I woke up the next moring at 5:00. I didn't intend to wake up that early, but with the time change it felt like 8:00 to me. I knew Aunt Christine wouldn't be up. The only person I know who gets

up at 5:00 when they don't really have to is my grandpa, but he's old and goes to bed at 8:00. I sat in bed for what felt like all day but was really only an hour. Then I started to get really hungry and

decided if Aunt Christine didn't want me wallking around her house at 6 in the morning she would just have to deal. I got myself some Life cereal out of the cabinet. It was the only thing in there that had

even a small amount of sugar on it. After I spent about 10 minutes trying to find the bowls then another 10 eating my cereal, I decided to go walk around New Milford. I remembered to leave Aunt

Christine a note so she wouldn't call in the National Guard if I wasn't in my bed when she woke up.

I put my Red Sox hat on and walked outside. I'm sure there aren't any real Sox fans here, just the ones who jumped on the bandwagon when they won the Series, but oh well. It's not like there

are many Yankees fans here either. Angell Rd. is pretty short, and I soon realize that if my track team had practice here we would have to had to run the same path multiple times to get the usual distance

run. I was walking down Main St. and went into Vincent's Drug Store, which is surprisingly open. It reminds me of the UDF we have back home, but more inviting. It doesn''t have that store chain feeling

like UDF. I bought some Juicy Fruit and a baseball since I doubted Aunt Christine had one. She despised all forms of excercise and Uncle Jack prefered hockey. I explored a little more and noticed

Vincent's probably served as the main source of food in New Milford. Good to know. This way I could be sure not to piss off the manager so he wouldn't ban me. I accidently did that at the Kroger in my

city. Now if I want to buy junk food without my mom knowing I have to go to UDF or Giant Eagle.

I was walking back down Angell Rd. and those boys were out playing baseball again. I was going to walk over there, but thought better of it. I know they woulddn't let me play because I'm a girl,

plus even with my note Aunt Christine was probably freaking out. I walked back down the street and sat on the porch for a while. It was really nice out, considering it had been raining for 5 days

straight when I left home. I missed dry ground and not having my hair poof up from humidity every time I went outside. When I finally decided to go inside, I found Aunt Christine had written me a note

on the back of mine. It said "Hey Honey, thanks for the note. I'm going shopping with my friend in San Francisco today. Have fun! Love, Aunt Christine." OK, so maybe she wasn't freaked out. I bet my mom

told her not to freak if I inexplicably disappeared to nowhere. She'd probably just say check the police blotter. My mom always expects the worst from me.

I ate some Ramen Noodles and grabbed a soda, then walked back outside. I thought that even if I couldn't play with those kids, I could at least see if they were any good. Besides, I would be

playing baseball with my neighbors now, and I was suffering withdrawl pains. I walked across the street and started to watch them play. There were nine guys. The pitcher seemed really good, and there

was anoter guy who hit at least a double every time he was at bat. Most of the time he hit triples. After a while they noticed me standing there.

"Hey, dude, who's the girl?" the shortstop asked. They all looked over at me, and I just stared back at them.

"I'm Ally," I said, since it seemed obvious they weren't going to say anything. "I'm staying at my aunt's house across the street." Still nothing. It was actually kind of funny becase there were

really crickets out.

"You're a girl," said the 2nd baseman, who seemed smaller than the others.

"Oh, wow, thanks for the update. I never would have guessed that," I said. The kid stepped back. I guess he was used to girls who just backed away. He probably had some priss of a sister. All the

girls here think they're the like the Cali girls they see in L.A. but are really hicks just like their parents.

"Hey, we're just surprised!" said the pitcher defensively, "Shouldn't you be at the mall or something?" He asked. 'Great, stereotypical,' I thought bitterly. I wasn't even going to try to play with

these guys if they weren't going to be civil.

"Yes, the mall, my favorite place," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. They looked at me, again at loss for what to say. Apparently kids here have never been exposed to sarcasm. Patheic

losers.

"What are you doing here anyway?" said the pitcher, who had apparently gotten over his shock at the fact that I'm a girl. I guess it never occured to him that girls don't just spend all their time

at the mall spending their parents money when they could get the same jeans at Plato's Closet for ten bucks instead of 40.

"I wanted to see if you guys were any good," I said matter-of-factly. They looked shocked again, like a girl shouldn't know anything about baseball.

"Why do you care, girls can't play anyway?" said the 2nd baseman, who seemed intent on establishing his reputation as an ignorant ass.

"Right. Here, give me the bat," I said, talking to the big hitter who was standing at home looking impatient to get back to the game. He handed to me.

"Dude, what are you doing?" the 2nd baseman, officially a jack-ass, asked him.

"Giving her the bat," he said, like it was obvious, which it was.

"If you get me out, I'll levae and never come back and I'll admit girls can't play baseball. If I get at least a single, you have to let me play,"I said, half to the pitcher half to the 2nd baseman.

"You're on," said the pitcher. He threw a curvebal first, which was way outside. That was good. I was planning on getting a full count then slamming it. Unless he throws a lollipop. Then I'll just

hit a homer and get it over with. He threw a knuckleball, I swung late in purpose. The 2nd baseman was starting to snicker, so I decided to just hit it. Change up, fly ball right behind the center fielder.

Pathetic as the kid looked, I saw out of the corner of my eye that he didn't catch it. Then he dropped it and I went to 2nd. I win.