Dont Take The Girl

Word count: 875

Don't Take the Girl


"Johnny's daddy was takin' him fishin' when he was eight years old."

Dylan bragged about how he and his daddy went fishing all the time. Carrie was seven and Dylan was eight when they met.Tim McGraw's song "Don't Take the Girl" came on, and Carrie said, "My Daddy loves this song, so I love it too."

The mantra of Dylan's mom was always "Boy, what have you been into now? " She would tell people, "These two come home with frogs in their pockets...or snakes...or whatever slimy crawling things were collected while on the latest fishing trip."


Carrie's dad came to work for Dylan's family: Bike shop...restored classics. Radio was always on, playing what Dylan called "Texas music". Carrie had been that little girl with a fishing pole running out to the gate. There was the incident with the sling shot when Dylan blamed the dog. In Junior high
there had been basketball in each other's driveways, the time Carrie wanted to see if their turtles would race, face painting at
the fair, water gun fights; the countless nights they would sneak in each ot
her's windows and try to be back by dawn.

In high school there was the false alarm she didn't tell her parents about. It was negative. "Blue" was playing in the waiting room. "Leanne Rimes does NOT sound like Patsy Cline," Carrie said as she left the office.

"Same ol' boy, same sweet girl...ten years down the road."
He held her tight and kissed her lips in front of the picture show".

And the two of them would go out to the drive in and come home way too late. Dylan's dad was teaching him the business and in the shop, Dylan's Texas music always played:. George Strait had ocean front property in Arizona, Trisha Yearwood was in love with the boy, and Reba MacIntyre was wondering if
there's a life out there beyond her own.

There was the heartache that came when Carrie's mom said "Honey, maybe you should date other people. Are you sure he's the one you want?". That night, Dylan picked her up at another guy's party,grabbing her keys as she stumbled "Don't you throw up in my truck, girl!"the two were engaged the next week. He took her out on the lake to their favorite fishing spot; bottle of champagne. He
popped the question as the sun set, rippling on the water. She took his hand: "My daddy loves this song...so Ilove it too," she said. And he knew...that was a "Yes."

"Same ol' boy, same sweet girl...five years down the road... There's gonna be a little one and she says it's time to go"...

He found her on her knees by the living room chair. "Somethings wrong," she said; telling him she was dizzy. They knew nothing about pre-eclampsia, or it's dangers, only that they needed to get there! After much anxiety, their little prince arrived. Both he and mom pulled through. "Don't Take the Girl" played over the radio in the room.


With the second baby, in the humid Arkansas summer, Dylan was constantly fixing their air conditioning. This was cheaper than paying a repairman. And then it would break… again. So in between mopping her forehead with a wet cloth, Carrie would put in cds:

"Alright! I love that song," Dylan would say...the clank of tools in the background.
"Babe! Come here, feel," Carrie would exclaim in the middle of the night. "I think he's doing somersaults in there! Radio would
be on. "Desperado" would play. Maybe "Lyin Eyes" by The Eagles.


This foundation had been laid for her psychiatrist, because he new Dylan had been deployed to an undisclosed location.
Carrie was alone now with the boys, nine and six… She'd used earbuds in sleep to block out her husband's noring. But for months now, they had only been filling the space between bedtime and morning; barricading her fear.

Day after day she lugged her saw, a bucket, a
homemade fishing pole, and bait across the frozen lake. Once there, she sat shivering, waiting for the telltale tug.. This torturous task wasnt for the fairer sex, but what choice did she have? On that particular day, as clouds rolled in from the mountains, she noticed two little boys at the edge of the lake, shouting and pointing...

Suddenly, all the ice split and cracked, revealing the water nderneath. Carrie screamed, fearing she would drown. But
sddenly became aware that around her was a
sheet...blankets, pillows. She felt the warmth of her bed and began to catch her breath. Her ipod still playing...stuck on
"repeat".

" Johnny hit his knees, and there he prayed: 'Take the very breath you gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me….Take me outta this
world. God please! Don't take the girl."


Carrie wiped tears from her eyes. She heard shouting outside. She rushed to her bedroom window to see her two boys pointing at someone walking up the driveway. It was then she noticed his uniform and duffle bag. The boys were shouting

"Dad! Dad!"

"Dylan!! Is that you??"

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