Imagine

By Alli Walker

Rain battered the windows. Evie hummed to herself. Outside was a warm summer shower, the kind that rolled humidity through the whole house. Inside, the child couldn’t settle on anything. Evie wanted an adventure and nothing less.

I was, unfortunately, a babysitter by profession, not a magician. I had to admit to Evie that I could not produce even a mere elephant from my bag. Since I was failing so miserably at conjuring, she decided to become the creator of the adventure.

“This is our ship,” Evie stated, pointing at the canopy bed. I obligingly spread out a sheet for our sail and we were off on an ocean voyage. The humid air would do for salt spray, the lazy strum of tree branches on the walls of the house was the melody of waves, and the raindrops on the window became the taps of mermaids on the hull. Captain Evie began to order me about the ship, which grew larger with each passing moment. Soon I was swabbing the deck in the dining room and hauling in the jib sail in the linen closet. A dragon arrived for a brief visit and Evie got into a spirited argument with him over the toll on the waterfall bridge that had sprung up in the foyer. The dragon, who was introduced to me as Dean, soon settled on a cookie as payment. Evie thought it a grand idea if we all had a cookie together. The captain, dragon, and I had our feast on the upper deck that sat on the top of the stairs.

After Dean left, we had the pleasure of meeting one of the tapping mermaids. Evie learned that her name was Ardita and that she was princess of the mermaids. She chattered with Evie about seaweed and stingrays until a cloud swept across the horizon. Fearing a storm, the captain sent me scurrying to batten down the hatches and prepare for the worst. At the last moment, Evie ordered the storm into time out, where it spent its fury on the punching pillow before going about its way glumly. After the storm was gone, a celebratory juice box was in order. The juice boxes made the captain a bit sleepy, so we settled down for a nap and left the ship at the dock, ready for another day.

As she dozed off, Evie hummed to herself. Rain battered the windows. And the day sank slowly into night as the captain slumbered.

Alli Walker is a freshman this year. She is an MCA major and hopes one day to be an author. She has lived in six different states and loves to travel. She enjoys summer. Alli was once the conductor of a well-reviewed kazoo orchestra and had a pet lion. The beach would be her ideal place to live. She plans to spend her time at King’s learning how to be a better writer and influencer. Yellow is her favorite color.