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I woke up and I knew it was a special day, my birthday PARTY day! My real birthday was two days ago, but mom said today was a better day to have the party, because it was the \u201cweekend\u201d, and more people could come.<\/p>\nI woke up and I knew it was a special day, my birthday PARTY day! My real birthday was two days ago, but mom said today was a better day to have the party, because it was the \u201cweekend\u201d, and more people could come.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, mom and dad had an argument about where to have my party if it rained. Dad said he could \u201cborrow some folding chairs and card tables from the frat house\u201d and have it in the living room, and us kids could play in the basement after we did cake and presents. Mom said she didn\u2019t like that, and it was a \u201cproblem until we could afford to buy furniture for the living room\u201d, and that this was the \u201csame argument we had last year\u201d. She would say \u201cI don\u2019t want to argue with you Eric\u201d, but then she would argue anyway.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t like arguments. Mom would usually feel better when they were done, but dad would feel worse. But if dad felt better after, then MOM felt worse. And the one who felt worse would figure out how to have another argument later.<\/p>\n
I was now four years old, the same number as Molly. She was really happy about that, because she didn\u2019t like it when we were a different number. Not that I felt like I had changed because I was that new number, but grownups thought it was important, and older kids too.<\/p>\n
I had my space helmet by my bed that I had gotten for my last birthday, when I was three, which seemed like a long time ago. Dad was reading me, Tom Swift and his Outpost in Space<\/em>, at bedtime, and David was hearing it too, though I don\u2019t know if he could figure it out. Tom and his \u201cteam\u201d were building a \u201cspace station\u201d up \u201cin orbit\u201d, that is flying around the Earth up in space. It was kind of like a fort except it wasn\u2019t on the ground but way way up in the sky. To build it, they shot twelve rockets up to the middle circle part and hooked them together like \u201cspokes\u201d, those metal stick things inside my tricycle wheels that dad showed me.<\/p>\n I liked making my own Tom Swift stories, and like with other stories Dad read to me, or I was now watching on TV, there were two ways to do it. I could do it \u201csmall\u201d with toy soldiers, or I could do it \u201cbig\u201d by pretending. They were different, but both fun.<\/p>\n If I did it \u201csmall\u201d, then Tom would be that green good-guy soldier who was standing with both hands on the middle part of his body and his elbows sticking out. That\u2019s how I figured Tom would look when he was trying to figure things out. The gray soldiers could be bad-guys or Martians, whatever I needed for the story. Then I could use the new rocket ship I got for Christmas. And the Tinker Toys were great to make just about everything else. Other rocket ships, robots or even a space station for playing \u201csmall\u201d, and ray guns and space tools for Playing \u201cbig\u201d. Though I never seemed to have enough Tinker Toys to build everything I needed. Even the Lincoln Logs could make regular buildings on Earth, though I figured out that I didn\u2019t need to put the top \u201croof\u201d part on so I could move soldiers around inside those buildings. And then I could either play this in the basement, using all the different quarters as different places – Earth, Space, the Moon, Mars – or in the backyard. Dad and I had gone to get more dirt at Killen\u2019s Gravel Pit, and I could use my fresh dirt pile, or mom\u2019s garden, as Earth, the moon or Mars; and all that grass part in between as Outer Space.<\/p>\n Doing it \u201csmall\u201d with toys, I could set everything up and look at it from far away, so I could see how it all worked together and figure out new ideas to change the story to make it different, maybe more interesting or more fun. I wasn\u2019t part of the story myself, but more watching it happen in front of me and in charge of making it all happen.<\/p>\n If I did it \u201cbig\u201d, pretending, then I would be in the middle of the story and it would be happening all around me. I could make it feel more like it was REALLY happening, and be scared, or mad, or brave, whatever was part of the story. I was Tom and our house was the space station. My room (well it was David\u2019s room too) was my \u201ccabin\u201d, and the basement was that main middle part of the space station. The laundry room quarter of the basement was the \u201ccontrol room\u201d, since it had the big metal furnace and washing machine, which had a dial and buttons, lots of pipes and that giant sink too. The TV quarter of the basement was where I talked to the Earth and saw what was going on down there. Dad\u2019s office quarter was the \u201cplan room\u201d, where I figured out what to do and gave \u201corders\u201d to the \u201ccrew\u201d. Finally, the quarter of the basement with my toys was the \u201clab\u201d, where I did \u201cexperiments\u201d and I made things that I needed, mostly out of Tinker Toys. Then outside would be Outer Space, and I\u2019d always have to put on my space helmet if I wanted to go out there.<\/p>\n If Molly came over when I was playing \u201csmall\u201d with the toy soldiers, she would do it too, but she REALLY liked to play \u201cbig\u201d, by pretending. She called it playing \u201cwith bodies\u201d, instead of \u201cwith soldiers\u201d. That\u2019s how we always played at her house, because she didn\u2019t have any soldiers.<\/p>\n So today for my birthday I wanted to be Tom. So when I put my clothes on I put on my Space helmet too. David was already up and in that \u201cplaypen\u201d thing in the living room. It was like his crib but it was right on the floor and it was bigger. He was trying to stand up, and when he saw me he said \u201cgoo\u201d, which was how he said my name. Nobody said my name the same way, but I kind of liked that.<\/p>\n \u201cSo hey there spaceman\u201d, mom said, \u201cToday\u2019s your birthday party!\u201d<\/p>\n I nodded and frowned.<\/p>\n \u201cIs it going to rain?\u201d I asked. I didn\u2019t want any more arguing.<\/p>\n \u201cThank GOD it\u2019s not supposed to\u201d, she said, opening her eyes big, \u201cIt\u2019ll be cloudy and cool, but I\u2019ll take it, so long as we can have your party out in the park.\u201d<\/p>\n Then she looked at me, pushed her lips together and her eyes looked sad. \u201cI\u2019m sorry you have to listen to your dad and I always arguing about furniture.\u201d She looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. \u201cIt\u2019s really not important in the scheme of things, but I just wish we could invite some people into the house and sit on real chairs with real tables. Someday!\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her head again and did that laughing thing that grownups did where they didn\u2019t open their mouth and the laugh kind of came out of their nose.<\/p>\n \u201cHelp yourself to breakfast, you know where the cereal is\u201d, she said as she leaned over the stove and rubbed the top of it really hard. Then she stopped, stood up straight, groaned, and reached over her shoulder to touch her back.<\/p>\n \u201cJeez\u201d, she said, shaking her head, \u201cThey need to invent something to help you scrub burnt food and other crap off the stove. This sponge is just not abrasive enough and the steel wool will damage the finish!\u201d She looked at me, her eyes fierce.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re smart\u201d, she said, \u201cFigure out something between this sponge and a Brillo pad and you\u2019ll be rich!\u201d<\/p>\n I wondered if I could figure something out. I was sure Tom Swift could.<\/p>\n Mom put the bowls and the big box of Cheerios out of the cabinet and put it on the kitchen table so I could make my cereal without asking her or dad for help. And I could open the fridge by myself too to get the milk. If you put the milk in the bowl first and then poured in the Cheerios, they floated on top. But if you put the Cheerios in first then they soaked up the milk you poured on top of them and didn\u2019t float up so much. So that\u2019s what I usually did, though sometimes I\u2019d do the milk first again, just to make sure they still floated.<\/p>\n I finished my cereal and gave the bowl to mom and then ran down the stairs into the basement. I was hoping that Molly might come over to play with me after my party, so I wanted my quarter to look like Tom Swift\u2019s lab. So I started building things with Tinker Toys.<\/p>\n After a while I heard our car come back and the noise of it crunching the little stones in the driveway, and then seeing the wheels in the basement window above that looked out to the driveway from my quarter of the basement. Mom came down the couple stairs from the kitchen to the side door and opened it. I heard feet crunching on the driveway stones.<\/p>\n \u201cMission accomplished?\u201d mom asked.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah\u201d, it was Dad\u2019s voice, \u201cI told you it wouldn\u2019t rain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike you control the weather, Eric\u201d, mom said laughing, \u201cNot a warm sunny day but I\u2019ll take it. I borrowed Joan\u2019s thermos so we should have enough hot coffee for the adults, and the beans\u2019ll be warm.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a pause and then dad said, \u201cI picked up the things at Stein and Goetz, and I got a great deal on wrapping paper at Arlan\u2019s. Where\u2019s\u2026\u201d His voice stopped.<\/p>\n There was silence, then I heard dad say, \u201cOkay perfect\u201d. His feet crunched on more stones and I heard the trunk of the car open. Then a couple minutes later the front door opened and I could hear feet on the floor above moving about the house. Finally, it was dad who came down the basement stairs with David in front of him, holding David\u2019s hands and helping him try to take steps down the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cHey Cloob\u201d, he said, \u201cYou ready for your party?\u201d<\/p>\n I nodded, my space helmet still on, though the visor was up so I could see better. He looked at the things I was making out of Tinker Toys. He sat down on the floor across from me and let David try to stand between his legs, with all the Tinker Toys between us.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what are you making?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t sure what to say, because he usually didn\u2019t ask me about what I was doing when I was playing and I didn\u2019t like to talk about it with grownups. I knew they could be sneaky, even mom and dad.<\/p>\n \u201cThings\u201d, I said, looking down at the things I had built with the colored rods and round connectors.<\/p>\n Dad and David looked at them too for a minute. I could tell dad was thinking what to say next.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I see you wearing your space helmet today. I\u2019m thinking you really like that Tom Swift book we\u2019re reading.\u201d<\/p>\n I nodded. He was right.<\/p>\n \u201cJack, Molly\u2019s dad, says the science in those books is all right on. It\u2019s pretty amazing stuff.\u201d He paused to think some more. \u201cBoy, you\u2019re growing up in an entirely different world than I did. We\u2019re going to have men in space soon, for real, not just in sci-fi stories. Maybe even you some day, who knows.\u201d<\/p>\n I nodded again. I hoped he was right. More thinking by him. He looked up at the ceiling, puffed his cheeks and blew air out of his mouth. David, who was facing me, turned his head to look back at dad.<\/p>\n Still looking at the ceiling dad said, \u201cI\u2019m getting close to having that damn dissertation done and then I hope to get a job, you know, a real job, teaching. Then I hope we\u2019ll have more money and we can get your mom some furniture for the living room and some new clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n I nodded, though only David was really looking at me. Even though dad was used to talking to me when I didn\u2019t answer, I figured I should say something because that\u2019s what you do, have a \u201cconversation\u201d, that\u2019s what grownups call it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think she\u2019d like that\u201d, I decided to say. He lowered his eyes to look at me. He smiled, shook his head and his eyes twinkled. I could tell David wanted to grab one of the things I had built with Tinker Toys.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, you\u2019re mom and I are so proud of you\u201d, he said. \u201cLook at you! Four years old and figuring things out. So much ahead of you. A brand new world of rocket ships and robots. I can\u2019t even imagine what you\u2019ll be doing when you get out of college. They probably don\u2019t even have a name for it yet!\u201d<\/p>\n Now I was supposed to say something. Sitting across from me on the basement floor with his legs crossed, he didn\u2019t seem that much like a grownup, though I knew he still was, and I should say something good. I remembered that show on TV where that grownup guy asked kids what they wanted to be when they grow up then pointed that talking thing at their face. Some of the boys said they wanted to be astronauts.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be an astronaut\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u201d, he said, nodding his head, \u201cThat makes sense. You\u2019re pretty smart Coop, and I know you\u2019ll do well in school, and you can be anything you want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n There was that \u201cschool\u201d thing again, where you sat at those tables and that grownup asked you questions that they already knew the answers to and told you what to do. It really didn\u2019t sound like someplace I wanted to be, but I never said anything about it because both mom and dad and all the other grownups they knew really liked school a lot, and the older kids I knew, like Danny and Ricky, went to school.<\/p>\n Mom came down the stairs from the kitchen.<\/p>\n \u201cWell here are my three very handsome guys\u201d, she said. \u201cCooly, I put a shirt out for you on your bed. Or you can pick another one from your closet if you want.\u201d<\/p>\n Dad stood up, keeping one hand on David\u2019s hand so he wouldn\u2019t fall down. David\u2019s other hand reached out to me and he said \u201cgoo\u201d, which I figured was my name. I grabbed his little hand which was warm, and he looked at me. I could see in his eyes there were things he was thinking but he couldn\u2019t say them yet.<\/p>\n Feeling full of energy, I let go of his hand and ran up the stairs before mom or dad headed up, and ran through the house to my room. My green \u201cCampbell tartan\u201d shirt was lying on my bed all spread out. That was the one that mom liked the most, and whenever I wore it she said something about how \u201cCampbell\u201d was my middle name. But today I didn\u2019t want her to think that she could pick out my clothes and that I was \u201cher little guy\u201d. Yeah she still had to tie my shoes, but I wanted to figure out how to do that myself soon. I left that shirt on the bed and I pulled another one with squares on it off the hanger in my closet and put it on, struggling with the buttons some, but determined to put it on all myself. When I got to the last button, there was no hole on the other side to put it in. I could feel myself getting mad that there was something wrong with the buttons on my shirt, even though I had worn it before and it was okay.<\/p>\n Then mom was there at the door to my room looking down at me. She did just a little bit of that laugh thing through her nose and I knew she was looking at the buttons on my shirt.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you chose a different shirt, okay\u201d, she said, \u201cWould you like help with the buttons?\u201d<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t want her to help me but I didn\u2019t say anything. I was feeling angry but I didn\u2019t want her to know that. If she knew I was angry she might ask me why and then I would have to say something and that might make her get mad at me. I didn\u2019t like it when she got mad. She kneeled down in front of me and started to unbutton the buttons.<\/p>\n \u201cYou just missed one at the top\u201d, she said, finishing unbuttoning the buttons, \u201cWhat I learned to do with my shirts is to find the lowest button with one hand on one side and the lowest buttonhole with the other hand on the other side.\u201d She showed me with her hands on my shirt. \u201cThen I fasten that button and work my way up to the top.\u201d Her fingers moved slowly as they slipped each of my shirt\u2019s buttons into the hole next to it. When she got to the last one she moved around the top part of my shirt and said, \u201cThat\u2019s what works for me!\u201d<\/p>\n She headed back into the kitchen and I stayed in my bedroom. I was still angry inside, but I decided that next time I would button my shirt the way she had shown me. But I would also make sure I did it when she wasn\u2019t watching so she didn\u2019t think I was doing it her way.<\/p>\n It seemed like it took forever for mom and dad to get everything ready in the kitchen to go over to the park. They had put David back in his playpen where he kept standing up and trying to walk. Mom asked me to help watch him so she and dad could finish getting ready. I heard them talking back and forth about who was bringing what, including \u201call those other important items\u201d, and dad said they were in the trunk of the car which he was going to drive over and park on the street by the picnic tables. Mom would walk over to the park with David and me. I figured \u201call those important items\u201d were my presents, which dad had hidden in the car trunk, because if they were anywhere in the house I might find them, even in the attic, which you got to from the opening in the top of my closet.<\/p>\n Dad left first with the car, gravel crunching in the driveway. Mom already had her jacket on, and David\u2019s little one on him, and I knew she would ask me to put on mine, but I didn\u2019t want her to tell me to do it so I ran to the closet, pulled it off the hanger, and put it on before she could. Still she smiled at me, like I was doing what she wanted, which made me a little angry again.<\/p>\n We finally headed out the front door with mom carrying David in one hand. She asked me to carry David\u2019s diaper bag which I did. David was kicking his legs and pushing away from her body and she lowered him to the ground so he could try to walk. She held one of his hands and asked me to hold his other. We slowly walked up the sidewalk to where you had to cross the street to get to the park. Mom stopped and looked at me.<\/p>\n \u201cCooly\u201d, she said, \u201cDo you want to show David what you do to cross the street safely?\u201d<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t like her telling me what to do again, but I did want her to think that I knew how to do important things by myself. So I nodded, stuck my head out and looked in both directions and said, \u201cNo cars coming\u201d, and stepped into the street.<\/p>\n Mom smiled, and we helped David step down the edge part into the street. We walked across and stepped up the edge part on the other side.<\/p>\n \u201cOh look guys\u201d, she said, \u201cThe Lilacs are getting ready to bloom. Come see.\u201d<\/p>\n We walked David over to the clump of bushes which had been just branches all winter but had grown new leaves since winter ended. Still holding David\u2019s hand, mom got down on her knees and reached into the tiny branches and held one in her fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cSee the tiny purple circles inside the green bud\u201d, she said, her fingertip touching it very gently, \u201cThose will all become the most beautiful and fragrant purple blossoms any day now. It\u2019s nature\u2019s magic. All the plants around us are coming back to life.\u201d<\/p>\n David and I looked. I could see the very tiny little circles and imagined them waiting to explode out. Mom got back on her feet and brushed the dirt off the knees off her pants.<\/p>\n \u201cSyringa Vulgaris\u201d, she said, \u201cThat\u2019s Latin, or maybe Greek. \u2018Syringa\u2019 means \u2018pipe\u2019 and \u2018vulgaris\u2019 means \u2018common\u2019. That\u2019s how a \u2018botanist\u2019, a plant scientist that is, says the plant name. Genus first, \u2018syringa\u2019, then species, \u2018vulgaris\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked at me and smiled. \u201cYou know there\u2019s a scientific name for us too. \u2018Homo Sapien\u2019. Our genus is \u2018homo\u2019 and our species is \u2018sapien\u2019, which means one who understands.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut we\u2019re not plants\u201d, I said, not sure that was really true.<\/p>\n \u201cNo we are not\u201d, she said slowly, nodding with a smile, \u201cWe are in the other \u2018kingdom\u2019, \u2018animals\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n We continued to walk slowly across the grass part of the park toward the trees on the other side of the park with all their new bright green leaves as well. There were boys with their baseball gloves and hats standing in various spots on the field. One boy was pitching a ball to another boy with a bat.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks like a pickup game\u201d, mom said, \u201cWe better walk around this way so we don\u2019t get in their way.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy with the bat swung at a couple pitches but could not hit them. Then he finally hit the next one and it came in our direction.<\/p>\n \u201cHang on to David\u201d, mom said, letting go of his other hand. The ball was bouncing now and getting close to us. She moved forward, bent her knees and caught it with her hands. The boy with a glove and hat that was closest to us had been running towards us but now he stopped, looking surprised.<\/p>\n \u201cWow, sorry lady\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo problem young man\u201d, mom replied, taking the ball in her right hand and throwing it to him.<\/p>\n \u201cWow\u201d, he said again, \u201cGood arm lady!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks\u201d, she said, her eyes twinkling.<\/p>\n She took David\u2019s hand again and we continued to do our slow walk, so it wasn\u2019t too fast for him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know\u201d, she said, still watching the kids playing baseball, \u201cWhen I was a kid their age and I played in the pickup games with the neighborhood kids I always got chosen first when they picked teams. I swung a bat before I swung a tennis racket. I think it helped my tennis swing, because to be a good hitter you got to look the ball into the bat, and I applied that to tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n I remembered her telling me this story before.<\/p>\n She sighed. \u201cI miss playing sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n We were getting close enough to the trees on the other side of the baseball area to see dad by the picnic tables. He was talking to a woman, and a kid who looked older than me was next to her.<\/p>\n \u201cOh there\u2019s Lennice and Danny\u201d, mom said.<\/p>\n When mom, David and I finally got to the picnic table, she was carrying David because his legs had gotten tired. Dad had put out a blanket for David and brought some of his toys. Lennice said she would play with him while mom helped dad get ready for the party. Danny looked at me wearing my space helmet and shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, so you\u2019re an astronaut now\u201d, he said, \u201cWhere\u2019s your space ship?\u201d<\/p>\n If a grownup had said that to me, I might have just said nothing. But Danny was a kid like me.<\/p>\n \u201cOver there\u201d, I said, pointing to the monkey bars. Now Danny nodded and smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cSo take me somewhere more interesting than here\u201d, he said, \u201cGive me a tour of outer space.\u201d<\/p>\n Before I might have gotten shy around an older kid like Danny, but I didn\u2019t feel shy now, because I knew him and he wanted to pretend.<\/p>\n \u201cYou got a ticket?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n He stuck out his empty hand holding his fingers together like he was holding one. I pretended to take it.<\/p>\n \u201cFollow me\u201d, I said and we walked over to the monkey bars.<\/p>\n I climbed up to the top middle part which was the control room of the spaceship. Danny climbed in just below me. We were soon taking off to circle the Earth before we headed to the moon, and from there on to Mars. As we created our pretend story other kids coming to the party came over to join us. First it was James, then Paul, and Kenny. Danny took the job of asking for their pretend tickets. Finally I saw Molly running towards us from the grassy part of the park between our houses and where we were now in the trees. She had left her parents behind as they walked, her dad carrying a wrapped box which I figured was a present for me. She approached the monkey bars, still running, finally stopping, Danny standing on the lowest bar facing her from inside the thing. She was wearing one of those \u201cdress\u201d things that grownup women wore sometimes and her parents made her wear when she went to parties.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if this is the moon you must be some sort of alien moon girl\u201d, he said. Molly looked at him and wrinkled her nose like she was kind of angry.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m Sky King\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean Sky Queen\u201d, Danny said. Molly shook her head hard side to side, her lips pressed together now too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019M SKY KING\u201d, she said again, louder.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay, jeez\u201d, Danny said, waving his hands in front of him, \u201cBut what the heck are you doing on the moon.\u201d Molly had her hands on her hips now, elbows out, like my green good-guy soldier I used for Tom Swift.<\/p>\n \u201cI flew here in my plane\u201d, she said. Danny did one of those laughs blowing air out of his nose like grownups did.<\/p>\n \u201cPlanes can\u2019t fly in outer space\u201d, he said, shaking his head.<\/p>\n \u201cMine can\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n I decided I better to make sure Molly was part of our pretend adventure.<\/p>\n \u201cSky King. Glad you\u2019re here on the moon\u201d, I said from the top of the monkey bars, my helmet on and putting the visor up to make sure she could hear me, \u201cWe need you on board to help us get to Mars. You know the way and we don\u2019t.\u201d I pushed the visor closed again. It made the pretending more fun when the visor was closed.<\/p>\n Danny moved aside and Molly stepped through the outside bars and began climbing up the inside bars until she was facing me in the control room up top. Paul was right below her.<\/p>\n \u201cHey Molly\u201d, he said, \u201cI can see your underwear!\u201d Molly looked down at him and her nose wrinkled again.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what. Stop looking!\u201d she said with her fierce voice.<\/p>\n We continued flying through space on our trip to Mars, Molly telling us which way to go to avoid space bad-guys. All the grownups were sitting over at the picnic tables talking and eating. Finally, Danny\u2019s mom walked up to the monkey bars carrying two paper plates full of hotdogs.<\/p>\n \u201cY’all space explorers need sumpin to eat\u201d, she said, \u201cDanny will you be a dear and give one to everybody?\u201d He nodded but didn\u2019t say anything, and handed everyone else a hotdog and took the last two for himself.<\/p>\n \u201cIf ya want mustard or ketchup or beans, or sumpin to wash it down with, you\u2019ll just have to come back to Earth to get \u2018em\u201d, she said, \u201cOtherwise\u2026 carry on!\u201d She turned and returned to the picnic tables with the empty paper plates. The grownups went back to their talking, the men\u2019s voices getting loud sometimes.<\/p>\n \u201cThis space chow isn\u2019t half bad\u201d, Danny said, still chewing his hotdog, \u201cBut keep an eye out for bad-guy aliens. They\u2019re everywhere, and that one that just brought us food might be trying to trick us!\u201d<\/p>\n We all got quiet and finished our hotdogs. After that, with Molly\u2019s help we made it to Mars, and though there were a few problems that the crew had to fix, we landed.<\/p>\n \u201cOh my god\u201d, James said, pointing at the merry-go-round next to the monkey bars, \u201cIt\u2019s a bad-guy alien spaceship! Let\u2019s capture it before they come back!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood idea\u201d, I said from up in the control room.<\/p>\n \u201cIt might be a trap\u201d, said Danny, climbing up the monkey bars and leaning out to get a better view of the alien ship.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll go\u201d, Molly said, moving to the edge of the monkey bars and jumping off to land on the ground on her hands and knees. She grabbed the bars of the merry-go-round, planted her feet and started to move it, then jumped on, trying to keep her head looking at us as it slowly went around in a circle.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks okay\u201d, she said, \u201cAnd it still flies good!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m with Molly\u201d, said James, climbing out from his spot in the bottom part of the monkey bars. He ran toward the big slowly spinning wheel, grabbed the bars still running and pushed it around harder so it was going a little faster before he jumped on. Soon Kenny had done the same thing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt flies really good\u201d, he shouted back at the rest of us.<\/p>\n I climbed down from the control room to the spaceship room where Danny was, my space helmet still on and the visor down. He looked at me and shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cTime to abandon ship, captain?\u201d he asked. I made a serious thinking face, then finally nodded. I knew \u201cabandoning\u201d your ship was a big decision that the captain had to make. The merry-go-round was slowing as James, Molly and Kenny were holding on across from each other. I ran alongside the spinning thing for a second, grabbed bars and pushed hard with my feet as I ran to try to push it faster, then jumped on.<\/p>\n There were two girls swinging on the swings who had been watching us play on the monkey bars. They were older like Danny, and when they saw us trying to make the merry-go-round spin faster they jumped off their swings and came over where Danny was standing next to the spinning wheel.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to go faster?\u201d one asked Danny.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah\u201d, he said rolling his eyes, \u201cYou know those little kids always want to go faster. They\u2019re pretending it’s an alien spaceship!\u201d<\/p>\n The girl looked at Danny, shook her head and chuckled. \u201cKids!\u201d<\/p>\n But her friend said, \u201cOkay\u2026 It\u2019s one of those flying saucers.\u201d She started to run alongside the turning merry-go-round, then grabbing the bar and starting to push it to go faster. The girl who had been talking to Danny joined her, pushing as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re getting close to Mars!\u201d James cried out.<\/p>\n Danny, realizing that he was the only one left, grabbed hold at a run and added his push to the now fast spinning. And when the two older girls jumped on, he finally did as well. The two girls hung off the sides, their long hair streaming out to the side and behind them. I watched Molly now hang off the sides like they were doing.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody move towards the center and it will go faster\u201d, one of the girls shouted. Everyone fought the pull to move towards the center, where I already was. I watched Molly crouched low and grasping the bars on either side, pulling herself against the force to the middle where I was. On her knees facing me, her hands grabbing the same bars I was holding on to, just above mine. I felt the bottom of her hands touch the top of mine. As we stared at each other again, our heads not that far apart, our hands touching made it feel like we were completely connected. I was in a trance as I watched the world spin behind her head, the adults at my party at the picnic tables, our houses in the distance across the park\u2019s baseball fields, other kids on the swing, now watching us, other houses across the street, and then again, and again. It all turned into just pictures, only Molly was real. I figured she was seeing me the same way, and I did not want the moment to end.<\/p>\n Danny and the older girls jumped off, still holding the bars on the edge of the thing and running hard with their feet once they touched the ground so they didn\u2019t fall or get dragged to the ground. One called out, \u201cWe\u2019ve almost made it to Mars. Just need one more push!\u201d<\/p>\n I saw a wild thought flash in Molly\u2019s eyes that she wanted to do what they were doing. She backed away from me towards the outside edge of the merry-go-round. Holding the bars there, she let her feet jump off, throwing each foot in front of the others trying to keep running with her feet in front of her. But she couldn\u2019t, and she tumbled to the ground, pulling her arms in as she rolled in the dirt. The older girls slowed the thing, and the rest of us were able to jump off and stay on our feet as we all ran over to where she lay on her back. She sat up. There was dirt in her hair and both knees and one elbow was scraped pink, now changing to red. Her dress was covered in dirt.<\/p>\n \u201cI almost did it!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody better tell her mom and dad\u201d, said Kenny, breathless. Danny wrinkled his nose and his head moved from side to side slowly. He looked over at the grownups who were still eating and talking away over at the picnic tables. They hadn\u2019t seen what had happened to Molly.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re okay Molly, right?\u201d Danny asked. The two older girls were standing behind him looking worried, but they looked less worried when Molly nodded that she was okay.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you can wipe the dirt off your knees and that elbow and we won\u2019t make a big deal about it with your parents\u201d, Danny said. Molly rubbed her hands over her knees.<\/p>\n \u201cBut her dress is all dirty and it\u2019s in her hair\u201d, one of the older girls said.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah well\u201d, Danny said, scratching his cheek and thinking, \u201cIf you stand up maybe we can all brush you off.\u201d Danny glanced over at the grownups again. They seemed to be talking like before and not looking at us.<\/p>\n Molly stood up, surrounded by the rest of us. While she rubbed her elbow, the older girls picked the dirt out of her hair. Danny and the rest of us reached in to brush off the dirty parts of her blue dress with the pink dots. As I brushed her back I liked the warm feeling of her body underneath the dress.<\/p>\n Danny pointed at the monkey bars and looked at me.<\/p>\n \u201cSo captain, should we get back on our own ship and continue on to Mars?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n I nodded and waved my hand, \u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d<\/p>\n Danny looked at the two older girls and smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cYou two want to come to Mars with us?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay\u201d, they both said, almost at the same time.<\/p>\n We all climbed back into the monkey bars, Molly climbing up to the top middle control room part with me. Though I was the captain, she said she would be the \u201cpilot\u201d and fly our spaceship to Mars. James said he\u2019d keep watching for more aliens and Kenny was in charge of the rocket engines. Danny and the two girls were in charge of \u201csupplies\u201d, making sure we all had pretend food and stuff to drink.<\/p>\n Danny\u2019s mom came up with two more paper plates of hot dogs. She looked at all of us in the monkey bars and did that laugh thing out her nose.<\/p>\n \u201cY\u2019all look like you\u2019re having a great time playing, and even made a couple new friends\u201d, she said, \u201cSo I brought another round of hot dogs for all of you.\u201d Danny reached out through the monkey bars and took the plates. \u201cJust let us know when we\u2019re ready to do cake and presents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks mom\u201d, he said. He turned to the two girls and held out the two plates. \u201cMake sure everyone in the crew gets one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs it somebody\u2019s birthday\u201d, one of the girls asked. Danny nodded and pointed above.<\/p>\n \u201cThe captain\u201d, he said, \u201cWe have to get to Mars so the Martians can give him a party. We don\u2019t want them to attack Earth, so we want to be friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n The girl took a hot dog in one hand, and with her other arm and the elbow of the arm with the hotdog, climbed carefully up toward the control room where Molly and I were. She stuck her hand with the hotdog up between Molly and me.<\/p>\n \u201cHappy birthday, captain\u201d, she said, \u201cHere\u2019s some food until we get to Mars.\u201d I nodded and took the hotdog.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks\u201d, I said. She climbed down and brought another one for Molly. Between the two older girls everyone on board got their food. Everyone was quiet at their \u201cstations\u201d while we ate.<\/p>\n When Molly had finished eating her hotdog she looked at me and said, \u201cOkay get ready, I\u2019m going to land on Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone hold on tight\u201d, said Danny, \u201cThis could be rough!\u201d Everybody grabbed bars with their empty hands that they were not still eating hotdogs with. Danny jerked his body around like the spaceship was shaking.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know\u2026 if we\u2019re\u2026 going to make it\u201d, he said, still shaking his body back and forth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe landed\u201d, Molly called out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhew\u2026 we made it\u201d, Danny said.<\/p>\n \u201cChecking for Martians\u201d, said James, \u201cOh my god there they are, over at those tables!\u201d He pointed at the picnic tables where mom and dad and the other grownups were talking and laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cUgly creatures, those Martians\u201d, said Danny, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t trust them for a minute. But we should pretend they look okay. We don\u2019t want to start a war with them. Captain, lead the way!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThose are your parents\u201d, said one of the girls, like Danny shouldn\u2019t be saying that, but kind of liking that he was saying it anyway.<\/p>\n Molly and I climbed down from the control room and led the group toward the picnic tables. The older girls tagged along with Danny. One by one the grownups stopped talking and turned to look at us approaching.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks like the younger generation has returned to Earth\u201d, said dad\u2019s friend Walter. The other adult men laughed. Mom, Molly\u2019s mom and Danny\u2019s mom were busy getting the candles lit on the cake. As us seven kids reached the picnic tables, mom moved into the center of the tables holding the cake with four burning candles, Danny\u2019s mom holding her hands by two of the candles that were flickering in the breeze.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay everyone\u201d, mom said in her big voice, \u201cI\u2019m not going to start the singing so someone help me here.\u201d<\/p>\n So dad started singing the happy birthday song, the other adults joining him. Then the kids behind me started singing it too, even those two older girls. All except Molly. She and I didn\u2019t sing. I actually liked that she didn\u2019t sing, because all the people singing felt different than me while Molly felt like she was the same as me, so I didn\u2019t have to be there by myself with everyone looking at and singing at me. At the end of the regular song dad and Walter did that \u201cand many more\u201d part, singing it the two different ways that sounded good together. Everybody clapped and cheered, again except Molly, and of course me.<\/p>\n I blew out the candles and then Molly\u2019s and Danny\u2019s moms gave us all pieces of cake. David was sitting on mom\u2019s lap, banging his hands on the table. Then there was the part I had been waiting for, opening presents. They were all in a pile on a picnic table no one was sitting at.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay Coop\u201d, mom said, clapping her hands together once and holding them that way, \u201cYou ready to open your presents?\u201d<\/p>\n Feeling all the grownups\u2019 eyes on me waiting for me to say something, I got shy and so I just nodded. If it had just been just other kids I might have said that I had been thinking about opening presents at my party for a long time. But I was worried the grownups would think what I said was \u201ccute\u201d, and I really did not like grownups saying I was cute. Kids would never say that.<\/p>\n So I opened them. With each one I looked at the little tag quickly that said who they were from, because I figured that was what you were supposed to do, but this was different from Christmas where I had to look at the tags to figure out which ones were for me. Then I quickly ripped off the paper while mom asked who it was from, and I would tell her, or the person who gave it to me would tell her. I was always so excited to open presents, especially toys, because they could give me ideas about things I could play and pretend.<\/p>\n The first present I opened was from Kenny. It was the game \u201cChutes and Ladders\u201d. We had played it at Kenny\u2019s house, and there really wasn\u2019t much pretending you could do with it. It was all about that thing that people called \u201cluck\u201d, which you really couldn\u2019t do much thinking about, except to worry about yours being \u201cbad\u201d.<\/p>\n The next one was from Danny. He said it was an \u201cAtomic Disintegrator\u201d, which was a kind of raygun. It looked kind of like a regular gun except it was bright colors with all kinds of lines and circles on it that made it look like it was for outer space or something Tom Swift invented. Danny showed me that when you pulled the trigger it made a noise, and there were sparks inside the clear little window in the middle part. I knew it would be good for spaceman pretending and Danny said that if you shoot it at someone, like a bad guy Martian, they would \u201cdisintegrate\u201d. He said meant they would \u201cbe melted into a bunch of nothing\u201d.<\/p>\n From James I got another game. This one was called \u201cConflict\u201d, and it was a \u201cwar game\u201d. James\u2019 mom said her older son liked to play it and James had been able to figure it out too even though it said it was for \u201cage ten and up\u201d. James said that the \u201cpieces were really neat because they\u2019re made out of metal\u201d.<\/p>\n From Molly I got a really big can of more Tinker Toys.<\/p>\n Molly\u2019s mom said, \u201cJane, though it wasn\u2019t on your list, Molly said Cooper was always running out of them when he was making things, so he needed more!\u201d<\/p>\n Molly, who was sitting next to me, nodded. She was right, I ALWAYS needed more of them to build all the things I wanted to pretend with, especially for Tom Swift and space stuff. You could make space ships, space stations and giant robots for playing \u201clittle\u201d, plus rayguns and tools for playing \u201cbig\u201d.<\/p>\n Mom and dad got me a new baseball glove, bat, ball and cap. Dad said they were \u201creal\u201d ones, because the glove was made out of \u201creal leather\u201d, the bat out of wood and the ball was \u201cofficial Little League\u201d. I didn\u2019t really pretend with baseball stuff, but I liked when mom or dad took me to the park and watched the older kids or even the grownups play, or when they pitched to me so I could hit it or catch when they threw it to me.<\/p>\n The cap was blue with a big yellow \u201cM\u201d in the front part. I figured that was for \u201cMichigan\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSo your dad and I went back and forth on the cap\u201d, mom said, \u201cI of course thought it should be Yankees but your dad said your \u2018local\u2019 major league team was the Tigers.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of the other grownups laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we compromised, and found common ground\u201d, she said, \u201cAnyway, we want you to go to college and play college ball before they recruit you for the major leagues!\u201d<\/p>\n Now all the grownups laughed. Mom liked to say stuff like that about things I might do when I got older.<\/p>\n The last present was from Dad\u2019s friends Walter and Frank. It was a bunch of Tom Swift books. I remembered they had gotten me Tom Swift books last year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are three hot off the presses\u201d, Frank said, \u201cIncluding Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think we could actually be landing on the moon by the time Cooper is grown up?\u201d Walter said, waving his arms around.<\/p>\n \u201cMy buddies at work all believe it\u2019s doable\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, \u201cWe got Pioneer Four to pass by the moon so we\u2019ve proved we can get there. And the new \u2018Mercury\u2019 program should show if humans can survive in a tin can in space where it\u2019s over 400 degrees below zero outside. Maybe by the time the kids are in their twenties.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWouldn\u2019t that be something!\u201d Dad said, shaking his head.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would\u201d, said Molly\u2019s dad, doing that laugh through his nose, \u201cOf course the Russians may get there first.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think they will\u201d, said mom, her strong voice getting everybody to look at her. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll bet you\u201d, she waved her finger in the air, \u201cWe\u2019ll be walking on the moon in ten years!\u201d<\/p>\n Molly\u2019s dad leaned back and looked up at the sky, starting to laugh and shake his head.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to take your money Jane\u201d, he said, \u201cIt\u2019s just not gonna happen. There\u2019s got to be political will, from the top, and funding, that\u2019s just not there yet. So by 1969? On god\u2019s green earth, no way!\u201d<\/p>\n Mom looked at him and did that big smile where her eyes got really big, like she knew something that no one else did.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll see\u201d, she said, then pointing a finger at him, \u201cFive bucks!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, okay\u201d, said Jack, doing that laugh through his nose, \u201cFive bucks, collectable in 1970.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWomen\u2019s intuition, Jack\u201d, said Danny\u2019s mom, waving a plastic fork at him, \u201cAnd I know from experience that Jane\u2019s is razor sharp!\u201d<\/p>\n Molly had gotten up to come over to the table to look at all my presents. Her mom walked over behind her and put her hands on Molly\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cMolly Wheeler\u201d, her mom said, \u201cWhat in god\u2019s name happened to you? Your dress is covered in dirt and it looks like you scraped your elbow!\u201d Molly\u2019s nose wrinkled as she kept looking at my presents.<\/p>\n \u201cI fell down\u201d, she said, still not looking at her mom, \u201cBut I\u2019m okay.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh Molly\u201d, her mom sighed, trying to brush some of the dirt still on the back of her dress.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m okay!\u201d Molly\u2019s voice was quiet but fierce.<\/p>\n \u201cJack\u201d, she called out to Molly\u2019s dad who was sitting at the picnic table with dad, Walter and Frank, \u201cMolly\u2019s scraped her elbow. I\u2019m going to take her home and get it cleaned up and put on some Mercurochrome so it doesn\u2019t get infected.\u201d Molly\u2019s dad nodded, got up from the table and came over.<\/p>\n \u201cIs Molly okay?\u201d mom asked, coming over to Molly\u2019s mom and putting a hand on her shoulder, \u201cYou know, it wasn\u2019t a day of good hard play for me as a kid that I didn\u2019t come home with SOME sort of a scrape or bruise!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom sighed again, her eyes looking like she was worried and thinking, \u201cRaising a daughter. Not your challenge. We\u2019ll talk later when it’s more appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n Molly\u2019s mom left Molly next to me at the table with the presents and went over to talk quietly to Molly\u2019s dad. Molly leaned her head towards me and spoke quietly, like she didn\u2019t want anyone else to hear.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t make everything with those new Tinker Toys until I come over.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t\u201d, I said back, quietly.<\/p>\n