Anna’s Awesomely Awesome Webpage

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Poor little doorbell.

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Life as a Doorknob

Life as a doorbell is not easy. In fact it's not peaceful or quiet or nice for that matter. My face gets mashed in day after day. I suffer headaches and severe head trauma everyday. Sometimes, a large woman with strong perfume and disgusting, oily hands jams me into the little cave I sit in. Other times, little boogery hands beat on me with chubby fingers. If you haven’t noticed, pain and I are very well acquainted. Life as a doorbell stinks! 

 Dealing with the Dawsons

      My mom told me to take a box of cookies to grandma’s house around the corner. I put them in the basket of my bicycle and started pedaling. As soon as I got to the end of the street, I saw the Dawson brothers, the neighborhood bullies, standing there with their arms folded and looking real mean. Joey Dawson, the oldest of the four, held a box. I read the outside: two dozen eggs! Suddenly, I was hit. More and more eggs broke on my head and hit my arms and legs. Being a girl, you’d think I would run away. But the thought of seeing there smug little faces the next day kept me going. Besides, once they ran out of eggs, I would be the victor. I parked my bike and grabbed rocks from the sidewalk. The boys stopped and looked at me for a long time.

      “What is she doing?” the youngest of the clan, Keith whispered softly to Mark, the second born.

      “Does it look like I know? She’s picking up rocks!” he replied sharply.

      I put about thirty-two rocks in the basket of my bike with the cookies. Slowly, I walked over to Joey and peered in the box, four eggs left, perfect. I grabbed all four eggs and gave each of them a piece of my mind. I walked over to my bike and started pedaling down the road. Behind me, I heard noisy footsteps. My head swung around and I saw Joey, Mark, Wilbur, and Keith running behind me. This was great! It was just what I had been expecting. One by one, I grabbed the rocks and made sure each one bounced off the face of Keith. He started crying and fell behind. Good, next, I aimed them at Wilbur. He was the tattletale of the bunch, but I figured I’d have fun for now. Wilbur is also the fattest of them all, so I tried to hit his nose. I didn’t want them bouncing off of his cheeks and having no effect. He quickly fell behind and all that was left was left was Mark and Joey.

      Mark is an odd shape. He’s not tall and he’s not short. Neither is he fat or skinny. There is one thing for sure though, Mark is ugly. I aimed at Mark’s large ears. The rock slapped his pale ear. Blood gushed out and I knew I was so grounded, but what the heck, he deserved it. Mark held his ear and gave up. He started home which meant that I was left with Joey. We used to be real sweet on each other, that was until he hit my brother. I had saved the largest of the rocks just for him. He’s big and brawny which meant that this mission wasn’t going to be easy. I could give him a couple black eyes, but that’s too mean. I looked back at him and couldn’t move. His long, chestnut brown hair flowed in the wind behind him, his narrow face looked like it had been carved by angels. Suddenly, my bike jumped. I turned around and ran smack-dab into thee brick wall by Ms.Laraby’s house. A blood stain dripped to the concrete where my once pale, thin nose had been.

      “Are . . . You . . .okay, . . . Jenny?” Joey struggled and choked out the choppy words before bursting into laughter. Now it looked as though his face had been carved by Satan himself. My eyes started to get watery as I struggled to stand up. I couldn’t let Joey see me cry. He’d just laugh more. I picked up my dented, once beautiful dirt bike and started on my way home. Grandma could wait.

      “Jenny wait, I’m sorry.” he called, running after me. “Don’t go, I’m sorry.”

      “You know what, Joey? You always say that. How do I know it’s true?” my pain suddenly turned to anger as I stormed up to him. “You weren’t sorry for hitting my brother or yelling at me or-”

      Okay, I get it. Don’t cry.” I looked up, surprised by this comment.

      “How could you tell? I was hiding my face the whole time!”

      “You look like you have make-up on when you cry. And your arms get pale.” he replied calmly. “I think it’s pretty.”

      He looked into my eyes and I knew I’d have to apologize for my behavior. “I’m sorry. . . I’ve got to go. . .”

      I walked off towards my house. As soon as I got home my mom was freaking out (of course). I explained everything and went to my room.

      That night, while laying in my small, cozy bed, I thought about Joey and they way his beautiful violet eyes seemed to sparkle. Over and over again, our previous conversation bounced around in my head. Every time it came up, I felt dumber than before. I knew he was sorry, so why was I testing him? Was it instinct? Was I flirting in a strange, angry way without knowing?  I want to pull him in, but what if I’m driving him away? Questions and thoughts drowned my sweet dreams and saved my nightmares. Nightmares and questions suffocated sleep and kept me up. I needed to know if he really was sorry.

      The next day, I had to get the cookies to Grandma’s. I got to the end of the street and stopped. The Dawson brothers were lined up, as usual. Keith and Wilbur had broken, black and blue noses. Mark’s left ear was patched up and red, and Joey was Joey. I could still see some egg left in his hair. His hands were hidden behind his back and a sneaky smile formed across his lips.

      I’m in for it now. . . I thought slightly gulping. He’s probably got eggs again, or worse rocks! They’re paying me back for yesterday!

      He pulled his hands from behind his back and gave me a bouquet of red and white roses. In the middle of the bouquet was a small blue note card. It read: I told you I was sorry.

      “But why, Joey? What is this for?” I slowly brought my eyes up to meet his.

      “You wanted proof. So here it is, I’m sorry.” he leaned in close and kissed my cheek. The other brothers snickered and gagged. “Shut up guys!”

      “Dude that’s gross!” Mark pretended to gag and ran off when Joey grabbed a rock.

      “I’ll see you later, Jenny. I have to catch my annoying brothers.” he smiled weakly and blushed.

      “Yeah. . .”I replied softly. I was speechless. First of all, Joey gave me roses and then he kissed me!

      I jumped on my bike and rode happily to Grandma’s. Mom had called her and told her if I showed up with egg in my hair and a bloody nose to call Mrs. Dawson and schedule a get together.

      “Yeah that ’ole mother of yours seemed concerned. She told me to call that Mrs. Dawson and yell at her. I told her ’Honey, you know I don’t have the heart to do that. I’ll just get Jenny and all her little friends and we’ll have eggs and rocks.’” Grandma smiled at me and winked. It had been three hours before Grandma sent me on my way. We had spent the whole time in the small, warm kitchen talking about Joey and his little brothers.

      When I got home, mom served dinner and made me go to bed. She told me that she was disappointed in me for letting him kiss me. I told her it was no big deal and she made sure to drown me out. After my dad died, she started to make a big deal out of everything. I guessed it just stressed her out. I fell asleep thinking about Joey and Grandma and Mom.

      The next day, mom made sure I stayed inside. “You are not to go out today. I want you to stay away from that Joey Dawson.” she whined. I made sure every where I went in the house, I had a clear view of Joey. He had a job mowing lawns and washing windows and sorts. He wasn’t wearing a shirt! Mom saw my obsession with Joey and closed all the windows and blinds.

      The next day was my sixteenth birthday. Now I was free. I could drive, date, and have girls’ days out! I couldn’t wait to get outside for my party. I was just finishing my hair when Mom walked through the door to my small, colorful room. A large smile looked like it had been pasted on her tired face. She carried a large, blue and white rectangular box. “I want you to have this. It was mine, but I can’t seem to fit in it anymore.” She handed me the box, and looked longingly at it. I slowly unwrapped it and pulled out a beautiful green dress. It was strapless and came up to my knees. This is exactly what I had imagined wearing at my the party. I was speechless. “There’s one more box. Here. . .” She handed me a smaller box, this one was wrapped in gold paper with a silver bow. I opened it quickly to find the matching shoes.

      “Thanks Mom! It’s great!” I dressed quickly and walked outside to find all the Dawson brothers at the bottom of the step and everyone in the neighborhood smiling up at me. Suddenly, slow music came on and Joey stepped forward, his arm outstretched.

      “May I have this dance?” He grabbed my hand as I curtsied and stepped down. We danced all afternoon into the evening. The moonlight shined on us and I could see his thin cheeks pink with happiness. He leaned in closer and closer until our lips touched lightly. I heard my mom gasp in disappointment and Mrs. Dawson ’shhh’ her.

      That night was just the beginning of our futures together. We grew up, happy together, and left for college. After two years of college I happily announced to my mother, new stepfather, and baby sister that Joey and I are engaged. We now have three children and eleven grandkids. I guess you could say, “We lived happily ever after!”        

 

I told you I was sorry.