Snippets & Snatches....Clear and cold...low 40's

Snippets & Snatches

  I found this paper while going through my years' worth of stash.
Not recognizing what it was I almost threw it out. ( Believe me, I realize
just REARRANGING my stuff isn't going to reduce it by much!).
Anyway I'm glad I  looked closer because, here was this little story my sister
 had written in this free paper from the area where she lived in Alaska.
These free papers were a pleasant part of small town America in the past.
I wonder if any still exist. The ones in my area are all gone.
Here's the story. ( My brother would have been nine at the time of this
story)

                              My Brother's Tree House

As a kid, I looked up to my brother, my older brother. He did the
chores. He had adventures I wasn't old enough to have, and he had his
own room full of electronic equipment that he hid in his closet from
Mom.
He was the big brother, I, the baby sister. He never bothered with me
too much. Nor, I, him. Our worlds were too different. Yet, once in
awhile our two separate existences would merge for a moment in time.
Like the time he built the tree house.
I remember Mom giving my brother permission to build it in a tree by
the barn. This was a stretch for Mom. She was out on a limb, so to
speak.
During the days that followed, I was filled with suspense, having
never seen a tree house before. I watched as my brother nailed crate
slats to the tree as a ladder. I stopped from my play as he rigged up
a pulley and hauled lumber up with a rope.
"How clever big brothers are", I thought.
One day I woke from a nap to find Mom gone and brother in charge. "Ya
wanna come outside"? he asked. "I've got something to show ya". We
dashed out. Lo and behold, way up in that tree was his tree house,
finished only moments before. It was a lean-to sort of thing, with
double doors like a barn. A creation that whetted ones' appetite for
adventure.
My brother raced up the ladder. As a king considers his kingdom he
stood. I felt far removed, sitting on the porch step.
"Hey," he said, "If we hurry before Mom comes back, you could come up too."
"Me, up there?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yea, sure, I'll help you!" he declared generously.
It sounded like a good idea. Until he had me half way up those rickety
slats, pushing from behind for all he was worth. For one thing, after
looking down, I found my feet glued to the rung with a will of their
own, stubbornly resisting my brother's efforts.
After a trip to the bathroom and another to get teddy, I arrived on
the platform.
Oh wonder of wonders!  There we sat, Indian style. My brother's are
around my shoulder, my teddy in my lap and a view of the world like
never before. I felt older than three. I could just imagine the worlds
we would conquer together. Like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, Tarzan and
Jane, Christopher Robin and Pooh---My Brother and I.
As we sat in our private dreamland, Mom's car turned into the
driveway. One look at my brother's face and I was jolted from my
fantasy.
"Young man, where is your head?" she demanded frantically. During the
torrent of scolding, I was rapidly returned to my earthbound
existence.
Gazing upon the discouraged face of my worthy hero, I silently
repented of the trouble I had caused him. Then he looked down at me
and smiled knowingly, "It's okay kid," he said "We'll do it again
sometime."
We did too, but we never told Mom, or perhaps she just never let on she knew.