Early Saturday

It was pouring rain when perfect sweetness came to my door.
"Envelope" she repeated in carefully practiced English,
taking it out of the dollar store bag while balancing the enormous umbrella 
on her bitty shoulder.
Unruly red curls sprung out from her snug kerchief.
She smiled all over as she handed it to me.
In her sparkling eyes I read the question.
"Candy?"
"Too early," my mind answered. But I only smiled in return,
and spoke a few kind words.
I watched her march dutifully home, in big brother's shoes.
So what was it about still being in pink pajama pants
that made me feel so practical?
"Candy next time," I promised myself, "no matter how 
early on a Saturday morning."

      My first responder family races out of here any crazy time of night and day, reporting to a fascinating variety of crisises. But of all those times, none seems so dreadfully long to me as stormy nights when they are somewhere-out-there in the remains of some wild weather. Cutting trees off roads. Cutting trees off wires. Wires..now that's to fear.
     "Watch where you step!" I call after them.   "Silly, " I sigh at myself.
     Then I splurge on a few chapters of a novel and wash supper dishes and sew; always listening, listening, as the minutes tick by. To the busy scanner and the pounding rain. It's lonely. Even the dog is hiding.
     Hero comes swirling in, checks on his own property, gets dry clothes, heads out again. Blaze is on the mountain road he thinks.Weather calls blow them every which way, usually apart, often for long hours with little or nothing across the scanner to satisfy me.
     It grows dark and late and slowly silence falls.
     Wait!  There it is!
     " County from Chief 24-2... place Company 24 available from the JT call."
     Ahhh...I was awaitin' those words. Now I know that they'll both be at the fire hall.
     Just enough time for a cup of tea.

Blaze's view