Day in the Marsh
By Maggie Dix

A Day at the Marsh

by

Lizzie Dix

One day I had to stay home with my Dad.

"I want to go to the park," I begged.

Dad said, "Okay. After lunch."

We ate. Then the phone rang.

Dad had to go to meet a man. He said to bring my Game Boy. He said to bring books. He said I'd have to sit still. And be quiet.

I hate that.

Sitting still is no fun. Offices are no fun. Grown-ups just talk to each other. And what they say is no fun!

On the way, Dad tried to talk. But I didn't feel like talking. I hate the city. I hate tall buildings. I hate traffic. I HATE sitting still!

"I want to go to the park," I said.

"Tomorrow." Dad sighed.

 ***

I sat up and waited for us to get to town. But we did not go that way. We went to a big low building in the middle of a big marsh. There were woods too, on one side.

"This is a wild life refuge," Dad said. "Animals are safe here. No one can hurt them. But they are still wild. Don't ever try to pet a wild animal."

Dad parked and we walked past a picnic table to the front door. Then we went inside and down a long hall.

The man's office had huge windows. I could see a lot of grass. A long way off, I could see a wide river. On the wall was a big stuffed bird. It had a white head. It was bigger than the desk. It had fierce glass eyes. At first I thought it was alive. That scared me. Then I knew better.

"What's that?" I pointed.

"An eagle," the man said. "They live here."

That eagle was not alive. It  just hung on the wall. But it looked huge. Then I remembered what Dad had said. "I thought animals were safe here."

The man knelt down. "They are. This one just died. We don't know why. A lot of eagles die. One day there may not be any more eagles. So we fixed this one to keep. That way, people will always know what they looked like."

"Oh..." I looked at the eagle. It was way bigger than me. The wings spread all the way across his wall

"We want people to still know about eagles, even if they all die. So we kept it. But no one killed him."

"Are you sure?"

Dad gave my arm a shake. That meant to be quiet. I ask too many questions. Everyone says so.

"Find a corner and read," my dad said. "This won't take long."

I knew what that meant.

I tried to read.

I tried to sit still.

I tried to be good.

I just couldn't do it.

I said I was thirsty. They got me a drink.

I said I was hungry. Dad gave me a candy bar from his pocket.

I colored every picture. I colored them all red.

Then I turned on my Game Boy.  I picked a noisy game. I turned it way up loud.

The man with my dad frowned at me. "Why don't you go outside and play?"

Dad asked if I would be safe.

The man said, "Sure. Just stay near the visitor center."

I couldn't believe my luck!

***

Outside there was a picnic table. A man and woman ate cookies.

The man seemed grumpy. The woman smelled like flowers.

As I walked by, a big bee flew right at her.

"B-Eeeee," the woman yelled. She dropped her cookie and ran. The bee followed her.