This is a story about a brother and sister, loving and annoying each other while growing up during the World War Two years.

Boo! Who?

There’s a dinosaur in the closet.

A monster lives under the bed.

There are lions and bears

Hiding under the stairs

And hornets may land on your head.

I was trying to frighten my brother

But if the whole truth should be shared,

I’m going to be glad

When he calls for my dad

Because, now, I’m the one who is scared.

LEAPING LIZARDS

“I’m telling! I’m telling!”

My sister is yelling—

Can’t see why she’s in such a rage.

I just used her closet

For a lizard deposit

While I was cleaning their cage.

THE INADIQUATE PROTECTOR

Our dad was a volunteer air raid warden. There was a pile of sand at the end of the street to put out fires in case the Japanese bombed. We gathered tinfoil from discarded Lucky Strike cigarette packages and molded it into fist sized balls for the war effort. We weeded our victory garden and listened to Kate Smith sing “The White Cliffs of Dover.”

You were a four-year-old boy, and I, an older sister of eight. My nightmare was that we’d be left alone and I would need to protect you. My plan was to grab your hand and run. These thoughts consumed my mind fifty years later as I bent down to take your hand when Cancer was claiming your last breaths.

Pat D’Amico of Kirkland is a frequent contributor to Northwest Prime Time