Bill and Nell and the Tale of the Kites

“Get ready to go, Nell! That wind is really whipping up!” he yelled, holding tight to his kite.  “You better move far enough away so our kites won’t tangle, and be sure to let loose when I yell for you to.”

She walked some distance away and stood struggling to hold up her kite until Bill gave the signal to let it fly.  He stared over at her for a moment, then yelled, “LET LOOSE!”

With that, the wind swooped up those kites high into the sky, unrolling every inch of the strings.

“HELP!” Nell squealed. “My kite’s blowing so hard it’s almost pulling my feet off the ground!”

“Grab the string and try pulling it in,” Bill yelled while struggling to keep on his.

“HELP! HELP ME! Bill!”  Nell screamed.  “It’s pulling me up!”

Bill looked over to see her furiously kicking her feet back and forth as she was being swept up higher and higher.

“NELL!” he yelled above the howling wind.  “PULL THE KITE IN BY THE  - - - -.”

Before he could say string, he found himself floating several feet off the ground.  In spite of his frantic efforts to bring that giant kite down, he kept zooming higher and higher into the air.  By now, Nell was flying high above the meadow, still kicking and screaming.

“PLEASE, GOD!” Bill cried, “ HELP US!”

When he looked over to see where she was, he was shocked to see her now as only a far away spec in the sky.

In the meantime. Mother stepped from the car, carrying a large pizza.  After bidding Grandma goodbye, she hurried up the steps, holding tight to her hat to keep it from blowing away. 

She entered the house, yelling, “I’M HOME CHLDREN!  I GOT YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA FOR SUPPER!”

When all remained silent, she laid the pizza on the table and stuck her head out the door, leading to the garage.  After glancing around a moment and seeing they weren’t there, she looked out the kitchen window and scanned the backyard.  When she saw they weren’t there, she turned and called, “CHILDREN! I KNOW YOU’RE HIDING SOMEWHERE, SO PLEASE COME OUT WHEREEVER YOU ARE!  WE’RE HAVING YOUR FAVORITE PIZZA FOR SUPPER.”

On getting no response, she began searching, looking behind the sofa, under the beds, in the closets, everywhere that would serve as a good hiding place.  Beginning to feel panic, she grabbed the phone and dialed each of the neighbors, one by one, asking if Bill and Nell were there. 

When all she heard on the other end was that they hadn’t seen them that afternoon, she dialed Father at work.  The office phone rang and rang with no answer.  In a matter of minutes, the door banged open to Father carrying a huge watermelon.

“I got off work a little early,” he said, “so I thought we’d celebrate with watermelon tonight. Then, while sniffing around a moment, he asked,  “Is that pizza I smell?  I’m really starved, so let’s eat early and feast on watermelon and pizza tonight.”

When he looked over and saw Mother looking wide-eyed and worried, he laid the watermelon on the table and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find Bill and Nell,” she said.  “Your mother and I were out shopping this afternoon, and when I got home about an hour ago, they weren’t here!  I’ve looked everywhere, even called the neighbors.”

Father peeked out the kitchen door to the garage for a moment then stepped down to the workbench where he picked up the tube of glue.  

“Why is this glue out here?” he asked Mother who was standing in the doorway.  When he looked down and saw the wastebasket filled with scraps of wallpaper and pieces of slats, he frowned, mumbling,  “What on earth could those two have been up to with glue, slats and wallpaper, anyway?”