Five Minutes of Chaos

I will never forget that night back in September of ’24. It was a pleasant night after three scorching months of summer. Our spirits were high and our hearts were full as families pulled up in intervals over the next hour in vans and SUV’s in various shades of black, grey, and pearl. Squealing children and hunched and hobbled folk stumbled out of their vehicles in similar fashion and made their way to the grass. They had lawn chairs tucked under arms, diaper bags slung on arms, and one even carried a cooler full of vanilla ice cream and rootbeer. The young ones laughed as they ran to the playground to meet up with cousins and new friends and the old ones set up blankets and chairs and popped Benadaryls and Ibuprofens.

Games were played, treats were shared, and chatter ensued as those from opposite sides of town caught up on the current affairs of their loved ones. I heard words and bits of phrases floating in the air from the various huddles. “School. Lacrosse. Glad to be back. Allergies. Uterus. Leaky bladder. Kai danced. Hip surgery.” All these snippets put me in a happy trance as outbursts of laughter and fun rang out.

The sun dipped. The air cooled. The night became very dark but nobody took the initiative to pack up their things and head home. Kids played, toddlers toddled, and adults yapped.

Then it happened.

A sudden sound silenced the entire group for…Seconds? Minutes? Split-seconds? I don’t know, because that is when time started moving at an unfamiliar pace.

The screams hit my ears and the cold water hit my back at darn near the same instant.

“Run!”

“Where’s Grandma?!”

“Get the chairs!”

“Nooooo!”

“WHERE’S GRANDMA!?!?”

Dark forms moved and bumped into each other in a mad scramble to save one’s self, one’s progeny, and one’s progenitors. Confusion was in the air as kids were tucked under arms like footballs, chairs were dragged without being folded, phones were shoved into back pockets, and Diet Cokes were protected by splayed fingers.

I stood eight seconds too long as sprinklers on three sides taunted me with their unpredictable choreography and made it near impossible to catch a break long enough to make it to the sidewalk without another blast of cold water to the face.

And WHERE WAS GRANDMA?!?!

We would make it to a spot of safety just to realize it was in fact not safe as the water changed course, searching for any remaining spots of dry clothing we had left.

We made it to our cars. Engines were started, headlights were activated, and towels sticky with soda and caked with sand from last month’s trip to the lake were draped around shivering shoulders.

Chairs, cups, and bags were returned to their rightful owners and cookies were lost by some and found by others.

Hands waved out windows as cars drove away and the laughter dwindled for a little while — until everyone made it home and picked up their phones for the next hour for a text play-by-play of those five minutes of chaos.