Pick

Twins Amy and Abi sat at the breakfast table eating a combo cereal bowl.

A mixture of Rice Krispies, Cheerios, and Fruit Loops added not just for the sweetness, more for the sake of the milk being other than white. They both liked the color pink better than white and didn't understand why cows could not produce milk in their color of choice.

The week before the twins had been to the park with their Gramps on a day that had wind gusts topping 30 mph. Positively giddy, they had run off ahead of Gramps to join the others on the whirly twirl. Old Gramps with his boney knees, degraded eyes, and ears that only worked when he remembered to put in his aids still sensed the danger ahead of them right away, but couldn't keep pace with his granddaughter's stride.

"No! No! No!" He said to them both, "Come back!" Too far away to be heard in the wind, too far away to protect them from impending doom as his old eyes were rendered horror-struck, certain the big kids would not mind their fragility.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The girls somehow got onto the whirly twirl, only to be thrown off like bologna skin falling into the trash five or more seconds later. Poor Gramps arrived too late; only a hot half minute too late to protect them.

"Oh my!"

What would his daughter think of him? Would she ever let him drive them to the park again?

The girl's wounds were now a week old. Crusty. And both girls almost forgot all about what happened that day last week while they were swirling and shoveling the slurry of pink slop into their mouths at the breakfast table.

"Don't pick!" Yelled Momma. As she observed her daughter Amy turning away from her bowl focusing only on her skin.

Pick.

Pick.

Pick.

Amy's ten tiny virginal compulsive fingernails began vigorously excavating her rugged crusty skin, leaving her pink bowled slurry go altogether unattended.

While Abi sat there consumed with eating, she momentarily paused looking up at her sister's exploits and then down again only briefly scanning her own rugged crusty skin, positively sure her own fingers had much better things to do.