Today was the day. "Tag Day" was what it was called.

Kiley and I were not sure if we could really raise money by going up to some strangers house and asking to make a donation. We sat down on the blue carpeted floor of the band room where everyone is waiting for their name to be called to see what group they were in. Kiley and I looked at each other nervously. Mrs. Rupert, our orchestra teacher, called our names to bunch us with another pair since our names weren't listed. Our group stepped out of the band room with an adult who is suppose to drive us around the neighborhood. As another adult handed us sweaters to wear for the day, I didn't even want to do this anymore.

"Ewww..its so ugly!" Kiley commented.

"It's HUGE!!! Even a dinosaur could fit into this." It was a misty greyish color with oversized sleeves and a small logo at the top corner for robinson marching band.

Finally, we forced ourselves into those DREADFUL sweaters and went out to the car. At least we weren't the only ones that looked ridiculous; the band people had to wear their uniforms which looked really uncomfortable.



"OK, girls, here is the neighborhood, you guys will start here and........"

I wasn't paying any attention to what she was't saying and I could tell Kiley wasn't either. We were just looking out to the houses where soon we'll have to knock on. Butterflies were flying around in my stomach and I wished that they would be gone.

Kiley and I got out of the car and took one side of the neighborhood while the guys took the other. As we approached our first house with the fliers and envelopes in our hands, we were quickly rehearsing our speech before we knocked.

"Ok, you say this and I say that."

"Do you want to start?" I could tell Kiley was offering for me to start.

I was nervous enough already and Kiley had to literally push me to the doorstep. As my hand reached out, I put a big smile on my face hoping that they would make a donation.

A short woman with black hair and looked around middle age came to the door, just waiting for us to say something.

"Hi, were from the Robinson Orchestra!"

I looked at Kiley to say the rest but she wouldn't move. I had to continue.

"We would really appreciate it if you would ......."



"Woooo HOOOOOO!!!!!!!! We actually did it!!!!" I screamed as we walked toward the car to continue on to the next street.

"Thirty five dollars on our first street and not bad" Kiley commented.

Now, we were confident enough to approach each house even if it had cobwebs all over the place. Usually each person gave us fives but sometimes we recieved tens and maybe even twenties, but those were rare.



"Oh, lets go to this street!" Kiley yelled excitedly as we turned towards a different neighborhood.

"Ok, sure."

It was one of those streets that were on the side of a hill.

We walked up to the doorstep which had a rug: "Wipe your paws." I opened the screen and knocked.

BARK!! BARKKKK ! BARK BARK BARkKKK!!!

"AGHHHHH!!!" Kiley face was pale and I knew she was scared.

"Ok, lets just put this and........RUNNN!!!!!!"

We were running as fast as we can from that house toward the hill where we started. By the time we reached the hill, we were out of breath and laughing at how scared we were. I couldn't believe we just did that. We finished up the street and the rest of the neighborhood.

It was already time to head back to Robinson, and we lept onto the car seat, exhausted from walking around everywhere.



As we just turned onto Braddock Road, driving our way back to Robinson, I was tired but I had a fun time running for our lives and laughing along. I am definetely planning on doing this next year and I was sure that I would be more confident...