Addison Addley and the Trick of the Eye

by Melody McMillian

  I grabbed my hole digger from where I’d been storing it under the kitchen table and headed outside.

  “Watch out for that gate,” Mom called after me. “It doesn’t seem to close too well.”

  I couldn’t wait to plant those seeds. If Mom wanted a flower garden and a rock garden to make the place look better, I could do it easily. I was handy at stuff like that.

  I looked up at the trees and ran through the yard. It’s strange how sometimes you just feel like flying.

  Yep, this place had potential. I would keep a corner of the yard for my worm business. Maybe I could try an ant farm under the pine tree. Plus there were lots more treasures that I needed to bury, like the old brass button that had fallen off the dummy’s shirt when Trent fell into the hole in my yard.

  I started digging. I would make our place look like a mansion, heck, a castle. A big one. As big as I wanted. I’d get Sam to help me. I’d already proven that two sets of eyes are better than one.

  Ideas started dancing in front of me like a shimmering mirage. I could just see it now. Some people would soon call our house a mansion. Some people, like Tiffany, would call it a dump. Like I said before, it all depends on how you look at it. I didn’t really care what it was called. As long as it was still called home.

  Melody DeFields McMillan is a teacher who lives in Simcoe, Ontario, not far from where she grew up. She is the mother of two adult children. When she’s not writing, she’s enjoying all that nature has to offer. Her first book about the irrepressible Addison, Addison Addley and the Things That Aren’t There, was nominated for a Silver Birch Award.