Peaceful Afternoon Interrupted

 Daises and buttercups danced among the grasses in nature's florist meadow;  they jigged and giggled as the gentle breezes tickled them.  The nearby merrily, babbing brook, rippled, eddied and called to the flowers to sing and play their symphony of fiddles, softy beaten tom-toms, keeping them in delirous swinging dances of joy.

Two children lay on their backs among the florets, gesticulating at the sky, competing with each other, gleefully calling out the changing cloud creations twirling and unfurling across heaven's stage:  first, "a whale;" then, "rhino;" "a sheep;" "no, look, look, its an angel!"

They did not see the slithering, green garter snake silently slide by but when the little green frog leaped onto the lad's chest, the lazily murmuring afternoon was interrupted with startled cries. The boy's heart beat double-time, his arms batting "the thing" away.  He gulped for breath, calming himself with self talk, especially when his brother guffawed, "It's only a frog...!"

All semblance of peace was forgotten.  Ground-nesting birds, which had for some minutes forgotten the boys were there, rose in frightened flight; the cat stalking the snake skeddadled in a frenzy.  The brook even seemed to pause its tune to ascertain what the commotion was all about before resuming its flow and babble.

The brothers' inertia disturbed, further shattered the peace and quiet, laughed and shouted to each other, "Last one into the brook is a rotten egg...!"

Oh the scurry and hurry to strip to undies, surprizingly they remembered their mother's admonition not to soil or spoil their clothes, and to splash and frolic with exhilaration in the refreshing waters.  Little blennies and roaches shook their fins and rushed to escape the onslaught, and fled to the nooks and grannies and pebble shelters of their underwater world.  Ha, ha. the boys had seen their hide and seek feats and greedily clutched at them.  How fond they were to catch fish, even ones so small.  They had brought an empty glass peanut butter jar with them "just in case".

Oh the joy of the catch.  They managed to get a silvery one and quickly ensconced it in its glass prison; then another and another.  They were "lucky" today.  The fish didn't feel like it though.  Frightened, the fish flitted and darted left and right bumping their noses in useless frantic flee.  The boys' eyes appeared enormous to these little fishes with escape wishes.  The boys gazed in fascinated wonder though,  at their sleek, aquatic prisoners.

The beauty of God's creation, albeit a small sector of a sector, amazed them.  However, they were kind lads and decided that before they went home they'd release the fine finned creatures back to their natural habitat.  They themselves would not wish to be kidnapped away from their home, they mused.

Speaking of which, the wind whispered to them, "The sun is slipping behind the hills and vales - go home".  They looked up at the sun, which wasn't 'too up,' to see, sure enough, the hour must be getting quite late - they'd best hurry home.

Oops, boys, don't forget your clothes.

The daisies and buttercups; the garter snake and frogs; the babbling brook, blennies and roaches all concurred.  They each gave a sigh of relief that they could "rest in peace;" until the lads' next appearance, at least. 

As for the cat, she had beaten the boys home and was happily digging into her chow.  Mother was serving up their dinner and Father was silently sitting at the head of the bountifully laden table, waiting.

"Run and wash up, lads," Mother urged.  "You're a bit late."

"Sorry Mother," they chorused, not daring to meet Father's eyes.  "It was so fun out there," they explained.  "God sure knew how to make the world!"

Mother smiled indulgently.  Father remembered his boyhood, and graciously smirked under his bowed head. 

                                                          ~ERC  May 2021~