The Adventures of Frankie – 13 – Go Fly a Kite

Paulette kicked a pinecone down the wooded path. This was the shortcut from her best friend’s house. Rita the redhead was grounded.  Not that she did anything wrong, no, her father was just in one of his moods. At least that’s how she always put it. Frankie wasn’t around either, he was at Little League which gave her an idea, the kite she got when they were visiting Frankie’s grandparents in Florida, the soccer field at school would be a great place to fly!

Frankie pushed his old bike up the grassy hill between the baseball and soccer fields. As he threw a leg over the duct tape-covered banana seat, he spotted Paulette running at full blast with a kite just off the ground, tail dragging behind. He let out a laugh then pushed off down the hill. When he got close enough for her to hear he dropped his bike, bat and glove, gracefully stepped in her direction then called out, “Need a hand?”

She turned with a smile, “Yeah, but I’m not sure there’s enough wind to get it up.”

“Not like the beach. Let’s try anyway.” He walked toward the kite then held it high in the air.

They took turns holding the kite and line as they ran one way down the field then back again. Giving up, they collapsed onto the well-manicured grass. The football and baseball fields never looked this good. That’s probably because the football team hadn’t won a home game in years and their hometown was never really into baseball. This was a soccer town, complete with soccer moms, mini vans and even soccer dads!

Paulette was the first to point out a cool shaped cloud. “Look at that Frankie, it looks like a kite.”

“Yeah, it even has a tail.”

“Check out that jet. Betcha the stream passes across there to make a string.”

Frankie lay with Paulette’s hair tickling the side of his face watching the jet get closer and closer to her imaginary kite in the sky. Not wanting to move, he couldn’t look down to see how close their hands were. It was nice that her hair had brushed across his face as they settled onto the field. Too bad her hand hadn’t fallen into his.

“Look,” she propped herself up on one elbow, hand pointed to the sky, then the few strands of hair fell away from Frankie’s face.

“Cool,” he forced a reply. “That one looks like the Starship Enterprise.”

“Why are boys always so geeky?”

“What? That’s what it looks like,” he snorted stopping short of saying, “you silly girl.” “I suppose you think that one looks like a cuddly little kitten?”

She dropped back down, hair once again flowing against his face. But this time he could feel the warmth of her hand ever so close to his.

“Actually it looks more like a puppy. See the floppy ears?”

Again Frankie felt the urge to challenge her. “Those aren’t ears, they’re wings. That’s a dragon.

“Seriously!”  She turned her head toward him, hair moving away from his face and the warmth by his hand was gone too. “Okay, maybe it’s both.”

“What? Both?” It was Frankie’s turn to pop to his elbows. “It can’t be both!”

Now she was up too, “It’s a luck dragon. Just like the one in "The Never Ending Story." What was his name? Come on Frankie, you remember, what is it?”

“Falcor, his name was Falcor. I can see that now, yeah.”

They flopped back down at the same time. Once again Paulette’s hair tickled his cheek. It didn’t take long and they fell asleep in the warm sun.

Frankie’s little brother was sent to the school to fetch him for dinner. The chain clanged against the guard as he peddled across the field startling Paulette who nudged Frankie awake. The younger Dwyer boy straddled his bike as he gave the news that it was dinner time. As he turned to leave he cried out, “Frankie and Paulette sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Frankie jumped to his feet with a fist in the air, “I’M GONNA GET YOU!”Peter Berry was born and raised in Baldwinsville, but long since moved to the much warmer climate of North Carolina. Unable to forget his roots, he writes novels based in Central New York. In his spare time he also writes the weekly column, The Adventures of Frankie. If you have any story ideas, drop him a line at [email protected] or visit HappyEndingsPublications.com.