Summer Love

Nan was bored.

It was summer for heaven’s sake! Where was the fun and excitement?

Nan’s parents Chris and Doris had both decided to travel to Cambodia for a long awaited 50^th wedding anniversary trip. They embarked as soon as the airports opened up for leisure travel.

Big sister Barbs was taking up online summer college classes in Georgia; she hadn’t left town since the lockdown.

Big brother Bernad was busy playing table tennis in the morning and swimming in the evening at the local tennis club. He had a new guerilla mask for every outing. Big brother never had time for more than an evening kiss on the cheek and two pats on Nan’s forehead.

Nan loved the pats and kisses but it did nothing for her daily boredom.

Nan was turning 13 in a few days and it seemed nothing exciting had happened to her in all those years much less the least four months locked away from the world.

She didn’t know it yet but today was going to be different; it was going to be more intriguing than all the days of summer holiday she had already experienced.

Nan starred up at the ceiling of her bedroom for the longest time before deciding to get up out of the bed. With a sigh she washed her face and brushed teeth. She looked in the mirror and counted her freckles…again. It had become a morning routine. She counted 56. Nan pulled the comb through her tight brown curly hair and tried the brush on it. As usual the brush fought with the massive tangles and then gave up all together.

Nan walked past the dining room table eyeing the bowl of porridge that sat there. Gloria the housekeeper made it fresh for her every morning. Normally Nan enjoyed eating her soy porridge each morning but today she had no appetite.

Nan walked out the back door and glared up at the sun. It was baking hot. She shielded her eyes and closed them for a moment. She had gone blind with the force of the light. Nan counted to ten as she waited for the effects to wear off. She opened her eyes and that’s when she noticed it.

There was a green ball sitting in the middle of the yard. The Smith home was full of apple trees and a few orange trees. The blossoms on the trees were all out and they gave tremendous shade when the sun was just right in the sky to cast shadows. The grass was neatly trimmed and apart from a small sitting bench that was under one of the apple trees, there weren’t any other oddities in the yard. The green ball stood out.

Nan walked over to it. She walked around it. It was twice the size of a tennis ball but with rough edges like it was meant for bouncing. Nan looked around. There was no one there but her. Gloria was somewhere in the house cleaning. Nan looked to the left. Their home was adjourned by a field on the other side of the tall wall that was usually the home of large summer sunflowers, morning glories and other small shrubs. On the right was another home. The wall was high enough to separate the homes and any sight of the yard but the brown peak of the roof could be seen looming above the wall.

Nan looked back at the ball. She kicked it. It was fun. Nan ran up to the ball and kicked it again. She giggled. She kicked and followed the ball around for the rest of the day.

Next morning Nan sprang out of bed before her usual time. She groomed herself hastily smiling at all 56 of her freckles. She ran out into the yard whizzing past Gloria in the corridor who barely had a chance to say morning.

Nan found her green ball and kicked it gently to be sure the feeling of pleasure was still there. It was.

Nan found she could kick the ball at different angles and with different amounts of energy to move it in different ways.

She could not have imagined there being anything more interesting than that green ball; but there was.

“Ouch” Nan cried out.

Something hit her square on the head top just as she was about to kick her green ball.

Nan rubbed her head top. It would have been much worse no doubt if she didn’t have the mass of stubborn curls to cushion the blow.

It was another ball. This time the ball was orange. It was the same shape and style as her green ball. Nan looked up. Balls didn’t fall from heaven-did they?

Nan was a bit baffled but didn’t dwell on the origin conundrum for too long. She kicked the orange ball. That felt good too. Nan lined up the two balls and started using one to kick the other. The level of fun had just doubled.

Nan was enjoying herself again when she got another ‘boink’ on the head. This time it wasn’t a ball; it was a crumpled ball of paper.

‘Do these things come from the sky too?’ Nan wandered.

She picked up the ball of paper that had fallen to the ground. There seemed to be writing on it. She opened it up.

“I know you have my balls. Send em back!”

Nan stared at the words. She looked around. There was no one there. Then she looked up.

Nan shook her head, threw the paper aside and resumed playing with her balls.

It wasn’t long before another one came. This time the ball of paper landed just in front of Nan. Nan looked up. The ball came from the other side of the wall. It came from the neighbors house.

Nan picked up the ball of paper and opened it up.

“It’s not yours. Give em back you thief!”

“I’m no thief! How dare you?” Nan said aloud. She was quite upset.

She dropped the paper, ran inside and scribbled a note of her own.

“Finders keepers, losers weepers”    

Nan ran outside and threw her crumbled paper ball as hard as she could over the wall. That made her feel better. She resumed her ball play first kicking the green and then the orange ball.

It wasn’t long before another crumpled paper came flying over the wall.

It landed beside Nan. Nan looked at the crumpled paper. Her anger was coming back again. She balled her fists and let out a small scream.

She kicked the paper across the yard.

Then she ran over to it and opened it up.

“They’re my hoop practice balls. Without my green and orange ones my set is incomplete and I can’t practice well. Give it back or else.”

Nan read the last part aloud. She wanted to feel the threat.

“Or else what?” She said aloud.

Nan ran for more paper and scribbled another note.

“You threw them over to my yard. Not my fault if you can’t even play ball. Now they’re my green and orange balls so just forget about them.”

Nan threw the message over the wall-with a lot of energy.

It wasn’t long before her message was followed up by another.

“I can teach you to play hoop ball if you promise to give me back my balls.”

Nan scoffed at the response. She crumpled the paper and threw it aside. She went back to her ball kicking.

Another crumpled paper came across, then another and another. Nan ignored them all.

It seems Nan exerted far more energy than her 12 year old body usually did. She kicked a lot of ball but she was still trumped up about her presumptuous neighbors accusations.

Nan tossed and turned in her bed that night but she jumped up as soon as the sun gave enough light. Nan stood in front of her mirror and counted the freckles-57.

“What? Where did that come from?” She counted again. It was still 57.

“Nevermind, I am turning 13 soon. That must be part of the deal.”

Nan ran out of her room heading for the back door when the hard the ‘gong’ of the door bell. Gloria was already there to answer.

Nan was just about to set foot outside when she heard some familiar words but an unfamiliar voice.

“….green…orange….balls…wall…”

“Oh no!” Nan thought.

“I guess it’s some stupid boy then. He wants to take away my balls.”

Nan started to panick, then she thought again.

“It’s my word against his. Gloria will agree. They belong to me now and I won’t give them back.”

Nan grabbed a mask from the counter and headed towards the front door where Gloria stood talking back and forth with the boy.

“….well I understand perfectly and I…”

Nan interjected.

“Well I don’t understand. There’s nothing to say about it either. They’re my…”

Nan stopped abruptly.

Gloria had moved aside and Nan could see her assailant in full view.

It was a boy perhaps her age. He was a few inches taller than Nan with a slim build and a warm brown tan. He had a large brown eyes and full eyebrows that seemed to hug the shape of his eyes. The locks on his hair were even tighter than those on Nan’s. He had freckles- yes freckles – that poked around the edges and top of his mask.

Nan was taken aback and she didn’t know why.

She felt butterflies in her stomach and the hair on her arms stood up. She could feel the freckles dancing on her face and her locks of hair tightening up-or so she thought.

Nan stood speechless.

Gloria looked from Nan to Joey and then from Joey to Nan. Gloria cleared her throat.

“Well why don’t you come in Joey. Have you had breakfast yet? How about we discuss these balls over some hot chocolate and soy porridge?”

Gloria was already heading towards the kitchen.

Nan was left face to face with Joey.

Joey stared at Nan. His eyes seemed to have increased in diameter since Nan came to the door.

“I…I like soy porridge.” Joey said quietly with a silly look on his face. He suddenly looked down at his shoes nervously avoiding Nan’s gaze.

“Ddd..do you? This…this way then.” Nan cracked a smile behind her mask and headed toward the kitchen.

 Joey followed.