Her screams at night may give you fright.
Taking her mock price tag from me by the attached purple ribbon, she said,
“Now, put this on so we can see if we have any takers.”
I picked her up and tickled her. We laughed until she pleaded for me to stop.
“Now, what will you do if there are takers for your sale?” I asked.
“Hmm, we may need to rethink this,” she replied thoughtfully. After a
moment of consideration, she added, “We won't sell you – this time.”
Laughing, I picked her up again and spun her around. Meg squealed in
delight.
“I see you girls are already up to mischief,” Cole said as he joined us. “It looks like Meg has put you up for sale.” Turning towards my little sister, he asked earnestly, “Will you trade me Mara for two scoops of ice cream?”
“Make it three, and you have a deal!” Meg exclaimed.
“Wait,” I said. “You just said that you weren't going to sell me!”
“Right, but he made a really good offer.”
I couldn’t help laughing as I watched Cole lead my sister towards the ice cream stand.
The rest of the morning was not only busy with customers but with attempts
to keep Meg amused. By two o'clock, the crowds had died down, and most
people had gone home to rest before the evening's events. We snacked on the picnic lunch Gram had brought and watched Meg practice her dance to pass the
time.
Looking around the stand, I smiled. We had already sold out of many items.
Before the night was over, we would have little to take home.
As the sun began to set, some of the shops started to close in anticipation of the
night’s activities. We boxed up the small amount we hadn’t sold. While Cole loaded the truck, Gram and I prepared Meg for her performance.
When we removed the braids from Meg’s hair, soft curls were left. Gram
piled them high on top of my sister's head and twisted a band of baby pink roses
across her head. Her costume was a long-sleeved, blue velvet dress with layers
of white ruffles puffing out of the short skirt. Her knee-high socks sparkled with
a soft, silvery glitter.
As I laced up her black dance shoes, she whispered to me, “What if I forget
my steps, Mar? I'm so scared I won’t remember and embarrass myself.”
Taking her face in my hands, I whispered back, “When I went on stage for
my first dance, I was scared, too. But Gram said something to me, which helped.
She told me the moon was watching with an open heart and a smile. The moon
would feel the love I sent her. And, you know what happened? I danced for the
moon. If I missed any steps, I didn't notice. So, dance for the moon, Meg, just dance for the moon.”
Wrapping her arms around me, I held her for a long time. My little sister was
growing up before my eyes. All I wanted to do was to hold onto her and keep her
safe.
The warm feeling I had didn't last as a sudden cold surrounded me. I turned
