Pieces of a quilt – 2

It is Summertime, the sun is blazing over the small Southern town. Three boys are running out in the streets, turning the water hose on and playing in the water.Their  grandmother smiles as she is watching over the  three  brothers full of enthusiasm and energy. Her  black hair is combed   in a long braid on her back as Mexican women do sometimes.    Often  she thinks that the boys stay outside too much but how can she keep them inside a two-bedroom  home ? The old woman has trouble walking and when the boys ignore her demands, she tries to grab them around the neck with her cane !

In attempting to keep the younger one  (but not the quietest)  longer  at home, the abuela (granny) tells him once that at midday, when the church rings its bells, the devil is let loose so that he can get all the bad kids who are  still outside…

So one day when the youngest boy was still playing at the elementary school playground, he heard the church bell ringing out. He dropped everything and ran home as fast as his small legs could carry him. He spotted some bushes and as he thought the devil would see him running,  he hid behind them until the bells quit ringing. Soon he poked his head out and not seeing the devil about, he ran all the way home dancing happily and raising his little fist as he arrived safely. A happy moment in a kid’s life. A child like any other.

A dear friend’s childhood memories  shared in a letter and sewed in my own way.