Terry and Morgan

The mid-April Saturday had been the warmest of the year so far. Terry and Morgan hadn’t waited for their dinner to digest before getting back outside to take full advantage. Actually, Terry had insisted they get back outside, but Morgan had no desire to resist. Now they stood facing each other in Terry’s front yard, Terry’s arms stretched to the heavens like an Evangelical overcome with the Spirit.

Leaning sideways with concentrated precision, Terry planted her little hands into the ground and shifted her weight to them. Focused on the task at hand, Terry did not notice that the grass was suddenly due for its first trim of the year. She pushed with all the strength her seven-year-old legs could muster. Terry, barely older than Morgan, would be quick to remind that she’d soon to be eight, but did not have the self-awareness to realize that she wasn’t currently strong enough to force her knees straight. Toppling around in a sort of semi-circle, Terry returned to her feet and threw her arms back into the air, beaming almost as bright as the setting sun, which was possibly paying more attention to the feat than Morgan was.

“Okay, did you see how I did that? That’s how you do a perfect cartwheel. Do you get it now, Morgan? Now you try it again, and just do it how I did.”

Morgan threw her hands in the air for what seemed like the hundredth time, realizing that this was the most important part of the stunt but unable to summon the enthusiasm to give it much pizzazz. Bending down, Morgan kicked her feet into the air and, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, crumbled straight to the ground into a pile. Then she swiftly but dramatically rolled onto her back, grateful for the soft, embracing grass. Morgan looked up to the sky at nothing in particular, although consciously avoiding the direction in which Tammy stood, laughing robustly and genuinely.

Tammy stomped into Morgan’s field of vision, hovering above her. Impatiently interrupting the laughter in an attempt to make it stop, Tammy scolded, “No, no, stop! You didn’t do it right, Morgan. Have you been watching how I do it?” Tammy sighed dramatically as the laughter finally faded. “Get up. I’m going to have to show you again. Watch this time. Okay, are you ready? This is how you do a perfect cartwheel….”