River Boots

Blue eyes stared up at the sky in wonder as gray clouds slowly began rolling in. The little boy could feel his excitement growing, watching the sun disappear behind the puffy shapes. In a matter of seconds, he ran his way to the hallway trying hard to keep his balance as his butterfly socks caused him to slip and slide. The little boy could clearly hear his mother’s voice calling his name to slow down, but he didn’t have time to. Rain wasn’t going to wait for anyone.

           Though, the pile of toys had other plans as his small form came crashing down. He could feel his muscles ache wishing he would stay on the ground, yet with a small whimper he got up. The eight year old shouted he was ok while continuing his run to the staircase not even acknowledging the pain in his knees. It would go away. With a huff, he opened the door to a bedroom that he shared with his older brother. Blue ribbons, shiny trophies, and metals from sports lined his brother’s side while his had bug posters, nets, and “creepy crawlies” as his sisters loved to point out. His brother didn’t mind since it kept the girls out of their room.

           The little boy shook his head feeling himself getting distracted. He needed to get ready. The closet close to his bed housed all he needed for his rainy day adventure. His teal raincoat that would protect him from the water, his (totally real) sapphire bug catcher to hold his catch of the day, and of course those shiny, new pair of yellow boots. It was a birthday present that his brother gave him to help him catch bugs in the rain. Though it seemed like it was never going to let a single drop fall from the sky, today was that day. The wide grin on the boy’s face didn’t let up as he rubbed the rubber together and slam the door closed to rush downstairs.

           The loud shout from his mother and baby sister stopped him in his tracks before he could escape to the rainy mess. The grin had turned to an awkward smile as he tried to calm the small cries of the baby in his mother’s arms. Even though his face did the trick to get her to stop shouting, the scowl on his mother’s face didn’t lessen. She began lecturing him which should have ruined his mood, but the light pitter patter of rain hitting the window was calling him. The little boy begged for forgiveness as he explained his excitement as quickly as possible. His mother stared out the window he was looking at before and let out a tired sigh. The older woman continued rocking the baby in her arm as she grabbed the square, dark blue glasses off the small stand in front of the door. The boy found himself frowning at that.

           She slipped the glasses onto his face, knowing very well he wasn’t going to catch anything if he didn’t wear them. They made his face look baby-like and his eyes more adorable in his mother’s eyes. To him, they made him feel like a nerd that he didn’t like to admit he was. With a kiss on the cheek and a reminder to not stay out too long, the boy made his way out.

           It wasn’t hard enough yet, but the puddles had started lining the sidewalk making the smile return to his face. He jumped right into the wet pool hearing the squeak of his boots loud and clear. It sounded quite funny that he had to jump into the next puddle to hear it again. And again, and again and again. Ok, he was enjoying this way too much. He was still a kid after all and rainy days in boots made for a great time. With one last hop into a puddle, the boy took a moment to look how far he was from the house. He remembered that his mother didn’t allow him to go out of the cul-de-sac without his big brother with him.

However, the best bug hideouts were near the park area that was only a few houses away. He glanced at his house hoping his baby sister was keeping his mother busy as he ran his way out of the cul-de-sac. The boy knew he wouldn’t going to be gone long, he always found bugs pretty easily. So, with each squish, the boy found his way to the small neighborhood park.

It looked kind of gloomy with all the droplets on the metal equipment and nobody around to play on it; but he knew that meant more bugs to find. Stumbling through the grass, he made his way to the grassy areas of the park combing through the mini homes of the small creatures. He had found some ants running to their hole, grasshoppers munching on leaves, and tons of spiders being busy as ever. Though he could collect them, he wanted a new friend that he hadn’t seem before.

The little boy gently stepped over the grass hoping to not step on the insects he loved as he made his way to a log. He could hear frogs croaking, see newts running, and feel slimy snails, yet nothing to take home for his collection. He pouted wondering if rainy days weren’t good for bug searching. Bugs probably didn’t want to get their wings wet or drown in the random droplets. He sighed, making his way over to his last spot of the park. The small pond housed lots of creatures that were bound to give him one new friend.

He stared at the edge of the pond, not wanting to get too close so he would fall in. That wouldn’t be a fun way to end the day. His blue eyes scanned the ground hoping one bug would catch his eye. In that moment, something big and black ran across the grass. The boy gasped quickly opening his bug catcher and let the bug slip in. He closed it and looked at the bug crawling around his new, dry home. It looked like a beetle or maybe a big roach, the boy wasn’t sure. He pushed his glasses up on his face and placed the bug catcher gently on his chest. He had to get to his room to find his bug book and study it.

The little boy gently walked across the wet grass, not wanting to shake his little friend. He had to be careful and not scare the bug, yet a huge splash nearly made him jiggle the catcher. The boy watched as a red ball floated in a big puddle as the rain tapped against it. The panic in his stomach rose as he noticed the familiar pattern on the ball.

He froze seeing three boys come up to him and get their ball. He wanted to run, but their harsh words about his glasses, his bug friend, and his child-like appearance stopped him cold. Their laughter was loud as the taller one pushed him into the grass knocking his glasses and bug catcher away from him. The boy could feel the others pulling at his boots and that got him to shout. He pleaded with them to give them back, except they ignored him; quickly running off with the yellow boots his brother spent his money on.

The eight year old watched them run trying to collect himself as quickly as he could. But they were older and faster than him as he tried to stand up. His back hurt and slowly the earlier fall had made his knees hurt again. The bug inside was scared as he put it around his neck and his glasses were luckily unharmed. However, his butterfly socks were soaked, and he was starting to get cold.

“What the — little brother! Jack…what are you doing out here?”

The boy turned around seeing his older brother looking at him confused. He could feel his eyes watering as the rain seemed to pour harder. He cried telling him what happened as the rain served as no comfort for his small frame.