Hey, y’all! Welcome to part fourteen of my weekly segment of my fictional story, When Life Hands You Lymes…
The buzzing of my iPhone woke me up who knows how much later. “Hello?” One thing that never fails to amaze Katie and Mom is that no matter how tired and groggy I am, I can say hello sounding as chipper as anything.
“Hey Maddie!” Julia’s excited voice greeted me at the same time my brain perked up enough to notice it was still bright daylight outside. “Abbie and I are going to go to the mall and hang out. We were wondering if you wanted to come with us?”
“Fun.” I leaned back with my eyes closed for a second, trying to gauge if I was dying, cause that’s pretty much the only thing that would keep me from going with them. After realizing my pulse was still good and strong, despite my banging headache and achy-ness, I agreed, “Sure, when will you be there?”
“Forty-five minutes work for you?” Julia’s voice was muffled and I figured she was distracted, so after a quick yes, I hung up.
It would only take me ten minutes to get to the mall, so I allowed myself the pleasure of laying there, waking up slowly, for the next fifteen minutes. Then I hurried to get ready. You know when people say they felt like ‘death-warmed-over’? Yeah, that’s kinda how I felt, or at least how I supposed I felt. I even went and took my temperature, but it was normal. I texted Mom to ask her if it was ok if I went with Julia, and of course she said yes.
For some reason, people seem to think of a Jeep as a guy’s choice of vehicle. Sorry folks, but that’s just not the case. My Jeep Wrangler is custom designed, bright red and fits my personality to a T. No, really, it’s screams Madalyn Emerson from it’s every pore. Or wait, Jeep’s don’t have pores, do they? Which is a good thing because they would be rather gross if they did.
Hoping into my Jeep, I backed out of my garage and then turned the music up. Listening to Casting Crowns with the top off my Jeep and the summer wind blowing over me would make me feel better in no time at all.
It’s only about a ten minute drive to the mall, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Our town is unique as in there’s open fields, woods, farm country, estates, and then boom, you’re right in the middle of a thriving town with restaurants, stores, and people all over the place. I love it. People make me happy, even when I’m just driving on the same road as them. Yeah, I’m the kind of girl who waves at strangers and makes silly faces at kids when we’re stopped at a traffic light. I’d carry candy around to throw out my window, too, but that might teach kids bad habits about accepting food from strangers.
“How did the audition go?” Were the first words out of Julia’s mouth when we met up outside of the mall entrance. Now how’s that for an amazing friend? I feel so utterly blessed to have people around me who actually care about the things I do and want to be.
I gave Julia and Abbie a brief overview of the day, what I could remember of it anyway, and then motioned toward the mall, “Come on, let’s get some ice cream or soft pretzels or something. This day calls for a celebration of some kind.”
They agreed, because who in their right mind would turn down a treat like that? So ten minutes later found us sitting in the cafeteria, savoring some Moose tracks and peanut butter ice cream. It wasn’t until I was half way done with my double scoop that I remembered Mom had offered to take me out for ice cream. Ooops, I hoped she wouldn’t feel bad.
Noveltea 
She can always go get ice cream with mom later. One can never have too much. 🙂 Are the periods of exhaustion fleeting when you have lymes or is Maddie still just early enough in it that adrenaline produced by the prospect of getting together with friends can override the exhaustion? Great chapter, and I like Maddie's car of choice. Gotta love a woman who drives a jeep. 🙂 Hope you're having a great weekend. Looking forward to 15.
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I LOVE Moose Tracks. It's definitely my favorite kind of ice cream.
I'm enjoying this story!
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I agree with David. I would have had ice cream both times!
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Hey David, good question! And actually the answer is both (at least that's how it was for me). You can be really tired and then feel better, then get tired again, etc… And also, when you're a people person, it's possible, even when not easy, to push through and make time for friends. 🙂
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I figured Moose Tracks was kinda a well-know, well-liked flavor. 🙂
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Well… In reality, I probably would, too. 🙂
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