Red Scarf

One day, when I was in fifth grade, I was riding my bicycle home after school wearing an extra long red scarf my Grandma knitted especially for me. As I was coasting down the hill my scarf got caught and tangled in the back wheel of my bike, choking me. The bike skidded to a halt and I tried to pull the scarf away from my throat. Two twelve-year-old boys were walking on the sidewalk nearby, and they helped me. Then they walked me home with my frozen-up bicycle.

That night someone told me the story of Isadora Duncan. I'm not sure I remember the story correctly, but I have a vivid picture of the dancer with a very long white scarf stepping into a yellow taxi cab. Her scarf gets caught in the door, enough trailing into the street to wind around the back wheel.

The next morning I went into the garage and looked at my red scarf wrapped around the back wheel of my turquoise bicycle. I couldn't believe how lucky I was that those boys freed me at that moment. Thank you, boys who saved my life, wherever you are today. I won't tell Grandma what happened.