Eleventeen

Eleventeen

Sarah turned eleventeen yesterday, which made it a very special day. A person can turn eleventeen only once, and most people never turn eleventeen at all. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret. Sarah is the only person who has ever turned eleventeen. Ever! Not a single other living soul has done it. Not a single other dead soul has done it either. You're probably wondering how Sarah accomplished this rare and extraordinary feat. This, of course, is that story.

" I'm bored, " said Sarah, as she walked into the kitchen for breakfast one Saturday morning. " Would you like to invite a friend over?" asked her mother. " No, " said Sarah, “ that's not the problem. I'm bored being ten. " " Well, your birthday is only a few weeks away, " said her mother, “ so you won't have to be ten much longer. "

" I'm bored being eleven, " Sarah said. " You've never even been eleven! " interjected her big sister, Kate, entering the room. " I guess you want to be a teenager, just like me. " " I want to be like you about as much as I want to be a snail, " Sarah retorted, proud that she could think of a comeback so quickly. " Well, that's funny because you are as slow as one, " said Kate.

Uh-oh. Sarah needed another comeback, quick, and she didn't have one on the tip of her tongue. Her eight-year-old brother, Noah--as usual, at the breakfast table before anyone else-saved her. " I wish you were both eighteen, " Noah said. " Why?" asked Mom.

" Because then they'd both go away to college, and I'd have Mommy all to myself. " “ What about Daddy?" asked Sarah. “ What about me?" Dad said as he walked into the kitchen, opening the newspaper and not looking where he was going. Noah smirked and “ humphed, " as if to say that everyone knows dads are not nearly the problem that big sisters are.