You can't say I didn't try it...

The smell of rain still hung in the air, long after it had stopped and the clouds had parted. My mom told me to go out and play out in the backyard. I ran around and climbed up my tree, and watched the rain trip off the leaves.

While I was running around I came upon a puddle of mud. I spent a long time looking at this perfect mud hole, wondering if I should try what the other kids did. They said it was a lot of fun to play in the mud, but I hated getting dirty. I was even careful not to get near the wet patches on my tree.

After some thought, I pushed up the sleeves on my sweater. Carefully I took off my shoes and socks. I put them by the back door, neatly side by side. I tucked each sock into the shoe so it looked like the person wearing the shoes was invisible.

I gently padded back to the mud puddle. Did I really want to do this? I took a deep breath, and slid a hand into the puddle. I dipped in up to my elbow, then pulled it out again. Systematically I did the same with the other hand, and dipped my feet as well. I stood with my hands and feet dripping mud for a few minutes. It turns out it was not all it was cracked up to be. The mud began to dry and clump between my fingers.

Gingerly I walked over to the screen door. I took a breath and yelled "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

She said I looked like I was wearing elbow length gloves and ankle boots. She let out a laugh and led me over to the garden hose to wash me off.