A Little Snippet

A Little Snippet

John Gage slowly came awake and looked at his watch. He couldn't believe he'd fallen asleep that quickly. He threw his legs off the couch looked around for Jennifer, but didn't see her.

"Jen," he called out. "Jennifer!"

"In here, Uncle Johnny," the little girl's voice answered.

Johnny breathed a sigh of relief. He was supposed to be baby-sitting and he'd gone and fallen asleep in the middle of the day. He silently chastised himself for it. Granted it had only been a half an hour, but Johnny knew that kids could get into quite a bit of mischief in a short amount of time. With the full realization of that knowledge sinking in, he decided he'd better go check out just what the little girl was up to and made his way toward her bedroom.

Jennifer DeSoto sat quietly playing with her Barbie dolls on the floor. The room was still intact with only a minimum amount of Barbie paraphernalia strewn about.

"Whatcha up to, Jenny," he asked as he stretched his sore back. Roy's sofa really wasn't all that comfortable for sleeping.

"Just playing."

Johnny nodded subconsciously in agreement. "So everything's okay? You need anything?"

"No, I'm fine. You wanna play Barbies with me? You can be Ken," she said hopefully.

Johnny groaned inwardly at the thought, but smiled in spite of himself. "In a minute I will. I wanna get a glass of water first. Okay?"

"Okay."

With that being settled, Johnny moseyed on out to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. He'd worked an overtime shift last night and had
eaten a little bit of smoke. Nothing to worry about but it had left his throat parched. He grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and used the faucet to fill it with water.

He drained the glass in no time flat and was about to put his cup in the sink when he eyes found the cookie jar. Deciding that a couple of Joanne's chocolate chip cookies would be mighty tasty with a big glass of milk, he grabbed a napkin and heaped a few cookies on it. He set them on the kitchen table and filled his glass with milk.

He was enjoying his cookies when Jennifer came searching for him. "Aren't you coming to play with me?"

"I was … am … yes … I … Do you want some cookies," he asked holding the last one out to her.

Jennifer's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Uncle Johnny."

"Your welcome," he replied satisfied that she wasn't going to be upset with him. He crumpled the napkin into a ball and tossed it toward the trashcan.

"You missed," Jennifer told him. "Watch me." She retrieved the napkin and came back to table to try herself. The napkin landed further away from the trashcan than Johnny's had.

"Thought you were going to beat me, didn't you, Squirt?"

"Can I have another cookie?" she asked.

"Sure, why not," he said and she happily took another cookie from the jar.

Johnny walked over to the trashcan and as he bent down to pick up the napkin he noticed some black hairs on the floor by the trashcan. Puzzled used the napkin to wipe them up. Why was there hair on the floor? And black hair at that?

"Jen, what's this," he asked. The little girl came over and peered over his shoulder.

"Hair."

"Hair? Why's there hair on the floor?"

"Cuz I guess I didn't get it all in the trashcan like I tried to."

"Why …it's dark hair …Noooo." Johnny's hand flew to his head as the realization hit him hard. "Please tell me you didn't."

Johnny ran from the kitchen and skidded to a halt in front of the bathroom mirror.

"You said you needed to get a haircut," Jennifer said following close behind him.

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the sight. Tufts of hair were sticking up all over – some short and some long.

"Oh my God."

"Don't you like it?"

"Jennifer! I can't believe you did this to me."

Tears pooled in her eyes. "You don't like it! I did my best. I used my special school scissors and everything."

Johnny wanted to cry as well as he took one last look in the mirror. He turned to the little girl who was sobbing now and picked her up.

"It's all right, Jen. It's not so bad," he said trying to calm her down. "And you are right. I did say I need a haircut."

Jennifer wiped her eyes with her small hands. "So, you do like it?"

Not wanting to hurt her feelings and start another round of tears he answered, "yes." The little girl's face brightened.

"But you should not have cut my hair without asking me," he scolded.

"So, if next time I ask you, can I cut it again," she asked hopefully.

Johnny cringed at the thought. He was already wishing for Roy to get home so he could get to the barbershop.

*Click on the picture of Johnny to send Terri feedback

Stories by Terribv Guest Dispatchers