Never Grow Up

by Karen Kingsbury

  “Don’t worry, Natalie.” Elliot stuck his chest out. “Capes make me run faster. But I won’t be participating today.”

  “That’s not fair!” Natalie crossed her arms.

  “Elliot! You have to do Field Day.” Ashley could feel her eyebrows raised very high on her face. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  Elliot shrugged. “Grass allergy. Any grass touches my skin, instant rash.” He pointed at his sweatpants, tucked into white tube socks. “See? I made extra precautions today.”

  “Maybe you should watch from inside.” Natalie looked worried about their friend.

  “No.” Elliot flung his cape. “I have to cheer on my friends. Good luck!”

  “You’re very brave.” Ashley patted his shoulder. “Good luck to you.” She shook his hand. “Watch out for flying grass, especially while I’m running.” She did some high knees. “At my speed, grass flies everywhere.”

  “Thanks.” He saluted her and then he ran off, his cape blowing in the wind.

  Ashley raised her eyebrows at Natalie. “I like that Elliot. He’s a good one.”

  Natalie pouted. “I wish I had a grass allergy. Then I could avoid this whole thing.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Ashley linked arms with Natalie. “I need my partner today!”

  “I guess.” Natalie exhaled. “Not like I really have a choice.”

  Just then Landon waved at her from the other side of the starting area. “Hey, Ashley.” He was sitting by Chris. “I hope we can still be friends. You know… after I win.”

  Ashley squinted her eyes at him. “After I win, you mean.”

  Their PE teacher, Mr. Stone, raised a megaphone. “Attention, fifth-grade students. Please get to the starting line.” Mr. Stone was bald. He had a mustache that covered a good part of his face and today he wore giant red sunglasses. He was funny that way.

  Ashley spotted her mom on the other side of the field. “Hi!” Ashley waved big.

  Her mom waved back and did a thumbs-up, as if she was saying, You got this, Ashley! It felt good to have a fan!

  Ashley and Natalie walked to the starting line, along with the other students. Mr. Stone paced in front of them. “First, the Jump Rope Jubilee! Two students at a time. We’ll count how many jumps you can do in a minute.” He raised his hand. “Everyone line up.”

  A sick feeling began to grow in Ashley. She liked jumping. But jumping rope was a very different activity. Especially with everyone watching.

  She and Natalie found a spot.

  Mr. Stone blew the whistle and the first kids began to jump. Ashley twisted a little. Maybe Mr. Stone could give her a private location. Without so many eyeballs on her.

  Before she could ask, it was her turn. She took her spot. You can do it, Ashley, she cheered for herself. You can do it!

  “Don’t mess up, Ashley Baxter!” The words came from mean Chris right before the whistle.

  “Go!” Mr. Stone shouted.

  Ashley began to turn the rope over her head. But on her third jump, the rope tangled up around her feet. She stopped and stepped free and then she started jumping again. Thirty-three jumps in a minute.

  Terrible, she told herself. She handed the rope to the next person.

  “Good job, Ash.” Natalie patted Ashley on the back. When the Jump Rope Jubilee was over, Chris had won with seventy-three jumps. He flexed his arm muscles and gave everyone high fives.

  Ashley was too busy drinking water to clap for him. Especially because of his rude words.

  “Next up is the Water Bucket Relay,” Mr. Stone shouted through the megaphone. “Boys versus girls.” He explained that one teammate would grab a sopping wet sponge from the bucket at their feet, and then run it to an empty bucket. “You will then squeeze all the water out into the bucket and run it back to your teammate. First bucket to be filled, wins.”

  Ashley understood. “We can do this!” she yelled to the girls around her.

  “On your mark, get set, go!” Mr. Stone blew his whistle and the teams set off.

  Ashley cheered on each girl until it was her turn. She reached into the bucket and pulled out the dripping wet sponge.

  “You got this!” Natalie shouted over the noise.

  Across the field, Ashley could hear her mom cheering, too. Ashley took the wet sponge and ran it to the other end of the field. She squeezed the sponge into the bucket and ran it back. Amy was next. She ran off, her long braids swishing behind her.

  Ashley leaned over on her knees, catching her breath.

  “How do you feel?” Natalie hurried over to Ashley.

  “Good.” Ashley nodded. “Our bucket was way fuller.”

  “Yes!” Natalie ran off to share the good news. There were just a few students left to go.

  Suddenly Mr. Stone raised his hand and blew his whistle. He was standing between the two buckets. “Girls win!” The girls huddled together and cheered, high-fiving and congratulating each other.

  “Next up is the Marble Toe Grab!” Mr. Stone clapped his hands. “My personal favorite!”

  Ashley froze. What in the world? She looked at Natalie. “Marble Toe Grab?”

  Natalie frowned. “I really don’t like this one.” She stared at her shoes and then at Ashley. “We have to sit barefoot on a chair in a kiddie swimming pool filled with marbles.”

  Ashley felt her eyes get bigger. She glanced down the field, and sure enough, there were two small blue and yellow plastic swimming pools with chairs at their centers. She turned to Natalie again. “Then what?”

  “You have to use your toes.” Natalie sounded disgusted.

  Mr. Stone was saying how one person from each team would grab the marbles with their toes, and the other would catch them in a bucket.

  Ashley raised her hand. “I’ll do it.” She took off one shoe and sock. “Natalie, you hold our bucket.”

  “Definitely.” Natalie wrinkled her nose. “Too many germs in there.”

  Ashley didn’t care. Their team was first up against Landon and Chris. Ashley sat on the plastic chair in the middle of the pool and pressed her feet into the sea of marbles.

  “Wow!” Ashley yelled to her classmates. “This feels like a marbley foot massage.” She looked at Natalie. “You’re really missing out here, friend.”

  Natalie rolled her eyes. She took hold of the bucket just as the whistle blew. From their separate kiddie pools, Ashley and Landon began grabbing marbles with their toes.

  “Come on!” Chris held their bucket. “All the marbles you can get!”

  Hurry, Ashley told herself. She picked up one shiny marble with her toes and moved it to the bucket. “One down!” She glanced at Landon and her heart dropped.

  Landon was a professional marble toe-grabber, apparently. He had snagged four marbles, first try. One between each pair of toes. “We’ve got this.” He grinned at Ashley. “You need bigger toes!”

  “I like my small toes.” Ashley tried for more marbles, but only one stuck.

  Thirty seconds… twenty… ten. Mr. Stone blew the whistle again. Twenty-eight marbles for Landon and Chris. Six for Ashley and Natalie.

  “The medal is ours!” Chris made a face at Ashley and Natalie. He high-fived Landon. “Nobody has better toes than us!”

  Ashley stared at the pool of marbles. More practice. That’s what she needed.

  Mr. Stone had his megaphone again. “Last event. The three-legged race!” Mr. Stone led the students to a bin full of red and blue bandannas.

  “Here we go, Ashley. We have to win this one.” Natalie sounded nervous. “We haven’t won a single medal.”

  True, Ashley thought. And no medals meant she would no longer be Queen of Field Day. And that was a title she couldn’t afford to lose, especially not at a new school.

  Ashley focused. “Okay. Just like we practiced.” She grabbed a bandanna from the bin and tied her ankle to Natalie’s. “One step at a time. In sync.”

  “Right.” Natalie nodded. “In sync.”

  Mr. Stone blew the whistle and thre
e teams were off. Ashley saw her mom stand. “Come on, Ashley! You got this!”

  This time her mother was right. Natalie and Ashley ran in perfect harmony, like they were born for this very race. They crossed the finish line first and jumped around, hugging and shouting until the celebration landed them on the ground.

  It didn’t matter. Ashley and Natalie laughed and untied their ankles and hopped back up. “We won!” Natalie’s happy eyes looked surprised. “We actually did it!”

  After all the racers finished, Mr. Stone made the announcement. “The fastest score belongs to Ashley and Natalie! Congratulations, girls!”

  And so their celebration continued. As they walked up to get their medals, Ashley looked at Landon. His Marble Toe Grab medal was already hanging around his neck. “Good job.” She said the words very soft. So Chris wouldn’t hear.

  “You, too.” He smiled and gave her a high five. Then he leaned in a little closer. “I knew you would win that last one. You’re faster than Chris.”

  Ashley grinned. Yes, she was. She had beat Chris in a race last week at the high school football game. Mr. Stone placed medals around Ashley’s and Natalie’s necks. Ashley hurried over to Elliot. “Hey.” She flicked his cape. “Did you stay out of the grass?”

  “I did.” He soared his spaceship hand around in the air again. “Plus I had more fun watching.”

  “I’m sorry about your grass allergy, Elliot.” Ashley gave her friend a sad look. “Especially since winning is everything.”

  “No, it’s not.” He laughed and shook his head. “Winning isn’t everything.”

  “What?” Ashley blinked a few times. “Are you kidding me here, Elliot?” She put her hands on her hips. “Winning definitely is everything.”

  “No, it’s not.” Elliot stopped soaring and smiled at her. “Lots of people don’t win. I couldn’t even play.” He patted his own shoulder. “And I’m perfectly happy. Winning is fun. But it’s not as fun as being happy or having a new friend or getting a good grade in reading.” He fluffed out his cape. “It’s not as fun as being yourself. I believe those things are more important, Ashley Baxter.”

  For a long time Ashley stood there. She looked at Elliot and then at her medal. Then back at her unlikely friend. And like sunshine after a cloudy day the truth came over her. It felt warm and new and wonderful. “You know something?”

  Elliot waited. He was still smiling.

  “Elliot, my friend.” Ashley could hardly believe her next words. “I believe you’re right.”

  On her way back to Natalie, Ashley thought of a bunch of things more important than winning. Working with her teammate and cheering on her classmates and seeing her mom across the field.

  The truth was, she could be Queen of Field Day without a single medal.

  But it was sort of fun having one.

  That night before bed, Ashley drew a sketch of herself and Natalie running the three-legged race. She drew medals around their necks and a few classmates cheering them on. Oh, and Elliot on the sideline, of course. In his cape.

  Because the medal wouldn’t matter after a week or so. But what Elliot had told her would last longer than that.

  Maybe even forever.

  5 Defense for a Dog

  KARI

  The fact that Kari hadn’t stopped thinking about dogs all week told her two things. First, she really wanted one. Obviously. And second, it was up to her to convince her parents to buy one.

  Brooke had come home frustrated every day that week, and also every day Kari found a way to talk about dogs.

  “Mother?” she asked on Tuesday. “Did you know that people with dogs are happier?”

  “How wonderful, Kari.” Her mom didn’t exactly look up from the kitchen sink, where she was working.

  So Kari tried again on Wednesday. She sat next to her mom during dinner. “Dogs can cheer a person up, Mother.” Kari nodded at Brooke. “And someone in this family needs a little cheering. Don’t you think?”

  And on it went.

  Now it was Friday and Kari had another plan. She had pasted magazine photos of dogs on a big piece of cardboard. She was in her room finishing the dog presentation when Ashley burst through the door.

  “Dinner’s ready.” She flopped down on her bed and made a face. “Mom made salmon.”

  Kari put the exclamation mark at the end of her last bullet point and sat up on her knees. “I love salmon.”

  “Fish smell funny. They’re better in the ocean.” Ashley pointed to the board. “Impressive. A poster for your wall?”

  “No.” Kari laughed. “My case for a dog. Tonight’s the night. For Mom and Dad.”

  Ashley hopped off the bed and studied the board. “This is amazing.”

  “Girls.” Dad called from downstairs. “Dinner!”

  “Okay.” Ashley shrugged at Kari. “Let’s do this.”

  Just before they got to the dining room, Kari set her dog presentation board in the hallway.

  She took her seat and surveyed the room. She wasn’t sure what approach to use. She didn’t want to seem too eager, or too desperate. Then, she caught a look at Brooke, who was staring at her plate. She looked tired. Or sad.

  That was it! Kari could be really sad.

  Dad looked around the table and smiled. “Let’s pray.” He took Mom’s hand on one side and Erin’s on the other. Kari held on to Brooke’s and Luke’s hands, and Luke held Ashley’s and Mom’s. A perfect circle. Their family did this every night.

  “God, we thank You for this family, for our friendship and health. Please bless this food and our time together. In Jesus’ name, amen!” The family echoed with a round of amens.

  “How was your day, honey?” Mom took a piece of salmon and turned to their dad.

  He looked tired. “It was a tough one. A boy was admitted to the hospital with cancer. Alex Hutchins. I think he’s a year older than Luke.”

  Brooke frowned. “That’s terrible.”

  “Maybe we can help him?” Luke pushed his fork around in his broccoli.

  Kari smiled at her little brother. Luke always wanted to help people.

  “Actually there is something.” Dad looked around the table. “The city is doing a 5K run in a few weeks to help raise money for Alex’s medical bills.”

  “What time?” Mom nodded. “We could all participate.”

  Dad took a sip of water. “I’ll find out.”

  “That’s so sad… Sign me up, Dad. I’d like to help.” Ashley ate a bite of fish. “On the plus side, I’m a very good runner. So possibly I could run extra… you know, to raise extra money.”

  “It doesn’t work like that, Ash.” Brooke took a sip of water.

  “Brooke’s right.” Dad set his fork down. “For a 5K, runners get sponsors to donate and contribute. Also, the entry fees go toward the cause.”

  The conversation continued but Kari wasn’t really paying attention. Her dog presentation was filling her whole mind.

  Finally Mom noticed. “Kari, honey.” She sounded concerned. “You’ve barely touched your fish. What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not too hungry.” She picked at her dinner. “It’s been a long week. Long month really.”

  Mom and Dad were watching her. Like they weren’t entirely convinced.

  Kari looked at her siblings, who seemed to be equally confused. Usually Ashley was the dramatic one. Kari sighed. “I’m supersad about the move, I think. And Ashley is very sad.”

  “I’m not sad!” Ashley dropped her fork and did a little dance in her chair. “I mean… I’m sad about Alex. But before that, I’m having the time of my life here and—”

  “Fine.” Kari held up her hand. “I’m not sad and I’m not sick. Sorry for lying.” She took a bite of her salad. “I’m actually starving.”

  Ashley stopped dancing. “I was wondering about all that.”

  “Yes, well.” Kari turned to her parents. She shook her head. “The truth is, I’m worried about Brooke. This has been the saddest week of our oldest siste
r’s entire life. In case you’ve all missed it.”

  “Me?” Brooke froze for a few seconds. Then she looked at their parents. “I mean. I’ve had better weeks but…”

  “Exactly.” Kari would take what she could get. “Which brings me to the reason we’re gathered here.”

  “Hmm.” Dad grinned. “Dinner is what gathered us here.”

  “Hang on!” Kari ran from the room, grabbed her presentation board and rushed back. She held it up. “I present to you… my case for a dog.” Kari walked the poster around the table. “Take a look, family. I think a dog is the answer to our problems.”

  “Problems?” Dad looked at Mom.

  “Yes!” Luke shouted from the other end of the table. “Let’s get a dog! Problems solved!”

  Erin’s eyes lit up. “Yes! A puppy!”

  Kari liked where this was going. “See those puppy faces? They need us. See their eyes? They love us.” She looked at her father. “A dog is man’s best friend, Dad.”

  Dad sat back. “You don’t say.”

  “I do say.” Kari smiled. “And, Daddy, I haven’t really seen you making new friends yet. A dog could fix that.” This is working, Kari thought. “And think of Brooke.”

  “Kari…” Mom covered her mouth with her hand. She did a quiet little laugh. “This isn’t the time.”

  Kari pleaded with her mother. “I’m almost done.”

  “Fine.” Mom laughed again.

  “Thank you.” Kari had to hurry. Before they made her sit down again. “Not only is a dog a friend to everyone, but he’s a great outdoor playmate. And…” Kari pointed to the poster. “A dog protects the whole family.”

  “Depends on the dog.” Dad smiled. “A Chihuahua isn’t much protection.”

  Everybody laughed at that.

  “Plus.” Erin raised both hands. “They’re part of the family.”

  Kari smiled. “That, too.”

  Dad took a breath and sat forward. He placed his forearms on the table. “Thank you, Kari. Can you sit back down, please?”

  “Yes, I can.” Kari set the poster in the hallway and returned to her seat. She took a bite of her salmon. It was delicious.