Little Mae Sue loves the sunshine. She’s only four and tells me, her mommy, that sunshine makes her happy. I think that is adorable. When it’s raining and dark clouds have hidden the sun, Mae Sue sometimes hides in the cellar and sucks her thumb. When the rain stops, I carry her upstairs, let her look out the window and powee! There is a rainbow. How she loves the colors, shows me the pink, yellow, blue. She gets fresh typing paper from my printer, her wood and her wax crayons . Making sloppy circles, lines that have a resemblance to a sliding board she is totally absorbed.
She scribbles, mixes, meshes all the crayon colors, less the black, brown and gray. When she gets new colors, the first thing she does is throw the dark ones in the trash. I’ve tried to show her several times that black is good for curly hair, brown is nice to color a little dogie and gray can be for an old ladies like her grandma. I might as well talk to the wall. Mae Sue does what she wants, loves what she loves.
Need I tell you what a slave I am to my angel? No, you will see for yourself. A few days ago I surprised her with the disc of Judy Garland singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. She was ecstatic and has been playing it non-stop for days. It’s her lullaby, her reveille, and it’s driving me bananas. After a week of listening to Judy sing and Mae Sue learning the words, I have had enough. While she is napping, I remove the disc and scratch it badly with a fork and put it back on the player. My guilt is heavy but enough is enough and I am the mother and must take control. ‘Broke, broke,’ I tell my little girl. Her crying is unbearable so I put a new disc on for her, ‘Mareseat Oats’ and sing it to her over and over. “Sing with me, Mae Sue.’ She will not. I dance in circles, hold her hands and laugh half heartedly. For a few minutes she joins me and I think I am making progress but am wrong. ‘Mommy, look it’s raining. A rainbow will come soon.’ I know it is supposed to rain all day and thru the night. Fall is coming. Rainbows will be rare but I don’t mention it.
Mae Sue sits near the window, doesn’t want lunch, doesn’t want to sing ‘Mareseat Oats.’ ‘Go away, Mommy,’ she tells me, ‘a rainbow is coming soon.’ I leave her staring, watching the rain drops. She calls me. ‘Mommy, see, I told you.’ I look and sure enough the sun is shining thru the rain. A strange half of a rainbow covers half of the sky.
‘Mae Sue, where are you?’ There is no answer. She is not where she was. I check the cellar, no Mae Sue. Frantically, I rush outside, slosh thru the wet grass, call her and call her. There is no answer. Seemingly rom nowhere, the sky lightens, turns bright blue again and Mae Sue appears. Holding her hand is a midget. In his other hand is a small brown dog. ‘Mommy, this is Toto and the little man is my new friend. He showed me how to slide down the rainbow. I did it and didn’t fall off.’
I take her away from the strange creepy looking man. Toto runs loose and follows me into the house. ‘Get that dog out of this house now, Child. Now!’ ‘You get him, Mommy, he’s under the kitchen table.’
I’m boiling mad, pick up my daughter, put her over my lap, pull down her white panties and start to give her a mild spanking just to let her know I am her mother. ‘What have you done to yourself, Child? What are all of these colored lines on your tush? They look like a rainbow lit up like stars in the sky.’ I spit on my handkerchief and try to rub them off. I can’t. The dog gets lose and runs out of the house. The midget has disappeared. Mae Sue doesn’t cry at her spanking. She looks at me, smiles and gives me a big hug. ‘Mommy,’ she sobs. ‘I did slide down the rainbow, honest I did.’ Spoil her imagination? No! My mouth and eyes smile back to her as I tell her, ‘That must have been fun. I’m glad you had such a good time.’
The sky again turns dark and rain pours down.
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