Splishing and Splashing

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Granny laughed, not minding the incessant pulling on her hand.

"I wanna turn the water on," Maggie said, rushing to the faucet, tripping over the hose in the process. Picking herself up and brushing her knees off, she continued undeterred. A little fall wasn't about to keep Maggie out of the pool today. She had been waiting all week for the rain to stop so she could splash in the little pink pool Granny had bought.

"Are you okay?" Granny asked.

"I'm okay," Maggie assured her, turning toward the house to hide the trickle of blood seeping down her skinned knee.

Granny pretended not to have noticed the injury. She knew how excited Maggie was that the sun was shining and she was going to play in the pool. Ever since they picked it out at the store last weekend, she had been waiting impatiently for it to be dry and warm enough to splash around.

Granny laughed to herself, remembering how Maggie came into breakfast this morning with her new yellow swimsuit on backward. She knew Maggie had been begging her parents to go swimming in the lake all summer but they were too busy working to take her. Maggie wanted to learn to swim. She couldn't do that in the little plastic pool but she could still have some fun. Granny hoped her parents would teach Maggie to swim soon. She was only five, but even babies were learning and Granny knew from personal experience that it was better to learn early rather than later.

"Hold it over the pool," Granny said, watching the little girl struggle to hold the hose steady. "Do you need some help?"

"No, I've got it," Maggie replied, biting her lip in concentration and holding the hose just so to keep the water in the middle of the pool.

Maggie was getting antsy, wanting the filling of the pool done so she could get in. Bending over to see how far up the water was, she accidently pointed the hose too close to other side of the pool, splashing Granny's leg. She laughed when Granny lunged backward, falling on her bottom.

"Think that's funny do you?" Granny smiled. "Take this!" she added, reaching in and splashing Maggie with a handful of water.

"Hey! No fair!" Maggie squeaked, laughing so hard she and the hose both fell in the pool, sending a big wave of water over the edge right into Granny's shoes.

"Aaarrghhh!" Granny shouted, jumping from one soggy foot to the other.

Maggie kept laughing. She had never saw her Granny dance around so. Granny pulled her shoes off and tossed them aside. Maggie quieted at the look in the older woman's eyes. She scurried backward as fast as she could, but wasn't quite quick enough.

"Help!" she yelled when Granny stepped into the pool.

"There's no help for you, little one," Granny growled, grabbing the wiggling mass of laughter up in her arms and plopping down in the middle of the pool, covering them both with water.