A Summer Morning
by Adam Maillet
It was a lazy summer morning, and even the clocks hesitated to get the day started. On a certain street a little boy could be seen bouncing his basketball along the sidewalk, attempting to reach the sky with each two-handed slam onto concrete. On one of the higher bounces, a birds� nest caught the kid's attention. After a few careful moments of contemplation, and for no reason other than to see if he could, the boy decided to knock the straw from its peaceful position. The first few attempts were fruitless, yet after awhile he got lucky: somewhere behind him a dog barked. The unexpected sound caused a brief burst of strength, and the missile flew right on target, smacking the branch supporting the birds' home.
A girl woke up early one morning, and as usual went for a walk with her dog. The slow sunrise creeped its way up in a field of gray and blue as she strolled along the street. She rounded a corner, and mused at a little boy smashing a basketball as hard as he could into the ground. Seemingly without any real motive, he nonetheless persevered in his strange task. The closer she drew, the more anxious her dog became. He danced about and started to growl a few feet from the child, and just as the boy began another launch, let out a tremendous bark. The little kid hurdled the ball into the ground with surprise. As it hit the branch a cascade of bird feathers floated to the ground, and squawks filled the early air. The basketball in its magnificent fall snapped the leash out of the girl's hand; realizing his newfound freedom, the dog darted for the road.
The morning called a man out of bed, just like all other days, to go to work. After a drowsy breakfast and a rushed cup of coffee, he kissed his half-asleep wife on the forehead and strolled to his car. The purr of the engine mixed with the piano on the radio felt just right. Letting the car drive itself, the man�s thoughts wandered to his family and job, but a girl jumping into the road caught his attention. Right on course and too stunned to think the man froze, but something crashed into his car window, sending a shock throughout his mind and body. Not knowing what to do, his arms spun the wheel as hard and as fast as they could. The man's trip was stopped short. Tearing away his seatbelt, and fighting his way through smoke and a deflated airbag, the survivor crawled out of the wreckage to see a bird right in the center of his splintered windshield, and a tree through the front of his hood..
The girl looked back to the spot where she had been standing seconds before. Her dog's leash was tight in her trembling hands, and even the rowdy pet simply stared in that doglike fashion. A man appeared out of the car, eyes like saucers, inspected his totaled vehicle, then turned to the children. "Are y'all okay?"
The boy looked around at the older girl and the shaking man. The bird was dead now. He stood there on the sidewalk letting his eyes tear, and after a long pause of silence noticed something under the car's tire. Barely audible, he mumbled, "You ran over my basketball."
-2003
