Member-only story
An Unruly Girl
And what her parents went through
There were over sixty reporters and cameramen standing on the front lawn of the house where Heather lived with her parents. There were another hundred or so spectators standing on the sidewalk and in the street behind the reporters.
The spectators were chanting, “Heather! Heather! Heather!”
Some spectators were holding signs with words such as, “We Love You Heather!” and “The World Needs Heather,” and “Girl Power Rocks!” And there was one sign which read, “Go Away Little Girl.” (It is unclear if Carole King got any royalties from that sign since that is the title of a song she wrote for Donnie Osmond back in the Seventies.)
Meanwhile inside the house Heather put on her backpack and a floppy hat with the brim pulled down over her face. After kissing her parents she left through the back door. Getting on her bicycle, she went to school.
Heather’s mother opened the front door and gingerly stepped outside. She was met by a barrage of questions from the reporters. She put up her hands to silence them. Clearing her throat, she spoke, “Our Heather is only eleven years old. She deserves some privacy. Would you all please, please just leave her alone!”
From the corner of her eye Heather’s mother saw a red projectile shooting through the air…
