The sun was going down and Skip looked a little scary.
“We should go somewhere,” Violet said. “It’s getting dark now.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“I want to show you where I like to sit. It’s just down the street.” She opened her bedroom window and took a deep breath. The stuffy heat of the day had been replaced by a cool breeze. Summer evenings are her favorite.
Skip wasn’t really in form to go outside. She felt like a moose. She didn’t feel as weird as usual, though, and Violet was already pulling a clean shirt over her head. Maybe her head could allow her to go outside, just this once. It was dark, after all, and she was going back to Junior’s tomorrow—time with Violet is the most important time.
“I guess it’ll be okay.”
◦ ◦ ◦
“Can you jump fences?”
Violet was visibly excited. Skip couldn't remember the last time she had seen Violet like this.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“There’s this shortcut here”—she pointed at a wooden fence past Junior’s parents’ house—“and you have to jump the fence past that backyard. I can help you if you need me to, though.”
Skip took a moment to think. “I should be fine.”
◦ ◦ ◦
“Violet.”
“Hmm?”
“This grass is so tall and awful.” Skip shivered as the weeds tickled her legs.
“I’m sorry. It’s itchy, but I like it a lot anyhow.”
◦ ◦ ◦
Once the field cleared and Skip could feel her legs again, she let out a huge sigh. “That’s better.”
Violet didn’t hear her, though. She’d gone on ahead to the creek and had managed to crawl up a tree to sit on a thick branch. “Isn’t it nice?” she called out. Skip couldn’t help but smile.