Perfect Summer by Bethany Lopez
Mitch
Iwalked into the front office of the school, greeting the staff as I passed them by. Last summer I’d repainted the interior, and in the fall, the exterior, so I pretty much recognized everyone who worked there.
“Afternoon, Sandy. I’m here to pick up Hope Evans. Faith should have called to let you know,” I said to the woman manning the desk.
“Yes, Mitch, you’re all good. The bell will ring in five minutes. Let me show you where Hope will be let out.”
We walked through the building and outside the back doors. Sandy left me standing outside near a blue dot painted on the sidewalk with a few parents.
A few moments later, the air filled with excited children’s chatter as the door opened and a bunch of first graders came spilling out. I searched the sea of messy hair and smudged faces until I saw blonde pigtails and mismatched shoes rushing toward me.
“Mr. Mitch,” Hope said excitedly, coming to such a quick stop in front of me I wouldn’t have been surprised if she left skid marks on the ground. “My teacher said you were picking me up.”
“That is correct, Ms. Hope,” I said, holding out my hand for her. “I was thinking we could go on an adventure walk, maybe stop and get some ice cream. What do you think?”
“I’ve never been on an adventure walk before,” she said, her little eyes widening at the thought.
“Then we have to do it,” I told her. “Do you have everything?”
Hope swiveled so I could see the backpack she was carrying.
“Can I take that for you?” I asked, thinking it may become cumbersome for her as we walked around town.
“Sure,” she said, shrugging it off.
I took the backpack and swung it over one shoulder. “Let’s be off.”
Hope giggled and started skipping next to me as we exited school grounds.
“Okay, so one of the most important things about adventure walks is to keep your eyes open and take in your surroundings as you walk. Look at everything … nothing is too big or too small. You never know what you may find.”
“Okay,” Hope replied, her tone serious. She stopped skipping and started moving at a snail’s pace, half bent over as she searched both sides of the sidewalk. Suddenly she stopped and said, “Look!”
I stopped next to her and crouched down.
“A ladybug,” she whispered.
“Very good. It looks like it’s going home after a busy day at work.”
“Oh, there’s a roly poly,” she said, pointing a stick she picked up a few inches away from the ladybug, closer to the grass. “Maybe they’re friends.”
“I bet you’re right. They probably work together in the ant factory, and they walk to and from work together every day,” I surmised.
“Do you think they have families?” Hope asked, her eyes never leaving the bugs.
“Absolutely. And their kids go to school together.”
“Wow.”
“Should we keep going? See what we come upon next?” I asked.
Hope nodded and stood up straight before giving the bugs a wide berth and moving farther down the sidewalk before resuming her bent-over walk.
“There,” I called out, causing her to turn and look at me, then follow the direction of my finger. “A squirrel just darted up that tree.”
We stepped onto the grass and up to the tree and both looked up to watch the squirrel climb up the trunk and onto a branch.
“How can a squirrel climb up and down like that?” Hope asked, her voice full of awe.
“Squirrels have super-flexible joints in their ankles that make it easy for it to turn and sharp claws that dig into the bark of the tree.” I wasn’t sure why I remembered that from science class, but I was fascinated by squirrels when I was younger. How they could move so quickly and go up so high and seemingly never fall or get hurt.
“I wish I could do that,” Hope said, her head still tilted back as she monitored the squirrel’s movements. “I tried to climb a tree once, but I fell and hurt my knee, so my mommy told me not to do it again.”
She placed her hand in mine and we started through the grass and paused at the fountain in the middle of the square.
“What kind of birds are those?” she asked.
“That one there is a robin and those two over there drinking are mountain bluebirds.”
“They’re so pretty.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Ready for some ice cream?”
Hope nodded enthusiastically and took off at a run toward the ice cream stand on the other side of the square.
Not wanting to lose her, I jogged after her, slowing down when I was right behind her so she could get to the ice cream stand first.
“I won,” she said happily when we arrived.
“You did. You sure are fast.”
We stepped closer to get in line.
“What kind of ice cream do you like?” I asked her.
“Strawberry, please.”
“In a cone or a bowl?”
Hope looked at me like I was nuts and said, “A cone.”
I chuckled and ordered two cones, one strawberry for Hope and a butter pecan for me.
Once we had our ice cream, I looked down at her and asked, “Shall we continue our adventure walk or go sit down with our ice cream?”
“Adventure walk,” Hope said firmly.
“Your wish is my command,” I assured her, and off we went to continue our adventure on the walk to her house.