No. 314

The sun blazed down on Chloe as she lay on her back on the trampoline in the backyard.

She heard her brother busying himself somewhere over by the house. She didn’t pay attention to what he was doing, and continued to read her book. She was starting chapter seven, and it was a good one.

Seven became eight, and the heroine was just about to find the treasure when Chloe was horribly surprised by a splash of cold water.

“What are you doing?” she screamed at her brother.

He laughed, and dashed for the tree in the corner of the yard. If he could make it to his fort, he would have ways to repel any assault. “You said you were hot,” he cackled as he shimmied up the ladder.

Chloe stood, fuming with anger. She looked at her soaked book, and threw it onto the grass near the deck. She watched her brother watching her from the window of his fort. She knew she had no way to get him back right away for what he’d just done.

She took a step toward the edge of the trampoline, bouncing slightly as she did. An idea occurred to her. She looked back at her brother. Then she bent her knees and began to jump. Slowly, at first, but she built the momentum quickly. In no time, she was bounding as high as she could go.

Nobody could resist for long. After only a few minutes, her brother had been lured down from his hideout and was creeping slowly toward the trampoline. Chloe continued her act, pretending that she didn’t notice him. She waited for the perfect moment to strike. As soon as he was in range, she leapt off the trampoline and hit him with a flying tackle.

“Ow!” he said.

“I win,” she told him as she dusted herself off.

“Ok, but can I jump now?” he asked, scrambling to his feet.

It was Chloe’s turn to laugh. She pushed him back down, and ran for the trampoline. “Nope, it’s still my turn!”