#12. A funny story that acts like that splash of cold water that primes the pump (metaphor alert)…
by storytellerisabel
Every morning Pop says to the twins, Did you put on new underwear, boyos? (He doesn’t call them dudes like Dad did. That’s good. It would be confusing.)
The twins salute and say, Yes siree, Pop. Yes siree, Pop. (We think that because they’re twins they repeat their answers.)
But you know how little boys can be smelly? Well, Clyde and Sam REALLY smell on this one morning, so Pop brings them into the bathroom, thinking maybe that they didn’t wipe. Or something like that.
Mimi? he calls out. Come here a minute, would you, Dearie? Mimi and I do question marks eyebrow wiggles at each other. I give her the I dunno shrug. (I am so not the expert on smelly 4-year olds. Geez.)
She goes down the hall to the bathroom. I hear lots of Pop-Mimi-Murmur-Murmuring and Little-Boy-TalkTalkTalking. Mimi goes upstairs and comes down with two pairs of Elmo underpants.
After a while they march back to the kitchen.
Pop says, Now remember, Sam and Clyde. “New underpants” means that you take OFF the old ones. You don’t just add a new pair.
And we start to giggle.
Giggle! Gushing Giggles. Like that water that whooshed out of the well after we primed it. And we get active: The twins show me their new Elmos and drag me off to play Tonka Trucks and Matchbox cars with them. Mimi stuffs smelly underpants in the trash. (Guess she’s not going to try to recycle ’em which is very unusual for her.) Pop calls to her to come sit outside with him for a while.
It takes giant, big minutes for all the chuckles and activity to subside.
Neato. Or sort of neato anyway.
ISABEL
-sketch by my friend Ryan
I Am Isabel the Storyteller 
Delightful and warm. You paint a vivid picture. I also enjoy your friend’s sketches.
Hi Bernadette,
Thanks for the compliment. I’m trying to do something my Dad would always tell me. He’d say, “Paint a picture in your reader’s mind’s eye, Isabel. Use your words as paint brushes.” Pretty good advice. Also, my Dad told me that Mark Twain said (I know he didn’t actually TELL this to my Dad in person, but Dad read this. :)) “Don’t tell me about the old lady who’s screaming; bring her in and let her scream.” So, I’m trying to do that too. As for the sketches. My friend, Ryan, is very talented. Can you believe it! I actually LOOK like this. Well, you can’t really see my face, but the rest of me is pretty much like that. I don’t know if I’ll ever show my face.
Stay tuned.
Isabel Scheherazade
I know why the “Captain Underpants” (Yay, Dav Pilkey!!) series is so popular. (One birthday when I was a kid I got a 10 book set and thought it was even better than the scooter I got!)
Everyone (a least in K-8 schools) snickers at the word “underwear.” The “new underwear every day” incident was great for us. I know all our sad bodies felt waaaaay better for the belly-laughing.
Isabel
I did feel a bit guilty at all the laughing, though. Mimi said not to. She said that laughter is essential for a sturdy immune system. And we need immunities so we don’t get sick.
Isabel