Well, it was the third of March.

"Bill! Lookie, lookie, Bill see what I got," I yelled as I took my new store bought kite and ran across the road to show my best buddy Bill. I opened the door and ran into Bill's kitchen a-yelling. But I quickly stopped for there sat Bill at the kitchen table eating a chocolate chip cookie and drinking a glass of milk, and there across from him was a girl, a girl I had never seen afore.

"Bill! Bill, look! I got me a store-bought kite and two balls of twine, want to go fly my kite Bill, huh, huh, do you?"

"Neat Joe, really neat. Wow, look at that, a yellow kite with a red and orange dragon on it. Wow Joe, did it come from Japan?"

About then Bill's ma came back into the kitchen. "William, did you introduce Darla to Joe?"

Bill's mouth dropped and his head too, and he said, "No Ma'am, Mom, I forgot, but look. Lookie. Joe has a new store bought kite."

"Joe, Joe this here is my cousin Darla. Darla done come from Cincinatti to stay with us till school is out. She" ........

The words tapered off as I looked up and saw Bill's ma shake her head and man, one thing about Bill's ma is that she doesn't hollar and fuss at him much, but boy when she looks at you, you just know what she wants.

"Hi Darla, you all the way Cincinatti? Wow, do you get to watch the Reds very often. Huh, do you, huh huh?"

Darla looks at me and grins, cause she ain't like most girls. She ain't purty and don't have no ribbons in her hair. And she has on an old cord dress and clodhopper shoes.

"Hi Joe. Yes, and I got Pet Rose's autograph twice last year. Boy Pete Rose is my hero. I like Charlie Hustle, too, I really do."

"Well, my dad says maybe we can go to Cincinatti to Crosly Field and see them Reds whip up on Stan Musial. And them Cards this summer," I says.

"Joe want some of my milk and a cookie," Darla asks.

Immediately Bill sees his ma ain't in sight so he takes one of his two cookies and gives it to me. Then he pokes one in his mouth and drinks all of his milk.

Darla looks around and does the same thing. I just grin and put the two cookies in my pocket, for Bill's mom makes the very bestest chocolate chip cookies in the county.

"Ma, Ma!" Bill yells.

"Yes, William?"

"Ma, Darla and I have finished our milk and cookies. Can we go fly the kite with Joe?"

Bills mom yelled "Yes, and be careful. And Darla don't forget your coat and hat, for it is windy outside."

"Yes Ma'am," we said, and we ran out the back door.

"Let's go over to the big meadow, the big meadow is a good place," I say.

"Naw Joe, lets go upon the hill over from the barn cause that is where the best wind is."

And we take off, running. Man, that new kite of mine feels like it just wants to jump up in the air and fly, with me holding on. Wow, wouldn't that be great if that new store bought kite would just lift me up and let me fly around?

And durn, that Darla. She runs fast, man she can run faster than Bill or me, and she done got a dress on.

We get up on the corner of the hll, up where pa cut all that timber down to build the new barn. The wind is a blowing in little gusts.

I pulls out my roll of store bought kite string and we tie the string on. And then Bill takes it and runs down the hill and the durn thing just starts up and then goes down, hitting the ground.

Well we try it two or three times then Darla says, "Well, you ain't got no tail on this kite, and you must have a tail on a kite."

I look at Bill and Bill looks at me and we laugh, fer this is the first store-bought kite we've ever had.

I reach into my pocket and pull out my blue bandana, and Bill pulls his out and we tie them together and try again.

Well it does go up a little but it doesn't stay up.

Darla says, "You boys turn your head, OK?"

And then we do. Shucks, don't know what she wants us to turn our head fer. We ain't been out here long enough for her to have to go.

In a minute Darla says, "Here. Here is a good tail for your kite."

Bill and me turn and she hands us her slip, her underskirt. It is all white and has lace around the top and around the bottom.

We laugh and tie her undershirt to the tail of the kite and she takes it and runs down the hill.

We work it and work it, and it just rises and rises.

Funny looking, that there yellow kite with the orange and red dragon on it, with two blue bandanas and Darla's underslip.

Soon it is so high we have to add the other roll of twine. Man, this store bought kite sure does fly.

We were having so much fun for it was out so far it was over top of that big old willow tree down on the creek, down where the pond is.

We were having so much fun. I would work it and Bill and Darla would watch. We would take turns working that kite till we had both rolls of that twine all fed out.

We looked, and shucks. It looked like a gnat up there way up over top of that old willow tree.

Funny how that kite was nearly three feet long and two feet wide and it looks like a skinny gnat.

Well, we were so busy watching the kite we forgot about the time and then all at once I heard a twelve gauge go "Kerbam!" down there on the othe side of the creek. And about then the dang biggest durn flock of crows took off from over there next to the Smeltsers' place.

Well, when we started the sky was nothing but sunshine. No clouds and now there was a line of those big old billious clouds building up off there to the west.

Well, anyway this durn flock of crows took off and started flying toward us.

Man what a sound. All of the durn squawking crows a flying and trying to get away.

Then there was another big noise....a rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, kerrrrrrrrrrrrrboom a big clap of thunder.

I grabbed the string from Bill and started to reel the line in. But those durn crows flew into the line and broke the cord.

It broke maybe a hundred feet in the air.

I yelled and then we took off running, hoping the bottom of the string would come down and we could catch it.

So Bill, Darla and me started running down the hill toward the big old willow hollering and screaming like that durn kite would know to stop.

But that kite, when it got its freedom, just climbed and climbed, and soon the rain started and we had to run to the barn. We couldn't see my new store bought kite and two whole rolls of twine it had on it.

After it quit raining we went over toward the Smeltsers' place and we didn't find hide nor hair of my new kite or the string.

So we went on home and I said bye to Bill and Darla, and they went home too.

The next morning when we got to the school bus stop, early like we always did, Bill and Darla were giggling. As soon as I got there, Bill said, "Joe, come here behind the tree. We've got something to tell you."

Bill and Darla and me. We went behind that big old maple tree in Mrs. Bohanson's yard, and while they giggled they told me.

Bill said, "Pa told me that this here feller who was flying an airplane over to show Mister Dumbford, was coming over from Cedarville yesterday when a bright yellow object with a blue streamer and a lacy white drogue chute nearly made him crash."

I began to laugh too, when I heard it for our kite and tail had been seen as an UFO. Them durn space aliens had done come again.

We laughed and laughed, until Darla said, how was she going to explain her under garment being missing.

Bill looked at me and I said "Well, just tell Bill's Ma that you had to take it off to go." Hee hee.

~The end~