Snakes, Coyotes, and
Superheroes
GirlStoryMag.com • Yearbook 2021
68
“Mooooooooooo!” The cows went as I walked outside with the fruit snacks in hand that I earned from spelling the word summer right. “S-U-M-M-E-R,” I sang out loud as I walked. I was only five years old, and summer was such a hard word for me, but I was so happy to have my fruit snacks. The sky was blue, and it was a hot day in the countryside of our small town of Alexis, Illinois. Every Sunday, we went to our grandparents’ house for lunch, and then we kids played outside. My cousins, Kinley and Meredith, were out playing house with me on this particular day. “I want to be the dog!” Kinley yelled. “I want to be the mom!” I chimed in. “Okay, I will be the kid,” Meredith sadly said. Kinley was so energetic, acting like a crazy dog. Meredith was calm and mainly was annoyed by Kinley. I was just happy to play with my cousins. We were into our game of playing house when we heard loud and frantic calls for help coming from the old house down the road. Immediately, I had the idea of us being superheroes and saving the people who were calling for help. So we ran and grabbed my grandma’s dog, Duke, and quickly jogged down the road toward the house. However, when we arrived at the old house, we couldn’t see anyone. “Duke! Go, boy! Search!” I commanded. He started sniffing around and led us to a
shed filled with round hay bales. Someone is in there. I know it! I thought. We started climbing the bales. I could feel the ridged edges of the golden hay poking my palms and knees as I climbed. Once we finally got to the top, we saw my cousin, Riley. Riley frantically exclaimed, “Coyotes are looking for us, and Landon got bit by a snake! He won’t wake up!” My thoughts raced. Oh my gosh! This isn’t good. Maybe I should get more help. I suddenly felt like I could get sick. We sat there quietly hiding for a while, and then we heard a noise. My other cousin, Reed, poked down on us from the round bale and frantically said, “Coyotes are chasing me too, so I’m going to hide here with you.” We sat hidden for what felt like a long time. Then I thought, maybe I should check if the coyotes are gone. I checked, and they were gone. I ran to a nearby bush and hid with my cousins and the dog, Duke. After a while, we saw Riley running and screaming and Reed fell face-first on the ground. We needed to run for safety! We ran and ran until we got to a shed, and I saw my brother, Landon. I ran over to him and shrieked, “Are you okay?” He grumbled, “I got bit, and I don’t feel well.” I felt like my stomach was in a knot; I felt like I
