Mary and Uppity

It was on a Friday night, and my entire family went out for dinner at an ‘all you can eat buffet’. My brother is 9 and loves baseball, but hates math; I’m 11 years old and love reading, science, and soccer; So there was me, Mary, Mom, dad, and my brother Timmy. Stomachs fat and full, we then rushed off to a kid’s movie. The movie was a blast, entitled, “Upy, Upper, and Uppity”. It was really funny and exciting to the whole bunch of us. Upy and Upper were a lot like my parents who teach us to be kind to others. Uppity was unlike anyone I had ever seen. The movie made me think about being thankful and respectful toward others. Anyway, bone tired after the movie, we went straight home. Timmy and I had milk and cookies; then off to bed we went. During the night I had a dream; or was it a nightmare? In the nightmare, which of course frighten me, Upy was a nice little cat; and Upper was a well trained and behaved dog. Both of them were pets owned by the same family. But then there was Uppity, a large dog who lived several blocks away in a much classier community. One quiet day, I and Timmy were walking Upy and Upper and happened to pass Uppity’s house. That’s when all quiet disappeared, and Uppity started barking like a wild dog. His barking words were clear as day as he broke through his half opened gate: “This is my high class and wealthy neighborhood where the likes of you do not belong!!!!” By the time he said ‘the likes of you’, he was out the gate; and we were running for our lives!! That’s when I, full of sweat and tears, woke from my nightmare. I was so relieved when I realized it was a dream. When I shared the dream with mom and dad, I was reassured that I had nothing to fear. They then said to me, “Mary, for sure, there are ‘uppity people’ in our world, but we will never be like them”. 05022016 PS Contest, Children’s Short Story, sponsored by The Seeker