what if its not a prank? i dream of squirrels.

before going to bed last nite i thought about the message mary left me.

"i might die ... read this please ... remember the squirrel"

so far ive assumed its just a prank. but what if its not? as far fetched as it might sound what if she really is in trouble? why couldnt she just say "im in trouble call 911"? why couldnt she just call 911? why wouldnt she call some of her better friends? not that we arent friends.

ive known mary for a long time. we both moved onto the block around the same time. when we were 3 or 4.

but we grew apart as we got older. i guess its something boys and girls do. things started becoming awkward around 4th or 5th grade. around the time when kids would say stupid things if you hung out with a girl too much. so our conversations shortened and they became jokes mostly. we made fun of each other a lot too. there were times when we wouldnt talk for days - usually because i would take a joke too far. at school i made new friends - ones that liked to play basketball and talk about girls and do stupid stuff. she did too.

our interactions dwindled down to spit balls, paper air planes, some school chatter.

and now we barely talk. except for an occassional chat online, a text message, a random comment on facebook.

so is this a prank? if it is a prank, then i just have to wait for the part about the squirrel. if it's not, than the squirrel means something important. its a clue. probably something from when we were younger. which would explain why she would call me and not one of her friends.

so what does it mean?

i have no clue.

so then it must be a prank.

nothing to worry about and nothing to lose sleep over. so ill just close my eyes and dream some sweet dreams.

but sometimes its a dream that leads to an answer.

i see myself and mary as we were when we first met. when we were just two kids excited to play together. we explore the small world that is our block. carving things into the barks of trees. finding catipillars. running after anything that can fly and capturing fire bugs to place in glass jars so that they can glow all nite.

we use chalk to draw ridiculously large and silly pictures on the sidewalk. we try to play jump rope, catch, and other games that our short legs and arms arent ready for yet.

and we sit around and make up stories.

mary has an amazing imagination. together we create stories of pirates, evil witches, wizards, wars and monsters. we make castles from couches and bed sheets. caves from tables.

in