Another Day as Emily Read Online Free PDF Page A

a Sunday.

    Mr. Capra says
    he and the people he works with
    are putting together a bike brigade—
    streamers and flags,
    fancy baskets and bells.
     
    Mr. Kim is refurbishing
    his float from last year,
    patching the rocket with aluminum foil,
    blowing up another yellow beach-ball moon,
    repainting the clay astronauts.
     
    Ridgley High’s marching band
    is practicing on the football field.
     
    Mr. Ellis has Mom dust off
    his George Washington costume.

    Alison and I are signed up
    to walk with the Ridgley Library group.
    We’ll wear T-shirts that read
    I LUV MY LIBRARY .
     
    And Parker,
    the little hero,
    gets to ride in Mayor Paloma’s
    cool blue convertible
    with the top down.
TAKING PARKER’S CAPE
    Mom tries to take Parker’s ratty old cape.
    Parker clutches it around his neck.
    He howls.
    “You don’t need a cape
    to be a hero,” Dad tells him.
    More howling.
    “It’s ripped,” I say. “And it smells yucky.”
    Parker holds his nose.
    “
You
smell yucky, Suzy Poo-poo,” he says.
    Mom wheedles. “Now, Parky, what if we get you
    a new cape? Something really nice for the parade?”
    Parker stops clutching. He sniffles.
    “Will it have blue stars?”
    Mom nods. “If you want blue stars.”
    “When?” he asks.
    “In a couple days.”
    “Okay,” he says. “But I’m wearing
    this one till then.”
    Later, Mom sneaks it off him
    when he’s sleeping.
    She throws it in the trash can.
HAPPY
    Mom gets Mrs. Capra—
    a master quilter—
    to make the new cape.
    “Lots of stars!” says Parker.
    “You got it,” says Mrs. Capra.
     
    Next Parker decides he wants
    a haircut.
    Dad takes him to the barbershop.
    Then Mayor Paloma’s assistant calls
    with instructions:
    “Bring the boy to the mayor’s office
    at nine a.m. sharp on the day
    of the parade.”
     
    The parade doesn’t start till ten,
    but there’s going to be
    a brief ceremony first.
    Parker will get a medal.
    There will be photos with the mayor.
     
    It seems as though
    the whole parade
    is about Parker.
    Oh well—my birthday
    is coming up,
    and Dad is going to take me
    to a Phillies game.
    Good seats … hot dogs …
    root beer … rally towel …
    maybe even an autograph
    or two.
    On July 15.
    At least I’ll be a star
    that day.
STORM
    I’m walking home from Alison’s.
    She wanted us to make fancy headbands
    to wear in the parade tomorrow.
    Suddenly the sky goes dark.
    Lightning flashes.
    Fat drops of rain fall.
    I start to run.
    Old newspapers fly past.
    A trash-can lid clatters by.
    Now it’s pouring, and I’m soaked.
    I can’t see ahead.
    Through the howling wind, I hear my name.
    I move toward the voice—
    It’s Mrs. Bagwell standing at her door.
    “Hurry, Suzy! Come inside!”
    I make it to her doorway.
    Then the whole earth shakes.
    My ears pop, and it feels like
    the end of the world
    as Mrs. Bagwell and I leap
    into her hall closet
    together.

NOT THE END OF THE WORLD
    It was not the end of the world.
    It was the sixty-five-foot evergreen
    in Mrs. Bagwell’s backyard
    uprooting and crashing down
    just inches from the house.
     
    It was not the end of the world,
    but it could have been
    for me and Mrs. Bagwell
    if the angle of the tree-fall
    had been the least bit different.
     
    It could have been
    the end.
GILBERT COMES BY
    “I heard about the tree,” he says.
    “Are you okay?”
    I give him a thumbs-up.
    “Thanks to your friend Mrs. Bagwell.”
    “So I guess it’s true.” He smiles. “There’s
    good in everyone.”
    “Where were
you
in the storm?” I ask.
    “At home,” he says. “Eating ice cream.”
    We both laugh.
    We sit there on the porch
    just talking,
    being.
    The trees glisten green.
    I’ve never seen
    trees so green.

JULY 3
    Parker is so wound up
    before the parade
    that he throws up
    his cornflakes.
    Twice.
     
    Mom is so excited
    about meeting the mayor
    that she heads out the door
    with two different shoes on.
     
    Alison does my hair
    with the fancy hairband.
    She keeps saying:
    “I