Something’s Fishy Part 1
There is a house on Yanidale Drive with a huge Bradford pear tree. During the spring time, this tree is filled with magnificent white flowers that smell the opposite of their beautiful appearance. It, however, is summer time, and our three bright-eyed friends, Richard, Soren, and Kailey are lying about in the shade of the giant pear tree. School just let out until fall and, at long last, the children are free to do whatever they want! But…what DO they want?
“Sooooo… Are we going to spend our whole summer doing nothing…?” Richard Galliant, or Ricky as he is often called, asks, glancing at his companions.
“I guess so. How long have we been lying here? Three hours? Four?” Soren Ocean suggests.
“About 28 minutes…29 minutes,” Kailey Peachtree announces, glancing at her wrist watch.
“Man,” the three say at once with a heavy sigh.
“Hey. Here’s an idea… Why don’t we go somewhere?” Ricky asks, sitting up straight suddenly.
“Go somewhere?! Well… I guess… Where to? Mrs. Peachtree’s house?”Soren suggests.
“Hah! I bet my mom would LOVE to bake you guys some more treats!” Kailey says, grinning.
“Let’s head on over there, then. My pear tree can wait. It’s not like it’s going to get up and walk away,” Ricky says with a sly grin.
“Yay!” Soren cheers.
Kailey leads the way, her double ponytails swinging in the breeze. The sunshines down warmly, illuminating the path. Kailey’s house is just a few houses down the street from Ricky’s house. Soren hangs back a bit, hiding behind Ricky as Kailey knocks on her own front door.
The door creaks open and the sweet smell of cake or other baked goods flows through. Mrs. Peachtree makes an appearance as the door opens further. She smiles, glancing at the three kids. Without further hesitation, Kailey gives her mother a hug.
“Back already, kids? Come on in!” Mrs. Peachtree invites warmly. “Your friend Victor was just here earlier. In fact, he might still be around.”
“Oh! Victor! We didn’t think to invite him to our hang out today!” Kailey exclaims.
Victor Milestone is the fourth friend of the friend group. He’s not quite around as often as the others, but he’s always welcome. Victor, who looks an awful lot like Soren, is not related to him, at all. People often joke he is Soren’s long lost twin!
“Mrs. Peachtree, the three of us were just thinking about where to go today,” Ricky notes, briefly glancing at Soren who is struggling to pull out a chair.
“Oh, right! Of course! Summer is the best time to go to new places and experience new things,” Mrs. Peachtree says.
“Yeah, new things that aren’t Ricky’s dad’s mixtape…” Soren whispers.
“Yikes! We don’t talk about that!” Ricky yelps.
“That was last year, right? He was handing out copies of his mixtape for Halloween… Soooooo outdated!” Kailey adds.
“Shhh! SHHH!” Ricky shushes, looking a bit flustered.
“Mixtape, huh? Mr. Galliant never told ME about his mixtape,” Mrs. Peachtree says with a grin.
“You wouldn’t like it. Besides, Mr. Peachtree would get jealous,” Ricky argues.
The children continue to chit-chat for a bit. Mrs. Peachtree checks in on them as she monitors her latest batch of baked goods. Around the walls of Mrs. Peachtree’s dining room, there is blue and white vertical striped wallpaper. The curtains, adorning a long wall of three windows, are a pale peachy pink and have little peaches sewn onto the bottom. Soren, who finally got his chair pulled out and is seated, stares silently at the curtains, thinking many thoughts.
“Alright, fun fact for you all! Did you know, fish CAN drown?” Ricky asks.
“Wait, how is that a fun fact?” Kailey asks, looking upset. “What’s fun about that?”
“Well, I guess more of a grim fact, huh? Geh heh heh…” Ricky chuckles. “Fish breathe under water. This is a fact we all know. But did you know, it’s not the water itself they are breathing, but actually oxygen filtered out of the water? This is why fish have gills! They pump water in, filter the oxygen, and pump the water back out. However, if a fish’s environment is polluted, there may not be enough oxygen left in the water for them to filter out. Thus, like you and I…they drown.”
“Aw, Ricky… That makes me sad…” Soren says with a pout.
“Speaking of fish! Have you guys been to the aquarium lately?” Mrs. Peachtree asks. “I hear it’s the best aquarium around.”
“Hey! That’s a great idea! What do you guys say? How about we go pay a visit to our aquatic friends at the aquarium?!” Ricky asks, standing up so abruptly that Soren nearly falls out of his own chair.
“I can take you guys there if you’d like… I just need to finish this one last cake…” Mrs. Peachtree notes.
“Nah, don’t trouble yourself. We’re 15 years old, we can handle walking down to the aquarium,” Ricky says, flourishing his cape dramatically and accidentally hitting Soren in the face.
“GAH!” Soren yelps and falls out of his chair. THUD! “I’m okay!”
“Oh Soren…” Kailey says with a sigh as she picks Soren off the ground.
“If you three are sure you can handle yourselves, go for it. It’s just that usually those under 18 are supposed to be supervised in public,” Mrs. Peachtree notes. “I think Victor was headed there, too!”
“Oh! Even more reason to go! Come on, guys!” Ricky says and nearly knocks Soren over again, but Kailey holds his chair this time.
“Before you go! You each deserve an apple cinnamon muffin!” Mrs. Peachtree notes and plops a warm, steaming muffin into each kids’ hands.
“Thank you!” the kids call out.
