Sherry Tate closed her eyes and watched the dominos fall. Sherry suddenly was 10 years old sitting on her Mothers kitchen floor lining up the dominos one by one. Her little mind telling her shaky hand to be careful, don’t tip the dominoes before it was time. Not wanting to cause the cascade effect prematurely Sherry moved slowly. You would have thought the little 10 year old girl was a skilled surgeon by the way she handled the placement of each plastic rectangle with care and precision.

Sherry had collected 36 or so boxes of dominos over the years so she had the entire kitchen floor covered. Her Mother knew not to enter the kitchen when she was playing dominos and her brothers were out right forbidden.

Sherry backed up and backed up until she was in a corner, no where else to go and nothing left to do but place the last domino. Sherry laid it down on its side and pulled herself up onto the counter. Her feet slowly left the ground and she elevated herself above her masterpiece. As Sherry looked down she saw her greatest masterpiece yet! The way the dominos zigged and zagged, crossing inward and out, Sherry had even learned how to incorporate pieces of bent cardboard into her designs to add ramps and turns into the fun.

“Take a picture it’ll last longer!” Sherry could hear the voice of her smart mouthed little brothers from the kitchen doorway. Sherry would just roll her eyes and wish she did have a camera. Sherry knew the moment was right to push the first domino when her little weasel siblings would run off to tell their Mother that Sherry was hogging the kitchen again and that if they didn’t eat soon they would surely parish! Sherry loved her brothers use of vocabulary to dramatize their condition.

Reaching down with her bare foot, Sherry extended her big toe just enough to gently tap the first domino and that’s all took. One domino caused hundreds of associated dominos to fall. Click-click-click-click the sound echoed in Sherry’s ears. One persons negligence can case the click- click-click in many others lives…the domino effect.