Chalk Court Leaps

Staying cooped up in the kitchen was officially over. I scrambled down the counter, slipped through the front lobby door behind a mail carrier, and bolted straight out into the fresh morning air. Right along the smooth concrete sidewalk, someone had drawn a giant hopscotch grid in vibrant pastel chalk! No way I was just going to walk past that. I took a running start, pushed off one sneaker, and stuck a one-legged landing right in the middle of a neon yellow square. A tiny puff of chalk dust puffed around my sole as I threw my arms out to balance, already eyeing the double blue boxes ahead.