Skarlette

Krischan went ice-skating with his Uncle Josh a couple nights ago.  I wasn’t there, but thanks to a 30-clip of video Josh captured on his cell phone I was able to see how my grandson handled skating on thin ice for the first time in his life.  Three words: Not very well.

You’ve seen the cartoons where the rabbit, the cat or the mouse—in an attempt to escape the jaws of death from a larger adversary—begins pumping its legs in a circular motion for several seconds before the legs take hold and they actually begin running, right?  It was just like that, except Krischan was holding onto the side rail for dear life while his skates were digging a six-inch crevice in the ice.  While it lacked in grace, it sure was fun to watch. 

But I’m not here to discuss Krischan’s outlook for the Winter Olympic Games a decade or so down the road.   Rather, this is about Krischan’s new friend Skarlette.

Beautiful long reddish-brown hair, dangling earrings and an infectious gap-toothed smile that melts your heart, Skarlett is the daughter of Josh’s lovely girlfriend Bernice.  Only eight years old, Skarlett already has the quiet wisdom and insight of a young lady well beyond her years.  She is also—and this may be one of the reasons Krischan took to her so quickly—one of the boys.  

    

Skarlette came to visit us during the Christmas holidays and as Krischan does with all first-timers who come to our new home in Senoia, he wanted to take them out on the trail in the woods behind the house to hunt zombies.  First things first: Weapons.  I grabbed my foam sword in the garage and Krischan grabbed his, leaving the plastic sword that nobody uses because the blade breaks every time you hit a tree limb with it for Skarlette.  To her credit, she didn’t complain one bit. 

She fell in line behind the Captain of the mission (Krischan) and his soldier (me) as we began blazing the trail behind the house.  Following Krischan’s lead, Skarlette began swinging her sword at every branch, vine and plant that she encountered.  She was a natural.

At one point I stopped to pick up a stick and threw it about 10 feet in front of Krischan (I do this all the time when we’re in the woods and almost every time he doesn’t know I threw it).  Krischan raised his arms (as he always does when he doesn’t know I threw the stick)) and said ‘nobody move, I heard a clue.’  I looked back at Skarlette and she had both hands over her mouth, fighting back a giggle that I’m certain would have sounded like a melody had it been audible.  About a minute later Skarlette bent over to pick up a stick and did the exact same thing I had done earlier, and it had the same results.  ‘Nobody move, I heard a clue.’  I looked over at Skarlette and she had her hands clamped down on her mouth so tight I thought her big brown eyes were going to pop out of her tiny head.   

The rest of the weekend Krischan and Skarlette were inseparable.  They sat next to one another on the couch for quite a while Saturday night; Krischan was mesmerized by Skarlette’s prowess playing the latest video games.  I might add that it was obvious Krischan is in no hurry to impress the ladies: he sat close to Skarlette the entire time, looking over her shoulder with his security sheet firmly in hand and his thumb in his mouth.  In fact the only words he said over a two-hour window of time was when he asked for ice water because his ‘breath was hot.’  Charming, eh Skarlette?

Sunday morning we all went to church (Krischan loves church—‘they have a playground’).   He insisted Skarlette come to his classroom, full of kindergarten age children a couple of years younger than her.

Skarlette wouldn’t have had it any other way: The two of them were inseparable during this special, memorable weekend.   

It was pure magic.