asleep

After the thunder stopped, I made another cup of tea and wrapped up in a blanket and climbed into my treehouse. The ladder was slippery; it's made of wood, so the rain made it slick and slimy. It was hard to carry the tea and the blanket up at the same time, so I made two trips. When I got up there, I went to the top level--there are two levels--and I sat down against the flimsy wall where me and my brothers had written our names in paint when we first moved here. And it smelled the same as it did then, like mud and wet bark. It was cold, but I was warm enough with my blanket and with my fingers wrapped around the hot tea cup. The last time I had sat up there was with Aaron and Sam, when Sam and I were about ten. We came home from school early that day and I don't remember why, but I remember that it was getting dark outside and how I was afraid of being in the woods at night, but how safe I felt with my brothers--especaially Aaron, since he was older. Today when I went up there I didn't feel scared of the woods, but I still wanted more than anything for Aaron and Sam to be up there with me, making a plan of attack in case we had to fend off some wild animals. I wanted to share my cup of tea with them and get in a quarrel with Sam for taking bigger sips than he was supposed to. I wanted Aaron to make a carefully devised plan so that he could ensure that all of us were drinking an equal amount. He was always doing things like that, making things easier. When I was with him--in the woods or anywhere--we could do anything, because he was so brave and he always knew the best way to get somewhere.