Maisie: A Short Story

Maisie tells me a story about a little girl who’s got all of these very tiny people living in her house with her. “How tiny?” I ask. And she says, “Tiny enough to live in a model boat.” I ask her what kind of model boat, and she says, “A wooden model boat!” And when I say all model boats are wooden, she asks, “Do you want to hear the story, or not?” I nod and Maisie keeps telling me about these tiny people and how they are very happy for a long time, but then the owner of the model boat store– (I say, “I didn’t know they were in a model boat store!” Then Maisie says, “Well of course they are.” Maisie asks if she can go on with her story and I nod again.) “Anyway, all of these tiny people are happy for a long time until a monster starts living in the store with them.” I

“That hurt!” “Sorry,” I say, “I was only defending myself.”
I thank him for the practice, and Bane grumbles, “No problem.”

We find a tree a little bit downstream that looks good for climbing. Maisie says, “Look for dead branches,” so I go around smacking branches until Maisie gives me a thumbs up. Last year, Melanie Cho told me that a tree’s roots mirror the shape and pattern of its branches. When I told Mom what Melanie said about tree roots, she said that wasn’t true. As I climb up the tree, I tell Maisie and Bane about the roots and the branches being mirrors even though it is a lie. Because it’s such a beautiful idea, I think that maybe it counts as a white lie. White lies are ok to tell every once in a while. Especially if that white lie serves the purpose of creating beauty. Especially if that white lie is concerning the shape of a tree. Bane asks, “Aren’t you going any higher?” I tell him that I’m just getting comfortable. Maisie says, “Don’t peer pressure her.”
Bane says, “I’m not peer pressuring!” Then he says, “Don’t be a baby Azalea.” My arms get real stiff and shaky. I say, “I want to get down. I’m going to get down.” Then Bane says,