A friend who lives about forty miles north of San Antonio, Texas sent me a fine email a few weeks back. Rum is one of those nice, older fellers, sorta retired like me, and we’re both kite fliers. We also share some service time with Uncle Sam, a love of country life, and a willingness to palaver a bit on the Internet. Yeah, we do that “email thing” fairly often…
Well, I was quite taken by the email Rum sent. Seems he’d written this one to some of his family, and happened to keep a copy just for his own pleasure. Since we’d been yakkin’ about kites again, he forwarded the email to me without any advance notice whatever.
Anyway, I liked it so much, I decided KiteLife need to share this tale around a bit. I talked KiteLife’s webmaster into considering it for the next issue, and then we got Rum to agree to let us publish the thing.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! And since some of you like to know these things – “Max” is a sky-blue Hata fighter-kite, with a twelve foot yellow streamer-tail.
Finally, if you like what you read here, would you please let me know? We can do some more of this… Maybe some different authors, too…
geezer geezer@kitelife.com
—–Original Message—–
From: Rum
To: <deleted>
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2003 7:15 PM
Subject: Max and I went flying again
Mariah is blowing, calling us both.
Max and I ignore her. It was 99.1 at 6:00 PM yesterday and we aren’t ready for the heat yet.
Mariah whistles at the window again, telling us she’s coming from the North and has brought cooler air with her, come out and play, please!
I took Max out to the flying field and he leaped into the air.
Max and Mariah played while Rum watched, stuck on the ground. ??? (What about that big foil he looked at? It would lift him for sure) ???
Poo Poo Noggin, the little gray cat, stayed under foot watching the sky, waiting for Max to bring that yellow tail down so she could try catching it again.
Max and Mariah played hard and rough with each other. They smiled often and were almost always laughing.
They had to part ways when both Max and Mariah were spent.
Rum again guided Max down, rolled the bright yellow tail up and placed a rubber band on it, safe and close the way Max liked it.
On the way back to the cabin, Max started out quiet but then blurted out, “Mariah told me I had an older sister.”
Rum listened for what was coming next. “Mariah told me that my sister was a fighter kite too, and that Mariah and she were also good friends.”
Mariah explained to Max that his sister, who was called Raz, also started flying here at the Hideout, but that last month Mariah had flown with her out in North Carolina.
Rum tells Max that, yes, he has a sister named Raz. She use to fly over and watch the Hideout with Rum, but she now takes care of the skies over New Bern, NC, where she lives with Annie.
Max says to Rum, “I want to go see my sister!”
Rum explains to Max that airline tickets are expensive and that he didn’t think he could afford it, but he has pictures of her and will show them to him.
Max tells Rum, “I want to go see my sister!!”
Rum tells Max that the pictures will have to do for now, and that he can always talk to her on the computer since Raz has one out there too.
Max tells Rum that he and Mariah have talked it over and she wants to go see Raz too.
Rum says, “Well what about the expense?”
Max says, “Mariah and I thought it out, and since Mariah knows the way, she wants to go with me so we both can play with Raz.”
” I want to go see my sister!!!
Max tells Rum, “Remember, summer is coming soon. It was 99 here already this week. If you don’t take me, Maria and I will go anyway. We will run away from home!”
” Who will cool you and your friends during the heat of the summer?”
” WE want to go see my SISTER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Rum thinks of the hot summer ahead and all the times Maria had pushed he and Ju JU Bird, the mighty Polynesian Boeing 727, home from Johnston Island to Honolulu so they could play again. He owed her, and he knew it…
Rum says, “I’ll start saving up for tickets.”
Max smiles, ready to roll up and slip into his case with his yellow tail by his side.
Maria rings the wind chimes.
Rum is mumbling under his breath, “Them dang cats must have been talking to the kites. I’m serving two masters now…”
“Blue Max”