On the Porch

When she pulled up to the house, she saw Daniel on the top step, leaning against railing. He was reading his mail or something else that seemed to have his full attention. He glanced up as she walked toward him.

"How are you settling in?" she asked.

He shrugged and went back to reading his document. Ginger made her way up the three steps and stood across from him. She heard a muffled noise at his door.

The little girl stared at her from behind the screen.

"How are you settling in?" she asked her. The little girl slowly pushed the door open and stepped out. She had a deck of cards in one hand.

"What are you playing?" Ginger asked her.

Daniel practically shrieked, "No!" But, he barely had time to get the word out before his daughter looked Ginger in the eye, and then threw the entire deck up into the air. Cards floated down around her. A few settled haphazardly at her feet. A few more made their way across the porch.

She heard Daniel sigh behind her.

"The babysitter taught her 52 Pickup," he said. He went back to reading his letter. The little girl stared at Ginger expectantly.

Ginger nodded. She looked at the mess on her porch. She set her bag down and walked over to her front door. She left it open while she went inside. She came back a few minutes later with a leaf blower. Daniel's eyebrows knitted together. His daugther's eyebrows jumped into her hairline. Ginger turned it on and blew every single card out to the curb. It took a good ten minutes, and Daniel shook his head at her, but the little girl watched with wide eyes.

She left the leaf blower next to her car and reached down to pick up two random playing cards from the pile along the curb. She walked back up to the porch where her tenants stood waiting. With a card in each hand, she lifted her arms out into a "T." She stared back at the little girl for just a minute, and then she released the cards. They floated down to the floor. Just as they touched the scratchy green indoor/outdoor carpet, Ginger said to the little girl, "Look. It's Fall."

The little girl turned three shades of red before she narrowed her eyes. Then, the corners of her mouth turned up for just a moment. It was long enough for Daniel to notice his daughter's reaction, though. It wasn't disgust that he saw. He looked at his daughter and then he looked at his landlord and said, "Do you ever babysit?"