It was a dark and stormy night... (Alternately titled "Please don't sue me, Ms. L'Engle")

Let me set the scene for you...

It was not, in fact, dark and stormy, but if my 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Hartshorn, hadn't told me that the sky was supposed to be blue, I'd have assumed gray to be the typical shade. Maybe that's why those from northern NH have an innate appreciation for a beautiful day. There certainly aren't many other places where 65 degrees is tanning season. But I'm not here to talk about the weather... I want to talk about bunk beds.

Bunk beds are THE COOLEST. Says 6 year-old me. Especially when your sister, who is also the coolest, wanted the bottom bunk and you totally wanted the top bunk, so that's perfect. And you have a wooden ladder with flat steps and metal hooks that you can take off when you're feeling really brave, and there's a safety bar on the side for when you're not. And that safety bar isn't even bent yet, but it will be after a few more years of holding onto it while you swing yourself from the top bunk into the bottom one beside Jennie. Mom yells when you do that, but you know she can't really be mad, because you didn't get hurt and it's bedtime and story time and who can be mad about stories! You and Jennie invent stories after the lights are out, and you already have a pretty good collection of favorites to verbally act out... Our variations of Encyclopedia Brown, (Complete with additional bully-girlfriend Jenni and Israeli barrel castaway Zannah.) Mulan, and A Bug's Life. After mom leaves, we lie still and quiet, because we're supposed to be asleep, but the silence is inevitably broken by the two most ritualistic words of our brief lives...

"Which one?"

Which one, which story, which adventure should we continue spinning tonight?

But until that time, our mother does a little literary invention of her own. Our favorite is the story of Princess Blue, and Princess Brown. (In later years, Sarah will be introduced as Princess Crank. She was a high-maintenance child, without a unique eye color to claim as her namesake. Life is unfair.) Sometimes, the princesses, who are both the most beautiful, mimic the experiences of our own lives. Other times, they walk in the gardens, or ride the magic Unicorn-Pegasuses that Jennie was obsessed with. (Probably still is... Sorry again for sitting on High-Stepper and breaking her leg in the car on the way to Virginia.) I'd like to think that a younger, demure HIPPA Princess lived in the same valley, pooping without pretension, decorating her room with glitter and sparkles. She most likely had play dates with Princesses Blue and Brown, and swung on the basket swing in the backyard. At least that's how I picture it.

I have determined, after going through THOUSANDS of photos, that this is the only swing set picture in existence.

Basket swings are the bomb. You and I were not besties in those days, but believe me, cool kids swing on basket swings. Just ask Chrissy McGee, circa 1996. She'll tell you.

That's right, lover. That whole story was just because you made me want to talk about princesses. I hope you're proud of yourself. Also, R.I.P. swing set.

The end.