It was an unseasonably warm October afternoon in the suburban town of Millbrook, where the maple trees had just begun to shed their crimson and gold leaves onto manicured lawns. Inside the cozy, slightly cluttered home of the Perri family, five-year-old Piper Perri was engaged in the most serious business of her young life: constructing the tallest block tower in the history of the known universe.
“I’m done for,” David whispered, his voice quivering with fake agony. “Tell your mother… I always wanted a golden retriever. And tell her… the last piece of cheesecake in the fridge was totally me. I have no regrets.” piper perri fall down dad
He flopped back down, twitching one foot as if in a final death spasm. Piper crawled over to him, her own fall completely forgotten. She peered into his face, her pigtails dangling like twin carrots. It was an unseasonably warm October afternoon in
Piper’s trembling lip paused mid-wobble. Her tear-filled eyes blinked. “Dad?” “Tell your mother… I always wanted a golden retriever
David chuckled, a low, warm sound. “That’s ‘epic proportions,’ sweet pea. And I have full confidence in your engineering skills.”
David lunged forward, scooped her up in his arms, and began to blow a loud, sloppy raspberry on her tummy. Piper shrieked with laughter—a high, pure, joyful sound that filled every corner of the living room. She squirmed and kicked, her earlier tears leaving only faint, salty trails on her pink cheeks.
“Oh, the humanity!” he boomed, clutching his chest. “I have been struck down! The shock! The sheer, unmitigated tragedy of the falling tower has felled me!”
