Flirting With the Wind

“Poppa,” I say tears welling up in my eyes as I rushed over to my father that looked very unwell. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead and he had a dangerously high fever. I blinked back the tears and took a deep breath to compose myself; I had to be strong for my poppa.

“I don’t think this will go on much longer Mira,” he replies dabbing the sweat with a handkerchief as he sat down on the bed.
“Just lie down I‘ll get you some cold water,” I say as I got up to grab some water from the kitchen.

I rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard then filled it with cold water. Also I grabbed a fresh towel soaking it in cold water then headed back to my father’s room. My father was still sitting on the bed and I set the glass as well as towel down to open his bottle of pills. Getting two pills in my hand I gave them to my father then handed him the glass of water to wash them down.

“Thank you Mira,” my father says weakly.
“Just lie down and rest,” I reply gently. My father didn’t say anything just lied down on the bed and I placed the cold towel on his forehead. I headed over to the window and opened it letting the cool German air into the room. Once my father fell asleep I got up and exited the room only to run into a confused looking Uncle Frederick.
“Mira what is going on?” he questions.
“I-I couldn‘t sleep and was just checking on my poppa,” I stutter out. My Uncle Frederick wasn’t allowed to know about my father being sick because my father didn’t want any special treatment.
“Come with me,” Uncle Frederick responds. I nodded slightly and followed him to his study where Sergeant Stiglitz was sitting but he stood up saluting my uncle as soon as we entered. My uncle gestured for me to take a seat and I listened by quietly sitting down in the leather chair. Sergeant Stiglitz was trying to focus his attention elsewhere seeing he was fixating his stare on the nearby wall as to say he wasn’t paying attention.

“Is there any reason you should need to go check on your father at this time of night?” Uncle Frederick inquires looking at me intently with his electric blue eyes.
“I just had a bad dream okay?” I respond feeling unsettled from the intensely intimidating stare I was receiving from my uncle. I almost felt like a criminal being questioned by a police officer.

“Mirabel why did you bring your father back to Germany,” he presses as his voice grew more serious and demanding signaling his was close to losing his temper.
“He misses it,” I say forcing myself to stay strong and keep the secret in the dark.
“Don‘t lie to me Mirabel!” my uncle growls hitting his desk in anger, I responded with a flinch at his harsh tone and sudden outburst.
“I‘m not lying, he does miss Germany,” I reply meekly. For my father’s requests I had to oblige but I wasn’t lying completely, I knew my father missed his country very much.
“It’s been over twenty years,” he states shaking his head at me.
“I know, just please drop it I don‘t want you two fighting anymore,” I say looking up at him.
“It’s always been like this Mirabel I don‘t know why you choose to try to bring this up now,” my uncle counters.
“One of my many faults, I expect too much of others,” I state getting from my seat, “Goodnight.”

Before my uncle could say anything else I left the room and headed back to bed my body shaking from the nerves and stress. It took quite a while to get back to sleep but eventually I achieved my goal and fell into a dreamless sleep. The next morning I woke to Will’s voice telling me to get up. Too tired and lazy I buried my head into the warm covers refusing to get up.

“Mira its eleven o‘clock get up,” Will says annoyed.
“Ugh not in America leave me alone, its sleep time Will,” I mutter with my eyes shut tightly.
“I‘m going to get the bucket of water if you don‘t get up,” he warns.
“Get the bucket and I‘ll beat you over the head with it,” I say darkly.
“Mira come on I want you to meet my friends,” Will whines.
“You don‘t have friends now leave me sleep,” I retort.
“I‘ll tell the twins to set you up with some strange man if you don‘t,” he counters.
“I like strange, but I see how that could end terribly, not like I can go back to sleep anyways,” I respond pulling the covers off of my body and stretched my arms out in bed.
“We‘re gonna play baseball so you best wear something you can play in,” Will states leaving the room.
“Yes sir,” I answer mockingly as I saluted him.

I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom where I washed my face to get the sleep out of my eyes and brushed my teeth. Afterwards I went back to the room and picked out an outfit to wear. Pulling on a three quarter sleeve shirt with white and black horizontal stripes then a simple flowing yellow a-line skirt that went a little past the knees and white sneakers to complete the outfit I was dressed for the day.

I put on a little rouge and light lipstick to look a little more put together then sprayed some light tropical smelling fragrance onto my body. Once I brushed out my hair and smoothed it out I headed downstairs feeling a little hungry. My father was in the kitchen reading the German newspaper looking a bit troubled but when he looked over the edge of the paper at me he put the paper down smiling at me.

“Come to grace us with your presence Princess,” my father jokes. I then noticed the others in the kitchen area, one of which being Sergeant Stiglitz and my Aunt Catherine. This was an ongoing joke because my father knew I was not much of a morning person and often slept in whenever I got the chance to.

“Yes, you should feel so honored,” I mutter sarcastically not missing a beat.
“You are so charming when you just wake up Mira,” my father says with a chuckle.
“Mhmm,” I mumble.
“Honestly Mira your internal clock is off,” Aunt Catherine states.
“If I lived in Australia my internal clock would be right on time,” I respond getting myself a glass of orange juice and a butter croissant from the counter.
“What in the world is there to do in Australia?” she replies as I sat at the table next to my father.
“Not much, but they do have a unique variety of organisms according to some explorers,” I answer taking a drink of the juice but it tasted funny having just brushed my teeth and I made a brief face of displeasure.
“Just brushed your teeth?” my father chuckles knowingly. I nodded pulling apart the croissant and put a piece in my mouth hoping to get the mint taste out of my mouth.
“So Mira have you got yourself any suitors back in America?” Aunt Catherine inquires.
“No,” I answer curtly already not liking the subject matter.
“You aren‘t scaring all the boys off are you Gerard?” she says turning to my father with a scolding look. I took another drink of the juice now that it tasted better after cleansing my palate with the bread.
“Mira generally does not acknowledge the advances of them, and those persistent enough she gives a chance, but usually they never last more than month and Mira brings them home so I can scare them off for her if she isn‘t able to make them cry first,” my father replies offhandedly as his eyes sparkled with pride.
“Mirabel Shepherd please do not tell me you have been making men cry,” Aunt Catherine demands turning her attention to me an incredulous look on her face.
“Is that a rhetorical question?” I counter as my father chuckled.
“Gerard you making her worse than you and Frederick put together,” she states.
“Aunt Catherine if you had encountered the ones I had declined you‘d understand why,” I reassure.
“What was wrong with them?” Aunt Catherine questions.
“To be honest the ones that weren‘t scared to try were ones up to no good, lacked manners and most often lacked wit,” I say.
“I didn‘t teach my girl to settle for just any scoundrel,” my father states proudly.
“I know quite a few gentlemen who‘d suit you well Mira, no dim witted scoundrels,” she says with a smile her blue eyes showing a mischievous glint. I nearly choked on my food.
“No that‘s okay Aunt Catherine,” I reply politely.
“Oh why not Mira?” my aunt argues.
“Because I have a feeling most of these gentlemen you speak of are servicemen and I hate to break it to you but sarcasm and guns don’t exactly mix well together,” I respond pointedly.
“What sort of gentlemen do you think I am talking about Mira? Most certainly none of them would dare shoot you,” she says as if my accusations were preposterous.
“Every gentleman has their limits,” I remind with a smile.
“You aren’t supposed to test their limits Mirabel,” Aunt Catherine reprehends.
“I’d like to know the worst of them before hand see what they are capable of so it’s not a big surprise later down the line, it’s very logical really,” I add. Aunt Catherine stared at me in disbelief and completely perplexed with my words.

“Mira are you ready?” Will questions coming into the kitchen before I could get an earful from my aunt.
“Where are you going?” Aunt Catherine inquires looking at Wilhelm. I gave him a look as to tell him not to mention playing baseball but I didn’t get his attention in time.
“We‘re going to go play baseball with my friends,” Will answers honestly.
“You aren‘t going to play are you Mira?” she asks turning to me.
“No just going to watch and possibly heckle the players if I‘m feeling up to it,” I reply innocently. My father smirked knowing I was going to be playing but was just humoring my aunt.
“Oh well, take Sergeant Stiglitz with you, Wilhelm‘s friends can be a bit rowdy,” Aunt Catherine replies. I cursed inwardly but smiled anyways.
“Alright,” I say.

Pretty soon Wilhelm and I walking side by side towards the open fields where a group of boys waited with Sergeant Stiglitz following behind us. Wilhelm was a few years younger than me, five to be exact which set him at about 16 years old. I was the one that helped teach him play baseball whenever I’d visit in the summers. It was funny to see him now that he was growing up. His friends were the typical group of teenage boys and after greeting them I went to the side then sat on the small wooden bleachers to watch them play. Sergeant Stiglitz was already sitting on the other side of the bleachers smoking a cigarette quietly and I tried to keep my attention on the game; my fingers tapping on my knee wanting to show the boys how to really play. I was anxious and irritated by the way the game was going. In between a break where the boys tried to flex their muscles to impress me Will came over to me.

“What do you think?” he asks.
“You guys need some serious work,” I state.
“Like you can do better, you‘re a girl,” one of Will’s friends rebuttals in broken English. I smiled and got up from my seat grabbing the bat from the kid’s hands then gestured for them to follow and take their places on the field. Will chuckled and took his place as the catcher whilst I positioned myself as a left handed batter would. My small hands clamped the bat each knuckle lined up with the other. The kid that called me out ended up being the pitcher and I could tell he wasn’t going to go easy on me to prove a point; I was happy for the challenge and merely plants my feet shoulder width apart smiling condescendingly at him. First pitch was too high and I let it on by. They had to get my height right and throw properly. Second pitch was in the dirt and I cocked an eyebrow at the kid who seemed to be muttering to himself.

Third time was a charm; I swung with full force hitting the ball a few feet over their heads into the heavy woods that were behind them. It was what was considered a homerun on that field and I got out of my stance to hand Will the baseball bat then went back to sit down casually as if nothing happened. All eyes were on me including Sergeant Stiglitz who seemed just as shocked as the boys were everyone but Will who chuckled lightly. Apparently they never seen a girl play decent baseball.