A Little Birthday Fun

Here's a request from my daughter, for her birthday. This is a silly little thing I wrote a long time ago. "Cherrie and Kerrie" Cherrie and Kerrie were sisters of course. Cherrie, as smart as a whip, and Kerrie, as wild as a horse. And although these two were as different as sisters could be; They had one thing in common, and that you’ll soon see. It’s true they were ‘smart, wild and fun; Something they were not Was crazy about house-work to be done. Their mother would shout, “Girls, clean up your room!” But the sisters wouldn’t lift a finger, much less a broom. Strangely enough things were quite different, when they were at their favorite place, the beach, for a picnic. For Cherrie and Kerrie, this clean up was a breeze, as they left ner’ a trace after lunching on fruits and sandwiches of cheese. For hanging out by the ocean was fun and as peaceful as can be; they knew in their hearts, nothing should clutter up the green-blue sea. Back at their house it just wasn’t the same, ‘Cherrie and Kerrie Clean-up’ was definitely not their name. So here is the story of that fateful mess. It’s hard to believe it started by someone not picking up a dress Oh yes, Oh yes, it was just a tiny dress, but then appeared a kite, that made a crash-landing on the night light. A ball, a bat an old kazoo, in the middle of the floor, all of this flew. Skate, comic books, assorted old school-work mingled about, the beds were never made… were you ever in doubt? Odd socks and building blocks, bicycles that were turned upside-down. Puzzles, records, paper dolls and a sad-looking clown. All of these things were getting piled quite high, but the girls simply ignored the stuff, Clean? Why they didn’t even try! Storybooks and modeling clay were strewn about the floor, the mess was getting heavy – The sisters couldn’t close the door! Spinning-tops, stuffed animals, and a holey tennis shoe, trucks, doctor kits, dress-up clothes, and crayons of every hue. Friends refused to play there, afraid they would in the mess, get lost. But that didn’t bother the sisters, more junk in their room would they toss. So the giant menagerie mound did grow, it grew right out into the hall, wouldn’t you know? Their mother, you may imagine, was quite upset. She knew something was happening, her daughters would regret. She tried to help them organize, but the girls would have no part, she even went as far as to buy them a two-wheeled cart. But instead of using it for clean up; they simply tossed it into the mess, along with squirt-guns that had lost their squirts, as if you couldn’t guess. The terrible mountain of toys tumbled down the hallway, crashed through the front door – you wouldn’t believe the noise! They rolled down the steps and out into the street. What as awful, messy sight for passers-by to greet! But the girls still ignored the jungle that had grown right out the door, and though it may seem impossible – they added more to the floor… Play cups and saucers, forks and spoons, last year’s Easter baskets, paints and old balloons. A football, basketball, tennis ball too and don’t let me forget the other holey tennis-shoe! The huge mess had really gotten out of hand. As it made it’s way down the block, their mother cried, “I never read this in *Dr. Spock!” Art supplies of every kind, sticky-stucky white glue. a puppet, dictionary, a learning clock, and a baseball pennant too! *Dr. Spock wrote a very big book on baby and child care. So the monstrous mess grew and grew, till finally it reached 48th Avenue. Now in their town that was as far as it could reach, for one step beyond, was their favorite place: THE BEACH! When the tumbling mass of messiness touched the first wave, this was the warning the strong blue ocean gave, “Stop this madness, go no further, for if you do, you’ll be committing – BEACH MURDER!” The girls stopped and looked at each other, “Beach Murder!” together they cried. And looking around at the abominable mess, they could see their friend hadn’t lied. For strewn around all over the beach, were all of their own things, And sitting right on top of that were sad seagulls flapping their wings. For now the beach wasn’t such a beautiful place, definitely not the kind to get away from the rat-race. It was hard to believe this all started with a dress. Was the beach a lost cause, or could they clean up that mess? Amazingly enough, the water’s message got through, but things had gotten so bad the sisters weren’t sure what to do. But remember Cherrie was as smart as a whip and Kerrie as wild as a horse? So they decided right then to band together, and use their sisterly force. “The McAllister Street Clean-up Crew” was the name that they would use. They started by thinking and planning it out, with the two of them together, they had a lot of clout. Cherrie would do the organizing, deciding which things would stay. Kerrie, the creative one, made many shelves, so their toys wouldn’t stray. They cleaned right through the avenues, up the steps and through the door – They made that hallway sparkle, and then they cleaned some more. That day their room became a different place, the kind of room you can wake up to and face. For their books were stacked neat on the brand new shelves. paints, puzzles and trucks were put away, Was this the work of elves? Their mother was real happy, though she couldn’t figure out, how the girls had changed their ways – “Just what was this cleaning about?” But the sisters kept their secret of what the ocean had said, and often repeated its words as each made her own bunk bed – The girls were real pleased, with their room cleaned up that way. All their old friends came back around and even wanted to play. So the two smart, wild and fun sisters learned a long and crazy lesson. Though the moral of this story shouldn’t keep you guessin’. Keep your environment clean, pick up after yourself, if you know what I mean. Then you and your friends will have a space to play, and you’ll never have a mess like the one the sisters cleaned that day. The End 4/14/1982