Read Online Ginger Krinkles by Dee Detarsio - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Dee Detarsio
Ads: Link
Come on, girl.” I definitely heard a meow. I looked up. Classic. I set the food on the ground. She sneered down at me from her branch, and settled in so comfortably she looked like she could be laying an egg.
I pushed Olive’s black garbage can next to the tree, kicked off my flip flops and shimmied myself on top of it. A sturdy branch was just above my hip bone. Using both hands, I lifted myself up, but my heels pushed too hard and flipped over the garbage can. I had a scary moment before I was able to execute a sideways turn to sit on the branch. I used to love climbing trees. That was before I gave a fig about Newton’s “the bigger you are the harder you fall” discovery. Ming was about five feet from me, on the opposite side of the tree. I hugged the trunk and carefully made my way to my feet. I reached my hand out and could almost touch her nose. “Come on, Ming. Let’s go home.” She sniffed at my hand. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t hold her and climb down. I inched closer. She ducked under my hand and climbed down out of the tree.
“Thanks, Ming. Don’t worry about me. Good job.” I looked down. It seemed farther than I remembered. My legs didn’t obey my command to bend and sit back down on the branch. I hugged the tree like a long lost lover. A kid rode by on his skateboard. “Help!” He actually stopped and looked up. “I’m stuck. Can you maybe help me get down?”
He got off his skateboard while I was still talking. “I was after my cat, and it’s just so much scarier going down. I don’t want to jump that far. Will you push the trash can back? Please?”
“Hang on,” he said. He whipped out his phone, put it on speaker and called 911. “Yeah, there’s some lady up in a tree. Says she can’t get down.”
“I’m just scared. I could get down if you helped me. You don’t need to call 911. Seriously. Just move the garbage can underneath me.” My arms were frozen around the tree.
“Can you tell the approximate age of the female? Is she injured, or about to fall?” His iPhone squawked.
“She’s, like, kind of old. Thirty?”
“Twenty-eight!” Eff you very much.
“I don’t know if she’s homeless, her clothes are kind of raggy.”
“I’m not homeless,” I hollered. “I live right over there.” I couldn’t point. “I just got out of the shower to try to find my cat.”
“Sir, Sir? Please stand away from the tree and keep yourself at a safe distance. Does the victim appear to be a danger to herself, or anyone else?”
“I’m stuck in a tree! That’s all! I’m not going to hurt anyone!”
“Please let the victim know help is on the way. Please stand clear and do not go near her.”
“Roger that.”
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just can’t get down.”
My knight in shining armor waited to take pictures until the firemen arrived with their ladder. Actually, he took video and sent it into the local news station. And probably put it on YouTube; I haven’t bothered to look. And I even thanked him. Did you know, in the light from the firemen’s truck, you could see right through my yoga pants?
“I am so sorry, guys,” I told the biceps of the fireman who guided me down the ladder. I barely noticed the other fireman, Robert, except to note that he had wavy gray hair and probably went to the same elementary school as Ming’s Father Time vet. And was his teacher.
“No worries, Ma’am,” said the cute one. Ma’am. Geez. My impulse to flirt fizzled. The sun was setting and as I touched terra firma, he flashed his light down, reflecting back the glowing eye holes of the Succubus. Tail in the air, she rubbed herself around my ankles. The firemen were charmed.
“I don’t know what you think you are up to, Ming. She’s never done this. I can’t believe she got out. I feel so stupid.” I had my arms crossed over my chest, then bent down to pick her up. “Thank you.”
“Your tax dollars hard at work,” said Robert Fireman, Sr. Whose
I pushed Olive’s black garbage can next to the tree, kicked off my flip flops and shimmied myself on top of it. A sturdy branch was just above my hip bone. Using both hands, I lifted myself up, but my heels pushed too hard and flipped over the garbage can. I had a scary moment before I was able to execute a sideways turn to sit on the branch. I used to love climbing trees. That was before I gave a fig about Newton’s “the bigger you are the harder you fall” discovery. Ming was about five feet from me, on the opposite side of the tree. I hugged the trunk and carefully made my way to my feet. I reached my hand out and could almost touch her nose. “Come on, Ming. Let’s go home.” She sniffed at my hand. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t hold her and climb down. I inched closer. She ducked under my hand and climbed down out of the tree.
“Thanks, Ming. Don’t worry about me. Good job.” I looked down. It seemed farther than I remembered. My legs didn’t obey my command to bend and sit back down on the branch. I hugged the tree like a long lost lover. A kid rode by on his skateboard. “Help!” He actually stopped and looked up. “I’m stuck. Can you maybe help me get down?”
He got off his skateboard while I was still talking. “I was after my cat, and it’s just so much scarier going down. I don’t want to jump that far. Will you push the trash can back? Please?”
“Hang on,” he said. He whipped out his phone, put it on speaker and called 911. “Yeah, there’s some lady up in a tree. Says she can’t get down.”
“I’m just scared. I could get down if you helped me. You don’t need to call 911. Seriously. Just move the garbage can underneath me.” My arms were frozen around the tree.
“Can you tell the approximate age of the female? Is she injured, or about to fall?” His iPhone squawked.
“She’s, like, kind of old. Thirty?”
“Twenty-eight!” Eff you very much.
“I don’t know if she’s homeless, her clothes are kind of raggy.”
“I’m not homeless,” I hollered. “I live right over there.” I couldn’t point. “I just got out of the shower to try to find my cat.”
“Sir, Sir? Please stand away from the tree and keep yourself at a safe distance. Does the victim appear to be a danger to herself, or anyone else?”
“I’m stuck in a tree! That’s all! I’m not going to hurt anyone!”
“Please let the victim know help is on the way. Please stand clear and do not go near her.”
“Roger that.”
“I’m not going to hurt you. I just can’t get down.”
My knight in shining armor waited to take pictures until the firemen arrived with their ladder. Actually, he took video and sent it into the local news station. And probably put it on YouTube; I haven’t bothered to look. And I even thanked him. Did you know, in the light from the firemen’s truck, you could see right through my yoga pants?
“I am so sorry, guys,” I told the biceps of the fireman who guided me down the ladder. I barely noticed the other fireman, Robert, except to note that he had wavy gray hair and probably went to the same elementary school as Ming’s Father Time vet. And was his teacher.
“No worries, Ma’am,” said the cute one. Ma’am. Geez. My impulse to flirt fizzled. The sun was setting and as I touched terra firma, he flashed his light down, reflecting back the glowing eye holes of the Succubus. Tail in the air, she rubbed herself around my ankles. The firemen were charmed.
“I don’t know what you think you are up to, Ming. She’s never done this. I can’t believe she got out. I feel so stupid.” I had my arms crossed over my chest, then bent down to pick her up. “Thank you.”
“Your tax dollars hard at work,” said Robert Fireman, Sr. Whose
Similar Books
