The glaring sun shimmers
from the bald-head sitting in the front row as nine uniformly dressed munchkins, little more than
three foot tall,
skip, run, waddle, or walk out on to the playing field to designated positions selected
by someone else.
"Play-ball"
growls from the
strange man with the cage over his face, wearing a dark coat and hat
in the middle of the sum- mer,
"Play-ball".
"C'mon Johnnie, Tommie,
Billie"
shrills from
the wooden bleachers filled with anxiety-ridden big-people squirming
and yelling
like they should have gone to the bathroom ten min- utes ago,
"C'mon! Let's go!"
"Joey! Joey!"
bellows one of the
two big-people
on the playing-field
as he convulsively waves his left arm to the right, over and over, then shrugs his shoulders and walks over to a wooden bench behind an
oversized chicken-wire fence
and flops down.
"Oh didn't you
know she's getting a divorce"
murmurs from
within the crowd
as one munchkin
twirls his arm
like a twisted rubberband, then throws a small ball
at another munchkin squatting
in front of
the strange man wearing the dark coat, while
a third munchkin
with a different uniform and
a large
wooden club resting
on his shoulder
stands beside them watching.
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"She's getting a divorce" explodes into the air causing a chain reaction
with the strange man screeching "streeike!" and the other big-person
on the field jumping and squealing
like a monkey in a zoo then throwing his hat on the ground,
while screaming something about someone's poor eyesight.
"C'mon ump,
give me a break" echoes from the bleachers as the squatting munchkin throws a perfect three bouncer
back to
his team-mate.
"Pst, pst"
spits
from someone's mouth and giggles
point
to the distant grassy area where one bored player seems inspired
by nature's music
while he dances to a song only he hears.
"Crack", the small
ball flies into the air, as it is smacked
with the club
no longer
resting
on the shoulder, causing nine uniformly dressed munchkins to begin running like ants in nine different directions,
while the munchkin with the club
throws it to the ground and
frantically runs
down a white powdery line
towards a large cream colored
pillow
lying in the dirt. |
"Run,
Run,
Run"
roars
from the bleachers as one of the munchkins catches the ball
and begins racing across the field
as if to apprehend the munchkin who hit it
by cutting-him-off at the pillow.
"Safe!"
"Out!"
"Oh god,
I know he's hurt!" crowds the air
as the two collide
on top of
the cream colored pillow, toppling
and rolling
into
a dervish
cloud of dust.
"YOUR OUT"
thunders
from the strange man in the dark coat inciting the bleachers who begin
to blare
a variety of descriptive phrases pertaining to
sexual preferences, race,
color, and
creed.
"Great game, baseball",
a big-person
in the bleachers forthrightly states, "it teaches
kids the important lessons in life."
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