My name is Allison. But I'm called Allie. I cut grass. My father taught me how to cut grass. He said you have to cut grass in straight lines. He said if the lines aren't straight it won't look nice. He said I love you Allie. He said I love you Allie from a white bed in a purple room. He said I love you Allie where he got a shot with a silver needle that made him not hurt so much. He said do you understand that I love you Allie? And I said yeah. He said after I'm gone you'll live at Grammy with the red car's house. He said Allie do you understand that I won't be here anymore? And I said yeah.
Today I'm cutting grass at the brown house across the street and the house next to the brown house where the tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses lives. I get five dollars to cut grass. Today I get five dollars from the lady in the brown house and five dollars from the tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses. Grammy with the red car keeps my money for me. She buys me my black cookies with white stuff in the middle. She buys me my milk. I drink my milk from my yellow cup with the tiger on. The tiger lives at the zoo. The zoo sells yellow cups with his picture on. When Grammy with the red car takes me to the zoo I visit the tiger. He knows me. I stand on the red rock by the tree and wait for him to see me. My hair is brown and long and straight. I comb my hair in straight lines so it looks nice for the tiger. When he sees me he comes over by me to talk. He says it's hot. He says having yellow fur with black stripes is hot when it's hot. He says do you think it's hot Allie? And I say yeah. He says I love you Allie. He says do you understand that I love you Allie? And I say yeah.
My lawnmower is green. The same color as grass. The special water that makes the lawnmower go smells funny. The can that holds the special water is the same color as Grammy with the red car's car. When I cut grass I can see the lines inside my head. The lines are straight. If they're not straight it won't look nice. I don't cut grass at houses that have trees. If there are trees I can't make the lines go straight and it won't look nice. Because of trees I had to stop cutting grass at the gray house by Grammy with the red car's house. The lady in the gray house was mad at me. She was mad because I couldn't stop screaming. The lady in the gray house can't see the lines the way I do. Her trees made the lines go wrong and I screamed. Grammy with the red car told the lady in the gray house that I couldn't cut her grass anymore and the lady in the gray house was mad at me again. She said in a mean voice why don't you go around the trees? She said do you understand that you can go around the trees? And I said yeah. Then Grammy with the red car talked in a mean voice to the lady in the gray house and I don't cut grass there anymore.
When me and Grammy with the red car cross the street to cut grass I push the lawnmower. Grammy with the red car carries my yellow cup with the tiger on and the can of special water that makes the lawnmower go. The lady in the brown house is nice. When I cut her grass her and Grammy with the red car sit outside. They watch me cut grass and they talk and laugh. The lady in the brown house makes pink lemonade. I drink my pink lemonade out of my yellow cup with the tiger on. When I drink my pink lemonade the lady in the brown house goes to get the tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses. He comes outside with his big dog. His big dog has big teeth and pointy ears. His big dog is black on his back and brown on the rest of him. He looks like dogs that policemen have. The tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses comes over to the brown house and gives Grammy with the red car five dollars. He says you do such a nice job cutting the grass Allie. He says do you understand that you do such a nice job cutting the grass Allie? And I say yeah. Then the tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses goes back to his house. He gets a shovel with a wooden handle to pick up the dog poop that his big black and brown dog makes. He picks up the dog poop so I won't step in it. If I step in it I get dog poop on my shoes. When he picks up the dog poop his big black and brown dog looks at me. He knows me. He's on a chain so he can't come over by me and talk. But I can hear him. He says it's hot. He says having black and brown fur is hot when it's hot. He says do you think it's hot Allie? And I say yeah. He says I love you Allie. He says do you understand that I love you Allie? And I say yeah.
I like to stay upstairs in my bedroom. The walls upstairs in my bedroom are pink with white stripes. My father made the white stripes using blue tape. I like to look out my bedroom window. When I look out my bedroom window I see everything from high up. It's a long time after the man who tells Grammy with the red car the news on TV. It's a long time after the TV man but it's still light outside. When I look out my bedroom window I see the lines in the grass across the street at the brown house and the lines in the grass at the house where the tall man who wears the white hat and black glasses lives. The lines are straight. I see the two houses but the lines on all the grass is straight. I make the lines straight to make it all one grass. I look out my window at the lines in the grass until it gets too dark to see them. Grammy with the red car says Allie? And I say yeah. Grammy with the red car says it's time to go to bed. I get under my covers. My covers and my pillow are pink with white stripes just like my bedroom walls. Grammy with the red car brings me my drink of water and my pills. The water is in my yellow cup with the tiger on. Grammy with the red car sits on my bed and says Allie? And I say yeah. Grammy with the red car says do you know that it's your birthday next week? And I say yeah. Grammy with the red car says on this birthday you'll be old enough to drive a car. Isn't that funny? And I say yeah. Grammy with the red car says for now I think you better leave the driving to me okay? And I say yeah. Grammy with the red car leaves my yellow cup with the tiger on because it still has water in. She leaves it on the table by my bed in case I need a drink of water later on. Grammy with the red car turns off the light and says goodnight Allie. And I say yeah.
After she goes I touch my finger on the tiger's picture on my yellow cup with the tiger on. He knows me. After I touch the tiger's picture I close my eyes. It's black inside my eyes. And when it's black inside my eyes I can go. When I go I go to the zoo. At the zoo I don't stand on the red rock by the tree and wait for the tiger. I go inside where the tiger lives. Inside where the tiger lives I don't see the tiger. I am the tiger. I walk on my tiger feet and I am tiger strong. My tiger eyes and my tiger teeth are big. My tiger tail is long. I walk up to the cage around my tiger house and slink between the bars. I can do that. When I'm the tiger I walk between raindrops. I walk my tiger body on the sidewalk that goes around the zoo. I walk my tiger body on the street outside the zoo. On the street outside the zoo I walk my tiger body fast. I walk my tiger body so fast I start to run. And when I run I run so fast I can fly. I fly my tiger body into the sky. I can do that. I fly so fast I race the moon. I race the moon and the stars all the way into tomorrow. At tomorrow I fly across the blue sky. When I fly across the blue sky fire from my yellow fur burns behind me and smoke from my black stripes comes out behind the fire. The smoke makes lines across the sky. The lines the smoke makes across the sky aren't straight but they look nice anyway. I look up into the blue sky and find the sun. I see the sun in the blue sky and the sun in the blue sky sees me. I know the sun. The sun says do you love flying tiger? And I say yes. The sun says do you understand that you can fly tiger? And I say yes. Yes I do.
BIO: Scott McClelland is a writer living in Erie, Pennsylvania. He recently retired as a columnist for the Erie Times News to focus on writing fiction. He story "Liminality" will appear in the upcoming 40th Anniversary Edition of Gargoyle Magazine. It should be noted that Scott is not comfortable in any house that has no pickles.