin, Donna and I were Nancy Drew looking for mysteries to solve in the quiet little town of Belton. Up in the big house on the hill, we were sure there lived a bank robber with stashes of cash stolen from some unsuspecting town's teller, or maybe the Vampire from "Dark Shadows" waiting for two young girls to wander into his domain. We ducked behind hedges, climbed fences, and peered into places we should not be....

The world was ours as we ran wild all through the hot summer morning. We loved to sit down near the little stream that was holding onto the precious amount of water that evaded most other dry creek beds.

We laid on the cool grass and planned for the time when we would finally be grown. We dreamed of the wonderful places we would see, the exotic people we would meet, and the beautiful house where we would live together. Like some invisible day planner, our ideas, our futures were laid out with little thought to how we would make the dreams come true. Details were for old people and we were young, so very young.

With the food devoured and our imaginations exhausted, we started back to Granny's house. By the time her little house came into view, we would see our granny standing at the screen door waiting like a GPS years ahead of her time. We always asked how she knew we were coming. She always smiled and said the black birds told her and sure enough, black birds would fly from the trees, up to the heavens, with our secrets on their beaks.

Inside the tiny house, a box fan whirled in the big front window.

Granny always suggested we lay on the bed and relax for a while. Though we insisted we didn't need to relax, we climbed into my granny's bed and started telling her about our adventures. What seemed like seconds, ended with my granny shaking our arms and asking if we were gonna sleep the afternoon away. How she always knew just what two little girls needed, will always be a mystery. I never remember going to sleep..... only her smile when we woke up.

Those days seem so long ago. Oh, those non-ending days of summer that somehow did.... I laid down for a short nap in that big bed with the box fan droning away, and woke up here, 600 miles and 44 years later. I long for my Granny and her sandwiches wrapped in wax paper. She has long left this world, but on hot days when the sky won't rain and the breeze won't blow, I crawl into my big bed, with the ceiling fan droning on and on..... I start to tell my granny about all my adventures and just before I fall asleep she whispers, "Oh sweetie, I already know cause a little black bird told me." 

I smile and close my eyes, because out back, in the trees, I hear it call, as it flies with my secrets  up to the heavens.