What They Say

“Why are you doing that?” Sam asks. Cory is lying backwards on the couch with his head hanging off the side.

“I have a headache,” he says.

“But… why are you doing that?” Sam asks again, still confused.

“I heard that letting your blood go to your head helps headaches to go away, so I figured I would try it.”

“Who told you that? Sounds like something that would make a headache worse.”

“I don’t remember now. I just heard it from somewhere.”

After a moment of watching him, Sam chuckles.

“You look silly. Is it at least working?”

“Nope,” Cory says, sitting up. Then he grabs his head. “Aw man! My head hurts really bad!”

Sam laughs. “Now you know not to do just any ole thing someone says.”

“I guess.”

“It’s funny how that happens though. You’re not the only person who does something just because “someone” said it works.”

“You know what would be funny?” Cory asks.

“What?”

“If we got people to do something silly because “they” said it helped them.”

“Oh! We should do that. What should we try to get people to do?” Sam sits on the couch beside Cory.

“It would have to be something public or else we wouldn’t get to see it.” They’re in the midst of thinking about their plan when their sister comes downstairs. She enters the living room and squints her eyes at them.

“What are y’all doing? You look suspicious.”

“Just talking and thinking,” Sam says.

“That’s dangerous. The next thing I know you’ll be concocting some plan and dancing in the street.”

The boys look at each other.

“Well, maybe not in the street, but public dancing could be believable as a cure for something,” Cory says.

“Oh, brother!” Suzie says.

“Yes?” They both answer with a smirk.

“I wasn’t- ugh! Y’all get on my nerves.” She rolls her eyes at them as she leaves the room.

They laugh, then look at each other.

“So... dancing?” Sam asks.

“Maybe. But it would have to be a specific move and it has to be something that could be believable as something that could impact your body in some way.”

“In a good way or else no one will want to do it.”

“Right.”

“What about dancing in the rain to cure a headache?” Cory asks. Sam squints at him.

“How does that make sense?”

“Well, maybe just being in the rain for a certain amount of time cures a headache?”

“Oh! I know! So we could say that standing in the rain for 10 minutes, cures a headache and then when they complain about the cold you say that that’s why you dance during the 10 minutes- so you stay warm,” Sam says, smiling at his twin.

“Yes! That’s perfect! Well, except 10 minutes is kind of long.”

“Well let’s say 5 minutes then,” Sam says with a shrug. “That’s about a song and a half.”

“Cool! This is going to be great!”

~

Three days later, the twins are at school, eating lunch in the cafeteria. One of their buddies, Ray, joins them with a sigh.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sam asks.

“I have this massive headache,” he says. Sam and Cory both look outside at the pouring rain and then at each other. They both try to hide smiles.

“You know, I heard that standing in the rain for like 5 minutes helps headaches to go away,” Sam says.

“Really?” Ray asks. Sam nods while taking a bite of his sandwich, trying to be nonchalant. Donny who sat down as Sam was talking looks confused.

“Sounds to me like you’d just be cold,” Donny says.

“Well you’re supposed to dance for those 5 minutes to keep from getting cold,” Sam says. When he still looks skeptical Cory jumps in.

“I’ve heard the same thing, you know? The cool rain cools your head while your dance keeps the rest of you warm. Maybe there’s something in the rain that helps, too, since taking a shower doesn’t really do much.” Donny looks almost convinced. Ray just looks in pain.

“Well, at this point I think I would try almost anything to get this to go away,” Ray says. He gets up, surprising the group, throws away his tray and leaves the lunchroom.

“Where’s he going?” Cory asks. The other two just shrug.

A few minutes later Ray comes back with his rain jacket on and his phone in his hand.

“Just 5 minutes?” he asks, setting a timer. Surprised, Sam nods. Ray nods back and they watch him walk out the door leading from the cafeteria to the outside tables. He stands in the rain and starts dancing. Donny chokes on his food, laughing.

“He’s a terrible dancer,” Donny says. Sam and Cory laugh. After 5 minutes Ray quickly comes back inside and takes off his soaking jacket.

“So? Did your headache go away?” Donny asks.

“Um… I guess so?”

“See?” Cory says. “We told you.” Donny shakes his head while Sam and Cory grin.

“I guess you did,” Ray says.

~

Three weeks later, Abby, who’s a year under them at school, sits at home in the living room with her older sister. It’s mid-afternoon on a Saturday and it’s pouring rain outside. Abby sits in the armchair reading while her sister tries to do homework.

“Oh man! I can’t focus on anything with this headache!” Her sister, Audrey, says.

Abby glances out the window. “Apparently dancing in the rain helps,” she tells her.

“What?”

“Yeah. A whole bunch of kids from school have been doing it. It’s been all over social media, too. I think kids from other schools have been doing it, too.”

“Where did they get that from?”

“I don’t know. I’ve just heard from friends and classmates that they heard it from a friend or classmate. They say it works. Maybe you should try it so you can get your work done.”

Audrey thinks about it for a moment. “Well whatever. I guess I can just see if it works.” She gets up and puts on her rain coat.

“You’re supposed to do it for like 5 minutes. I’ve heard that the dancing keeps you from getting too cold.”

Audrey grabs her phone for a timer and music and goes out in the rain. Abby stands by the window recording her sister, getting a good laugh at her silly dancing. As Audrey comes back in the house, their mom comes in the room.

“What were you doing outside?” she asks.

“I had a headache,” Audrey says.

“And?”

“Dancing in the rain helps your headache go away,” Abby says.

“Says who?”

“I don’t know,” Abby says.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? How do you know about it then?”

“I heard it from somebody.”

“I heard it from Abby,” Audrey says. “Though, it’s stupid because it didn’t even work. Now I’m cold, wet, and still have a headache.”

“Well, maybe that’ll teach you not to do something just because “somebody” said it.”