A Silent Melody

It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Winter ebbed away and the sky turned clear once more.

It was the weekend, and Matty, Melody, Joey, and David were gathered in the pool along with some of the neighborhood kids. Matty and Melody's moms were relaxing on the reclining seats beside the pool. Their dads were talking about the recent sports events in boxing and football.

Joey's parents were nowhere to be seen. They were busy with their realtor work. Joey didn't mind, however. He rarely saw them throughout the week as it was.

Presently, the three of them were playing around in the pool, not a worry in the world. They were laughing, screaming, and kicking away at the water. The sun illuminated the clear blue sky, its radiance shining down upon them.

Matty had control of the Nerf water gun. He was blasting it at the kids around him. Everyone else had foam noodles and tried to block Matty's spray from hitting them.

Matty accidentally blasted Joey in the eye. He screamed out in pain.

"Ow, you got my eye!"

"Sorry, I was going for your shoulder!" Matty lied.

Mrs. Amano took notice and walked up angrily to the edge of the pool.

"Alright, that's enough. Give me that gun Matty! I told you you were going to get someone hurt."

Matty held the gun out and she snatched it angrily out of his hands. She walked back to her reclining seat and stuck it underneath.

"See what you did!" Matty asked, turning angrily towards Joey.

"Me?" Joey asked innocently, pointing at himself.

"It was your fault, Matty," David said. "You shot Joey in the eye. Don't blame him."

"Yeah, you started it," Joey said.

Melody nodded in agreement.

"I guess so," Matty admitted, gently splashing the water around him.

He looked down dejectedly for a few seconds. Joey stared at him, hoping he hadn't made him angry.

Matty suddenly turned and snatched the foam noodle away from Joey, playfully hitting everyone around him with it.

The others joined in, water splashing everywhere. Joey scrambled around looking for another foam noodle. Melody turned and handed hers over to him, smiling. Joey took it, smiling back, and turned to join in hitting everyone.

They continued like this for a while before getting tired. They stepped out to the side of the pool, their legs kicking the water. Matty and Melody sat in the center. Joey and David sat on either side of them. They watched as the other kids continued splashing around, hitting one another with the pool noodles.

They'd talked plenty about the county fair in the days since the sleepover. They found out it was a temporary fair that rolled around during the summer. It was the only chance they'd get to go. They still didn't know if there would be clowns.

"My parents and Melody's parents said we could go," Matty said, "But they also said they'd have to come with us to keep an eye on us."

"I'm going too," David chimed in.

"Yeah. We're just waiting to hear from you Joey. I think my parents said there wouldn't be any clowns, so you don't have to worry."

"Yeah, I think I can go," Joey replied, smiling.

"That's great!" Matty said.

"Will your parents be coming?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, they'll have to come with me. They said they'd try to free up their day, so I can't promise anything. But I'll try."