Sue looked up at her daughter and niece. “I think the library’s closed today for the Independence Day holiday.”

“We don’t have to go inside, we’ll just drop them off at the book drop,” replied Hailey. Really, the library in particular didn’t matter to her; she just wanted somewhere a reasonable distance away so she’d have plenty of time to talk with Erin.

“I guess that’s fine. Oh, that reminds me, we need to buy you a bike sometime, Erin.”

Erin blushed, about to say that Aunt Sue didn’t need to spend that much money on her, but Sue cut her off before she could say it. “I don’t want to hear you tell me you’ll be fine without one. We can go sometime this weekend and buy one.”

Erin had the sense to stay silent.

Sue continued, “Anyway, I guess if you girls want to walk to the library, that’s fine with me. Be back by 12:30 so we can get lunch before going to the Fourth of July parade.”

12:30 would be no problem, Hailey decided, as the library was about a half hour walk away.

“Oh, and Erin,” mentioned Sue, “Don’t forget to try to go to the bathroom before you leave.” Erin blushed, remembering her accident in the theater and the several other near misses she’d had, and scampered over to the restroom.

Erin and Hailey finally stepped out the door, holding two worn paperback books each. Many houses were decked out in flags and other patriotic ornaments, and the smell of freshly cut lawns was omnipresent.

“I guess I’ll start at the beginning,” Hailey stated.

“Sounds good,” agreed Erin.

Hailey began narrating her story as they walked down the neighborhood street together.

“The earliest I can remember having an interest in accidents was probably when I was in first grade. My mom didn’t work at home then, she actually had to go to an office, so every day after school I rode the bus to a day care, and my mom or dad would pick me up a few hours later.

“So one day when I was there, we were all playing outside. I don’t remember exactly what I was playing at the time, but I remember hearing some other kids start chanting over and over, ‘Kristy made a pee puddle!’ I looked over, and sure enough, a girl about my age was standing there crying, a very obvious wet spot on her pants and, as the kids said, a puddle on the pavement under her.

“I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I knew at that age that an accident was what happened when you didn’t go potty in time, but this was the first time I’d really had a chance to see someone my age wet their pants, and I was intrigued.

“The adults quickly showed up, shushed the other kids, and escorted Kristy inside. She came out later wearing a different pair of pants, and you couldn’t tell what she’d done. The only noticeable sign that something had been wrong was that her face was still red from her earlier crying. The other kids still teased her about it for a while, though, when they knew the adults were out of earshot. I didn’t participate in the teasing, but I didn’t try to stop it, either.

“So after that, I made a point to try to witness more. The really young kids were generally in another room of the day care, but there were occasions we were together, and I tried to watch as many diaper changes as I could.

“My biggest discovery, though, involved nap time at the day care. The toilet for kids to use was in a room that had no door, presumably so the adults could supervise the kids that needed help. To give a little privacy from other kids, though, a series of small bookshelves had been set a few feet in front of the bathroom door to form a sort of bathroom hallway. The shelves were short enough that adults could easily see over them, but any daycare-aged kids were too short.

“Now, during nap time, the school aged kids had to lie down as well, but they weren’t expected to sleep, and if they wished they could keep their mat by the bookshelves and read books quietly during nap. I took advantage of that rule quite often, but not too long after Kristy’s accident, I found that if I set my mat in an exact certain place, and lay an exact certain way on it, I could see through a narrow gap between two shelves and watch people use the toilet.