Ellen Klages - A Taste of Summer

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Science Fiction

By Ellen Klages

A Taste o

Summe

A Taste of Summer

by Ellen Klages

Fictionwise

www.Fictionwise.com

First published in Black Gate #3, December 2002

NOTICE: This ebook is licensed to the original purchaser

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A Taste of Summer

by Ellen Klages

Mattie Rodgers sat on the tiny sleeping porch of the

summer cottage on Indian Lake, halfway reading a Nancy

Drew book, and mostly watching her dad and two of her three

older brothers try to fix the outboard motor on the dinghy.

She was hoping they'd let her help, or at least get it back

together soon, so her dad could take her exploring in the

other parts of the lake.

She folded over the page of the book and got up out of the

chair. Her legs made a slurping sound when she pulled up off

the painted wood, because she was sticky hot. The boat lay

upside down on the grass near the dock. Her dad was

kneeling over the blades. AJ and Mike were doing something

to the motor part with a screwdriver. They all had their shirts

off and were shiny with sweat and streaks of black grease.

She stopped a few feet away.

“Can I help, Daddy?”

He started a little, dropped the wrench, said one of the bad

words, not quite in a whisper, then turned around and looked

at her over his shoulder.

“No, sweetie. This is guy stuff.”

“Are you fixing it?”

“Nope, not yet.” His voice wasn't mad, but it sounded like

it could change into mad pretty quick. He turned back to the

propeller.

Mattie waited a minute, shifting her weight from one foot

to the other on the grass. “Daddy? How long do you think it's

going to be? Will you take me out for a ride when you're

done?”

A Taste of Summer

by Ellen Klages

Her father turned around. “Matts?” He looked surprised

that she was still standing there. “Why don't you be a big girl

and go play someplace else for a while? We'll be lucky to

finish this before dark as it is.” He sighed and rubbed his face,

leaving a grease mark on his chin.

“There's nobody to play with.”

“Where's Danny?”

“Fishing. He says I can't come along because girls scare

fish.”

“Well then, how about the twins?”

Mattie made a face. She was almost nine and Cindy and

Shelley were eleven. They'd always played pirates before,

exploring the lakeshore for treasure, but this summer all they

wanted to do was read about the Beatles and roll their hair.

“They don't want to do anything fun anymore. Can I go

swimming?”

Her dad looked over at the weathered gray dock and shook

his head. “Nobody's got time to watch you right now. Maybe

when your mom gets back from Lake City.”

Her mom had gone to get her hair done. Most Saturdays

Mattie had to go along, but her birthday was in two days, and

her mother had secret shopping to do. Mattie wasn't sure

there was anything in Lake City she really wanted, and she

hoped it wasn't going to be clothes. She was wearing her

favorites—a pair of her brother Mike's hand-me-down cut-offs

and a faded green Celtics tank top that came down past her

knees and said HAVLICEK in letters that were just barely

visible. Her red high-top sneakers were busting out at the

toes and her brown hair was ragged over her ears where

A Taste of Summer

by Ellen Klages

she'd tried to cut off the annoying parts with her mother's nail

scissors earlier that morning.

Mattie's shoulders sagged. “She'll just say we need to start

dinner,” she said under her breath.

“Look, Matts,” her father said after a moment, “The boys

and I want to get this back together before it starts to rain.

Why don't you go get a popsicle at Miller's.” He wiped his

hand on his khaki shorts, reached into his pocket, and pulled

out a five-dollar bill, three pennies, a dime, and a nickel. He

poured all the change into Mattie's hand. “My treat.” He

reached up and patted her hair, looking at the gathering

clouds. “But you'd better scoot on out of here. We'll have rain

by supper, and if you come home soaking wet your mom'll

have my hide.”

Mattie considered her options and decided that a walk with

a popsicle at the other end was probably the best of them.

“Okay, Daddy.” She kissed the cleanest part of his cheek and

carefully put the coins in the front pocket of her cut-offs.

Their cottage was on a dirt road bordered by thick woods

and blackberry bushes, about half a mile from the highway.

As she walked, she scuffed her sneakers in the dirt and tried

to decide what she wanted most when she got to Miller's. She

sometimes had a nickel, or even a dime, but today she had

eighteen whole cents, and that could buy just about anything.

Maybe a popsicle. Or maybe penny candy. B-B-Bats or Nik-L-

Nip wax bottles full of sweet syrup, or an Indian necklace

made of pale candy beads strung on elastic just long enough

to reach her mouth from around her neck. Maybe one of

each. She felt pretty good. Not as good as if she was having a

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ScienceFictionByEllenKlagesATasteofSummerATasteofSummerbyEllenKlages2Fictionwisewww.Fictionwise.comCopyright©2002byEllenKlagesFirstpublishedinBlackGate#3,December2002NOTICE:Thisebookislicensedtotheoriginalpurchaseronly.Duplicationordistributiontoanypersonviaemail,floppydisk,network,printout,oranyoth...

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