Take Cover!

Down the hall, from my bedroom filled with Barbie’s and baby dolls, was my brother’s room. He was 3 years younger than me and his room, like mine, had white walls with a line of wallpaper in the middle. Mine had hearts, but his had dump trucks. Some of the trucks were big and some were more like tractors. If the trucks magically came to life, they would run over each other. He had a bunk bed in the corner that was used for many things like space ships, or pirate ships. Since he was only 6, he wasn’t allowed to sleep on the top bunk, so that’s where the stuffed animals rested. The bottom bunk, came vertically from the top. When I got on the top bunk, I could reach the ceiling fan and I would layer as many stuffed animals as I could on one blade, and then rotate the blades and layer the next. Then, I would tuck a sheet into the top bunk. The bottom of the sheet was held down at an angle by dump trucks.

 “TAKE COVER!!” Mitchell would yell as he turned off the lights and turned fan on.


 We would dive into our shelter to stay away from flying animals. Occasionally, we would bonk heads or get hit with an animals, but after we would laugh and do it again. The best part was dodging the random transformers or trucks and Legos that littered his room. Sometimes, I liked to just lay on the floor after the fan was on and watch the animals rain down on me. I liked to guess which animal would stay on longest and which would tumble down faster. It was all fun and games until mom found out, because when she did, we were headed straight for an early nap.