One warm July morning, I opened up my eyes to beautiful sunlight shining through my window. I yawned, and stretched. Exhausted from an intense practice session the day before, I was getting ready to teach a piano lesson today to my student, Amber Yang, who is 8 years old.
Oh, before I forget, let me introduce myself. My name is Agata Miklavc, and I am 24 years old. I am currently living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and about to begin my AMS certificate studies in violin at Carnegie Mellon University. I have some minimal piano skills, and teach lessons to earn money.
I got up, and stretched. After a shower and brushing my teeth, I decided to leave. It was 10 AM, and the lesson was going to start in 30 minutes. The sun shone brightly in the sky, the breeze ruffled the leaves, and the weather was so nice and warm. I slid on my black flip-flops as I set off to my student's house.
As I arrived at her place, I checked my phone. It was 10:20, and I still had time before the lesson would begin. I noticed a ladder on the side of the house which led to the rooftop. Sliding off my shoes and leaving them on the porch, I left my phone there as well before stepping onto the lawn.
At that very moment, an idea popped into my head. I was going to make a different entry into the home. I was going to shock Amber, as well as her 14-year-old sister, Abby by sliding down the chimney and into the living room. Yep, just like Santa Claus. Except it was summer.
I walked over to the ladder, and climbed up barefoot. The metal burned hot beneath my feet in the hot sun as I climbed up onto the roof. After reaching the roof, I carefully made my way towards the chimney. The red nail polish on my toenails glittered under the sun.
I peered down the chimney. It was dark and full of soot, not to mention that it looked narrow. I wondered whether this would even be a good idea. Would I get stuck? How far would I go?
I lifted up my right leg and put it into the chimney, followed by the other. Slowly, I lowered myself into the chimney, with my hands grabbing onto the edge. I seemed to fit just fine.
"Oh well, it seems like I fit after all," I thought to myself. I was wearing a black t-shirt and jean short shorts. If they were soiled, it wouldn't be too noticeable.
Holding my breath, I released my hands from the chimney's edge. "Here I go!" I said as I began sliding down the chimney. my body brushed tightly against the walls. The place was narrower than I initially thought.
I slid down and down the dark, sooty chimney until I came to a sudden stop. My feet had not yet touched the ground, but were rather dangling off the floor. I was stuck in place.
I used my hands to push against the walls above my head, hoping to help myself slide down further. Nothing happened. I tried wiggling my body, but it was no good either. I tried kicking my legs, but that didn't work. I was stuck. Hopelessly stuck. My entire self was wedged inside the chimney of the home of my piano student.
Panicking, I knew there was only one thing left I could do. Call out for help. I took a deep breath and called out at the top of my lungs.
"Help me, help me, I'm stuck in the chimney! Amber, Abby! Get me out of here!" I cried.
At that instant, footsteps came running into the living room.
"Oh my God, Agata! Is that you?" Amber asked. She seemed shocked.
"Yes Amber, it's me! Get me out of here, please!" I cried.
"I'll go get Abby!" Amber assured me. She left the living room as I heard her call out to her sister. "Abby! Come quick!"
Footsteps came running into the living room seconds later.
"Oh my God!" Abby exclaimed. "Agata, don't worry! We'll get you out!"
I was still trying to free myself from the chimney by pushing on the walls with my hands and wiggling my body, when I felt two pairs of hands grab hold onto my ankles.
I felt fingers tickling against the bottom of my right foot. I giggled.
"Which one of you is tickling me on my right foot?" I laughed.
"I am!" Amber laughed.
"Amber, stop it!" I shouted.
Amber was generally a well-behaved young girl, but for some reason, she decided to act this way when I was stuck in the chimney.
"Agata, what made you do this?" Amber giggled.
"Amber, stop!" I shouted through my giggles. At that moment, Abby decided to join in. I laughed harder.
"Stop it, you two!" I cried. "Will you please just get me out of here?"
I felt something wet and pointy against the bottom of my right foot.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
"You'll see!" Amber laughed. It seemed as if she was drawing something on my foot.
Next thing I knew, I felt something pointy and wet moving on the bottom of my left foot as well. I kicked my legs just to get them to stop.
This only encouraged the two girls to resume tickling me. They tickled me and giggled.
"Stop it!" I shouted.
"Agata, we never thought you'd do this!" Amber laughed, as she continued tickling me.
"Okay Amber, that's enough!" Abby said firmly, as she grabbed hold of my left ankle with her two hands. "Let's get Agata out!"
"Alright," Amber said, before grabbing hold of my right ankle tightly. She then decided to tickle me a bit more.
"Amber!" Abby said, sharply.
"Okay," she said, grabbing onto my right ankle tightly.
"Alright, Agata. On the count of three, we'll pull you out. Hold your breath, okay?" Abby said.
"Yeah," I said, before holding my breath.
"Okay. One, two, three!" they shouted, before giving a sudden tug.
In an instant, I felt myself come loose from the chimney, sliding free into the fireplace and landing on my bottom in the living room. In front of my eyes, I saw Abby and Amber, who had also fallen onto their bottoms.
We looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"Oh my God, thank you so much!" I laughed, while being covered in soot and dirt from being inside the chimney.
"Agata, what were you doing?" Amber asked.
"What were you thinking?" Abby asked. They laughed, their faces turning red.
"I don't know," I replied, sheepishly. My face turned bright red from embarrassment.
"Why did you go down the chimney? Why didn't you simply come in like you usually do?" Amber asked.
"I just thought it would be fun to try sliding down the chimney and scaring both of you!" I laughed hard.
"Well Agata, you did scare us. Please never, ever do that again!" Abby said.
"Thank you both for pulling me free," I sighed. "And Amber, I'll get you for tickling me!" I laughed.
Amber giggled. "Why don't you try?" She took off, before I chased after her, and tickled her on her belly.
"I'm sorry for scaring you both," I said, sadly.
"Don't be! That was really funny!" Amber said. "You really know how to make us laugh!"
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Where are your shoes?" Amber asked.
"I took off my flip-flops when I arrived here," I replied. "They're on the porch."
"Why don't we have our lesson now?" I said to Amber.
"Of course!" she laughed.
I looked at the bottoms of my feet. After all, I had not only been tickled down there, but I felt something wet and pointy going across down there while I was stuck.
What I saw was a big shock.
"Amber! Abby!" I scolded both of them. They had drawn some monstrous, angry faces in green sharpie on the bottom of my feet while I was wedged in the chimney and trying to get free.
Both girls giggled.
"You are one silly goose, Agata!" Amber laughed.