The trees in the square bent ever so slightly in the lightly blowing wind on the avenue by the bridge on the lawn. Flowering weeds dotted the city lawn and a smell of earth that was vaguely out of place filled the air. Here a black Labrador or a Golden Retriever sailed through the air to catch a gently floating Frisbee or a streaking tennis ball. Somewhere a slender mother and cradled her cracky child, nursing the babe through his first springtime allergies. Sensitive daring teenagers made moves toward second base behind the light foliage of the square, their hearts seeming to beat in unison with the song that the caroling blue jays had been humming all afternoon, and a hotdog vendor called out that today he would also be selling roasted peanuts.
Love was so palpably in the air on this April day and Basil relished every moment of it. She loudly counted the daffodils coming up near the blanket on which she sat, and babbled to her mother about her friend Lisa.
Lisa was a sophisticated second grader. She was ballerina and a princess, a REAL ONE. She'd proved it by bringing in a purple crown with with glitter on top.
Basil's mother nodded her head to the din of her daughter's words. She smiled lightly at the mention of Lisa's crowns and dresses and jewels, and she assured her daughter that the girl was only pretending. She was distracted, but little Basil didn't notice. She chattered on and on through peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and pink lemonade.
Suddenly, Basil was yanked to her feet and lifted high into the air, spinning around and around, head over heels. She gave a shriek of surprise and her sandwich tumbled to the ground.
When the world turned right side up again, she found that she had a headache, and that her stomach hurt. She began to bawl.
“Don't cry my little angel," said the hulking man, his bass voice rumbling like thunder over the red clay hills of Georgia.
Basil only cried harder when she saw that her momma had also begun to cry, and she was shocked when the big man went to her and hugged and kissed her. She'd never seen a man do that to mamma.
After what seemed like an hour of embrace, momma grabbed Basil's hand and brought her before the towering giant in green and brown.
“ Say 'welcome home' to you're daddy," she gushed.
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