Rebel

Chapter: 3 It was a beautiful, warm Seattle summer evening. Gram, who also enjoyed the high desert country of New Mexico, where she had lived for several years a long time ago, said one of the nicest features of Washington State was that having the Pacific Ocean surging onto its western coast and Puget Sound lapping along its inland waterways made the whole place air-conditioned.Rebel had packed primarily to work at rather dirty jobs, but she was glad she'd come over to the new-old house in her best jeans and a pretty T-shirt that had colorful embroidery on it. She called out to Gram, who was doing something upstairs, to explain why they were leaving the house, and they started out.After a momentary tangling of leashes -- Pookie was excited at being taken for a walk, and Tiger was reluctant to go at all unless dragged -- they headed for Forty-fifth, toward the university grounds. When Tiger suddenly decided to make a deposit on someone's manicured lawn, Moses whipped up the camera dangling from a strap against his chest and filmed the event.Yechh,Rebel thought.What kind of movie is he writing, anyway?"Can't think how this will be useful, but my intu-ition says don't waste anything," he remarked. "Trouble is, I forgot to bring my plastic bag. Maybe we'd better go where the property owners won't notice we're walking dogs.""I have plastic gloves and bags, but I don't know how long they'll last with something that big," Rebel observed ruefully. "I'm prepared for Pookie-size stuff."It wasn't her favorite job, but she was obviously stuck with it. Moses actually volunteered to scoop up after Tiger, but his hand was too big for the plastic gloves Rebel had stuffed in her pocket, and he was reluctant to do it without them."Okay, I'll be responsible this time. But this doesn't set a precedent for future walks," she was bold enough to say. She hoped there would be future walks. It was fun to walk along with a boy who was taller than she was.It wasn't that she was embarrassed to be seen with a boy who was shorter. After all, this was the first taller one she'd ever encountered, and she enjoyed the company of boys. She had a couple of friends in school -- the kids sometimes referred to them as the "Bobbsey Twins," who though not related were never seen apart -- who barely topped five feet five. While Rebel towered over them, she often sought them out because they were so funny. She had speculated that they liked being withherbecause the difference in heights was hilarious to everybody else, and the Bobbsey Twins had chosen as their purpose in life to keep everyone around them entertained.Dad had taught her that a person's size shouldn't have anything to do with accepting him or her. "If you're lively, intelligent, and fun to be with, you'll have friends. And look at it the same way when you choose the kids you hang out with. If you rule out the ones who are too short or homely or awkward or shy, you'll miss some great people. In fact those are likely to be the most loyal best friends you'll ever have."She enjoyed the Bobbsey Twins, even as she felt clumsy and awkward herself when they walked through the school hallways with her towering over them. Probably Tim and Phil, their real names, were embarrassed too, and wished they could make connections with some petite and pretty ladies who would make them seem tall by comparison. If so, they covered it well by cracking jokes, smiling at everybody (even the ones who made stupid remarks), and refusing to be drawn into confrontations with mouthy antagonists."They're only fourteen," Dad pointed out. "They've got lots of growing years ahead of them. Who knows. They may pass you up in a few years. Even if they don't, you'll all grow up and realize that height doesn't really matter to anyone who cares about you."Rebel did realize that now, but it was still nice to walk with a tall guy.Moses was takinRoberts, Willo Davis is the author of 'Rebel', published 2003 under ISBN 9780689850738 and ISBN 0689850735.