Gracie
is off to the ball game with her best friends from grade school. Ah,
the thrill of it all! They are taller than Gracie, with crowns of
thick, curly hair and bronzed skin. They walk with longer strides
than Gracie's Casper white legs can manage. Gracie walks calmly,
trailing unintentional destruction in her wake. Her friends notice
the noise of the first crash when a large plastic placard falls with
a whoosh and then a whack as it hits the ground. They
turn to look and ask what the noise was. Gracie confesses with a
shrug, but decides not to acknowledge her fault by going back and
picking it up.
Onward
and upward, well upward, for them as they head to the top of the
stairs to find their the seats, when Gracie trips on the steps
catching herself, but dropping her water bottle. Someone leaps down
to pick up the rolling water bottle and asks if she is OK. "Yes"
Gracie replies, without the least embarrassment. It feels almost
clandestine to go to the ball game when you are out of state, where
hardly anyone knows you and the people who do know you are out of sight. She
catches up with her friends and sits down. All is well, even as she climbs over other spectators and gets to the rest room without
incident. This adds to her confidence. Nonetheless, upon
leaving the
game, Gracie manages - how - we will never know, to knock bottles
out of cup holders. Her friend saves the bottles and pleasantly says,
"Sorry about that!" to Gracie’s newest victims.
Copyright © 2014 Martina Sabo
