Back Row - Paul and Tim
Front Row - Dan and Anna - 1962
I jumped from the old tractor tire and caught the faded green bar of what was left of our old swing set with my outstretched hands. I let go with my right hand as my feet finished their arc so that I could turn and face the tractor tire and jump back to it. This was my tenth summer and the southern Kansas sunshine felt warm and good on my face after being inside all morning.
"What are you reading?" I asked Danny, my older brother as I landed on the tire in a cloud of dust. I moved so that he could take his turn. He was twelve and stronger than me. We had spent the morning in our rooms, reading. It was our fatherÕs decree. We had to read in the morning in order to play outside in the afternoon. And it couldnÕt be a comic book.
"One of DadÕs science fiction books." Danny said as he jumped towards the bar. The swings were long gone, and the side that had the slide was missing. We improvised by sticking the top bar into the crook of one of the cottonwood trees. The other side was still supported by the original legs. It was odd looking but it kept us busy for hours as we climbed on it, jumped on it, swung on it, and hung on it, the way kids used to do back before cable television and computer games.
Danny landed on the tire and scowled. "This is too close." He muttered.
"Yeah, for us." I said as I jumped towards the bar. "But not for the kids." I meant Tim and Anna, our younger brother and sister.
"YeahÉ" Danny sighed. "What are you reading?"
"A book about a mountain man." I said. "ItÕs really neat. HeÕs trapped in the woods, hiding from the Kiowa Indians and so he builds a raft and floats away down a river."
"Really?" Danny said. "In my book, they build a raft too."
"What for?"
"These space explorers are trapped on a strange planet in the Vedurae Nebulae and when they go exploring for uranium rocks to recharge their fuel cells they get trapped because of a hydrogen peroxide flash-flood. So they have to build a raft to get back to their space ship." Danny gushed.
"Oh." I answered, not really sure what all those big words meant.
Our younger brother Tim scuffed up to us in the dirt. "What space ship?" Tim asked as he climbed up on top of the swing set. He nimbly tucked his knee around the round pole going to the tree and did a somersault.
"How do you do that?" Danny laughed.
"I dunno." Tim shrugged as he did it again. "I just lean over and I come back up."
"You still reading the encyclopedia?" I asked Timmy as he hung upside down, looking at me. "You look Chinese like that."
"IÕm in the ŌBÕ one." Tim said. "Balsa wood."
"WhatÕs it good for?" I asked as Tim climbed down and jumped on the tractor tire.
He looked up in the sky and scowled as thought. "Model airplanes, raftsÉand."
"If we had some balsa wood thatÕd make a good raft." Danny said.
"WhatÕcha need an olÕ raft for?" Anna asked as she wandered over towards us. Our younger sister leaned against the swing set legs eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
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"You make that yourself?" I laughed.
Our eight-year-old sister beamed. "Yep!" The bread looked mangled and the jelly was dripping onto the dusty ground. "But Mom just said I had to eat it outside."
"We need a raft," Dan said as he jumped towards the swing set bar again, "To float down the river."
"You think Mom will let us?" I asked.
"I donÕt know why not." Dan shrugged as he tiptoed around the tractor behind Timmy.
"ThereÕs those fence posts behind the chicken coop." I mentioned as I jumped on the tire behind Danny now. Tim jumped towards the bar and managed to swing out and back.
"We need planks too." Danny said. "To make a deck."
"A what?" Anna asked as she wiped her hands on her jeans and climbed up on the tire to take her turn.
"Deck. ThatÕs what you stand on while the raft floats down the river." Danny said as he watched Anna. She barely touched the bar, then fell in a heap on the ground. He grimaced. "Maybe we should slide the tire closer." He said.
Timmy and I jumped off the tire and helped him tug our launching pad close enough to the swing set for Anna.
"There." Danny said.
"You know those old boards out by the fence would work." I said. "I think theyÕre off an old barn or something."
"Hey yeah!" Danny exclaimed. "We just need some rope and nails!"
"I saw some rope in the basement." Anna volunteered.
"I know where Dad has nails and the hammer." Tim added.
An hour later we stood in the driveway, admiring our raft. "I bet we can all float on it." Timmy bragged.
There." Danny said.
"You know those old boards out by the fence would work." I said. "I think theyÕre off an old barn or something."
"Hey yeah!" Danny exclaimed. "We just need some rope and nails!"
"I saw some rope in the basement." Anna volunteered.
"I know where Dad has nails and the hammer." Tim added.
An hour later we stood in the driveway, admiring our raft. "I bet we can all float on it." Timmy bragged.
"Well, IÕm the captain!" Danny claimed as he stood on the rough, faded planks. "It was my idea."
"Well, then IÕm the co-captain." I insisted as I stepped up on our raft opposite of Danny. "It was part my idea."
"No youÕre the first mate." Danny decreed as he waved his hand over my head.
"WhatÕs that?" Timmy asked.
"Like second in command." Danny said.
"Then IÕm second mate." Timmy pointed out. "And Anna, youÕre third mate."
We all stood close together on the small pile of planks and fence posts. "It's not too big to fit in the car is it?" Danny asked all of a sudden.
I looked past his ear at the station wagon. "Should fit. Maybe. I think."
"Mom?" We hollered, coming into the house. She was standing in the kitchen.
"Slow down! What do you want?"
"We built a raft. Will you take us to the river so we can float it?" Timmy pleaded.
"Yeah Mom. Please." I added.
"Pretty,please." Dan added.
She looked at us, while Anna looked between her brothers and her mother.
"Is it dangerous, Paul?" She asked me.
"Naw." Danny answered. "The riverÕs only knee-deep."
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Mom sighed. "Well, I was going to watch my soap opera. But we could go for an hour or so. Not any longer, though."
After about a half-hour of sweat and lifting and twisting, the collection of fence posts, barn siding, rope and nails sat at the edge of the Arkansas River underneath the Coronado Bridge.
Danny twisted and retied the rope while I hammered down a couple of loose nails.
"Too bad we donÕt have a bottle of champaganee." Danny said as we tugged the raft across the sand towards the slow current of the river.
"What for?" I asked as we slowly slid it in the water. Danny held to the rope.
"So we could christen our boat." He smiled proudly. "I christen thee," He shouted. "The Stellar Explorer!"
"How do you know about that?" Mom asked him.
Danny shrugged. "MustÕve seen it on the Three Stooges."
"Hey, yeah!" Timmy exclaimed. "Champaganee!" He laughed and slapped his knee.
"You let me hold the rope and you guys take off your shoes." Mom instructed. "And if you fall in donÕt try and hand me a crab!"
Anna giggled. "A crab!" She giggled again.
I rolled my jeans up and started towards the raft. "CaptainÕs first!" Danny ordered.
"Then you go down with the ship!" I argued.
He climbed up on the raft while Mom held the rope. Our hearts sunk as DannyÕs weight sunk his end, the entire 12 inches, to the bottom. I climbed up on the side still in the water and it sunk too.
"Rats!" Danny said. "We must have too much ballast!"
"Well, I donÕt know about that, but I guess we weigh too much!" I said dejectedly.
"Time for the second mateÕs turn!" Tim demanded from shore. Trying to pull a knot out of his shoestring.
"I guess IÕm not the only one who needs to go on a diet." Mom laughed as she looked at us.
"ThatÕs not funny!" Danny said. "We spent an hour building this stupid thing, now it wonÕt even levitate in the water!"
"Let me try. Let me try!" Timmy demanded.
"Let him on by himself." Mom insisted. "Maybe heÕs small enough yet."
Reluctantly Danny and I stepped into the water and let the raft float back up. Anna waded out to us. "It's okay, guys." She said. "It was fun to build." She grinned at me with a tooth missing in front. I grinned back.
But it didnÕt sink with Timmy on it. In fact when Mom let go of the rope, he was able to paddle it around under the bridge, while he taunted us. "IÕm the captain. IÕm the captain."
The wind blowing through the station wagon quickly dried out our feet, if not our jeans, on the way home.
"I guess we shouldÕa had some balsa wood." I said to Danny. z'Or real logs."
"But they would have been too heavy to get in the car." He argued.
"But you guys did a good job." Anna said.
"I think in my book they were on a small planet, so they didnÕt weigh as much." Danny sighed. "ThatÕs why they could float on their raft. You know, not much gravitational pull."
"I guess so." I said. "Or maybe they landed on the balsa planet."
"You know if we play the Three Stooges," Tim added. "Now I get to be Moe!"
"Mom." Anna said in the front seat. "WhatÕs for supper. IÕm hungry."
"Tim!" I interrupted. "Did you get DadÕs hammer?"
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