At dusk Samuel and his mom started getting ready to meet Eddie at the beach. They could hear all the local people gathering near the shore already. The people who shot off the fireworks every year did it from the boat dock down the street by the harbor. They drove a boat out on the water as far away from the people as they could get. Samuel had never heard of anyone getting hurt from fireworks around there before. The men and women who put on the display had been doing it for many years.

Lucy asked him, “So do you have the blanket?”

“Check!” Saumuel said.

“The flashlight?”

“Check!”

“The picnic basket?”

“Check!”

“The food?”

“Ch…hey! What? The food is IN the picnic basket, Mom!”

“Gotcha!”

Samuel laughed and said, “Mom, you’re goofy!”

“Yep, that’s me! Okay, let’s go! Did Eddie say he was coming over or meeting us there?” she asked.

Samuel said, “Oh I guess he’s meeting us. He said he’d get there early and save our usual spot. I guess his parents had some kind of business barbecue to go to. He’s pretty bummed, so it’s up to us to cheer him up, okay?”

“That’s a shame. I can’t believe his father can’t just have one holiday with his family for a change. He really doesn’t know what he’s missing, does he?”

“Nope! Eddie’s such a great guy, and he never gets in trouble like other kids whose parents don’t spend enough time with them. I’m glad you leave your job at the office when you come home, Mom! I can’t imagine hardly ever getting to see you! That would be awful!”

“It would…just like racoons do to chicken eggs!”

“What?”

She grinned, “Oh that’s just something silly my mom used to say. You remember how she was!”

“Yeah. I miss Grandma and Grandpa, Mom. It’s not fair that everyone in our family had to die!”

“Well, not everyone died! There’s still my sister.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Hmmm. Yeah, it’s not fair that everyone in our family died!”

“Samuel! She means well. I think losing Clay hit her harder than any of us, even me. They were so close. She loved you, too, of course, but there was just something extra special about their bond. I’m not sure what it was. I think being around us is harder for her now.”

“Well, let’s go, Mom. No more serious talk tonight, okay? Let’s go have some fun!”

“Okay, buddy.”

© Patsy H. Parker