there’s this memory that keeps popping in to my head

…

i’m five or six. possibly seven. in class, i receive a paper cutout of a medium size spider. on the spider is the nursery rhyme:
“little miss muffet
sat on a tuffet
eating her curds and whey
along came a spider
and sat down beside her.
and frightened Miss Muffet away.”

my sister used to study on a good size brown 3 foot square table in the middle of her 7′ by 7′ room. on the table was an american flag colored with some sort of marker, possibly white-out.

the night i get the cut out paper spider, i crawl into my sister’s room under this brown table. 4 skinny metal legs support it’s weight. then i proceed to say… “little miss muffet sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. along came a spider…” then i throw the paper spider on top of my sister’s table.

she lets out a ear-piercing scream.

i laugh my head off.

i retrieve my spider.

then.. i start once again.. “little miss muffet, sat on a tuffet, eating her curds and whey. along came a spider….” again i throw the cut out of a spider onto my sister’s table.

again.. she screams

again i laugh my head off.

i retrieve the spider.

i don’t recall how many times i do this, but every time i do, my sister, on queue, let’s out a scream.

…

thank you.