The Summer I Learned to Breathe

six

☼ six ☼

It's Saturday.

Mads is spending the night before she leaves for a week-long camping trip tomorrow morning, and I hope she doesn't mind me washing my car while she's over. It's filthy, in dire need of a bath, and the weather is perfect for the job. Also, my dad's at work and his car isn't in the driveway so I have all the room I need to get the job done.

Rather than wait for her on the deck as I typically would, I'm gathering supplies from the garage to wash my car. I easily find a bucket, sponge, towel, and soap without encountering any unwanted creatures. However, when I begin to unwind the hose, I spook a hairy spider about the size of a quarter. It sprints out from under a shelf next to the hose, and a scream escapes my lips as I drop the hose and jump backwards in surprise.

I hear running footsteps thumping down the driveway, but I'm too caught up in worry about the spider's whereabouts to realize it isn't Madison.

"Marley?" I spin around to face Sam, and I find his face flushed and his tone worried. It's been about a week since I last saw him when we played in the lake, and it's nice to see him again. "You ok?" he asks with a bit of a smile when he reads my facial expression.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" I answer, crossing my arms tightly and darting my eyes around the garage to find the eight-legged creature.

"Uh, you screamed?" he says with a chuckle.

I look at him, nodding, "Right," he laughs.

"Well I was just a little excited to see a little friend of mine..." I continue glancing around the garage, but I fail to spot the tiny monster until I see quick movement closer to Sam.

"Aha!" I creep up behind the creature before proudly stomping down onto it and twisting my ankle.

"I hate spiders," Sam mentions with a disgusted look.

"You're speaking for both of us."

An unfamiliar voice interrupts our conversation, "Sam!" he whips his head around, facing up the driveway to the front of his house. "Let's go!"

"Coming!" he shouts back. He shows me a smile. "Sorry, my sister's a little impatient."

I wave it off, telling him it's no big deal. "See ya around."

I return to the hose and finish untangling it so it's long enough to reach my dirty car on the driveway. I fill the bucket and add an appropriate amount of soap before dunking the sponge into the bucket. As I'm spraying the car with the hose, Madison walks across my yard and drops her bag in the grass.

I pause what I'm doing to adjust my shirt which is already beginning to stick to me. "You invited me over to help you clean your car? Talk about cheap labor."

"You make it sound like it's bad thing," I respond, continuing the rinse the entire surface of the car. Once I'm satisfied, I start using the soapy sponge to scrub all the dirt off.

"At least pay me in food," she suggests. "Then the labor would be well worth the reward."

"I'll try to remember that for next time," I sarcastically respond.

She appears at my side, stealing the hose and aiming it at me. The brief spray against my arm and legs feels really refreshing. I reach over the hood of my car and swipe the sponge on the surface of the metal.

"You missed a spot," I joke, turning my head to face her before I dunk the sponge into the bucket again.

"That's right!" she agrees sarcastically, pressing the handle and aiming the flow at my face as I'm standing up.