The Sky’s the Limit: My Journey with Maryellen

That’s how we all end up at The Seaside Diner on Thanksgiving Day, serenaded by Elvis on the jukebox, eating turkey platters, except Mrs. Winkler, who ordered spaghetti, and Jerry, who has a cheeseburger and fries. Mrs. Winkler declares it the best Thanksgiving dinner she’s ever had. She never cared for turkey anyway.

Mr. Winkler suggests they dance. Mrs. Winkler warns she’ll look like a robot but stands up anyway, laughing her braying laugh, too sunburned from the beach to move well. Maryellen whispers that this explains her stiffness back at the house, it wasn’t snobbery, but sunburn! We’d assumed the Winklers would be snooty like the bosses on TV, and judged them before we’d even met.

Maryellen’s words remind me of how hurt I was when everyone at the ski race assumed I’d cheated. It’s terrible to be judged unjustly.

Then Maryellen pulls me into dancing, and soon I’m rockin’ ’n’ rollin’ with Carolyn, Joan, and Jerry to the jukebox. Mrs. Larkin dances with Tom, Mr. Larkin with Beverly, but the Winklers dance the most enthusiastically of all. Maryellen dubs him Mr. Twinkler-toes, and Mrs. Winkler hoots that Winky Twinkler-toes is perfect.

The sparkle in Mrs. Winkler’s eye reminds me of Gran. If I misjudged Mrs. Winkler, could I have misjudged Gran, too? Maybe Emma and I should get to know her instead of assuming.

After dinner, we head back to the Larkins’ house for pie. Luckily, neither pie got devoured or destroyed earlier. The Winklers leave amid hugs and laughter, and watching them head home makes me miss my own family. Has the time come to click my watch and go?

But when I glance at my wrist, my watch is gone. I hurry to the backyard, Mikey and Scooter trailing me. It’s not on the sandbox where I left it. Panic rising, I dig through the sand. Nothing.

I ask Mikey if he’s seen my tick-tock. He just shakes his head. I was so glad to escape Emma and the ski race disaster, and though I’ve loved my time here, I realize I don’t want to be stuck forever. I want to make things right with Emma, get to know Gran, clear my name over the ski race, and hug Mom and Dad. I want to go home.

As if he senses I’m unhappy, Scooter rushes to a corner of the yard, scrambles in the dirt, and drops a treasure in my lap, a drooled-on, chewed-up turkey bone. Mikey digs in the same hole, and moments later drops a treasure in my lap, too.

It’s the watch. Mikey says it’s my tick-tock, not Scooter’s, and I hug him, mud and all, he’s my hero. It’s filthy and scratched but still ticking, and holding it safely, I know exactly what I must do.

I go to the Airstream, wash up, and change back into my ski uniform. In the kitchen, I find Maryellen helping her parents wash the dessert dishes. I thank them and tell them I won’t forget this Thanksgiving. Mr. Larkin jokes that the more the merrier. The Larkins have changed how I think about the whole world, but it’s time for me to go.

I explain my family decided against moving to Daytona Beach, so I won’t see the Larkins again. Maryellen is so sad she says I can’t go. Mrs. Larkin puts an arm around her. I tell Maryellen I’ll always think of her as the nicest, most fun friend I’ve ever had, and she says she’ll think of me every time she’s about to judge someone before meeting them. With a lump in my throat, I hug Ellie hard, and then, even though it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, I let go.