“What? What he said about you guys? Yeah…it was mean…but it’s not his fault. He can’t see you.
“What? Yeah, I wish he could see you, too, Modine. Huh? Hey – that’s a good idea, Petey!”
Davey pulled the wishbone out of his jeans pocket, and held on to one prong of it. The other end he extended to the thin air, as though offering it to someone.
“Who’s gonna pull with me? You are? Okay, you got it? Wait – make a wish. I wish…I wish Dad could see you. I wish he could see all of you!”
Davey screwed his eyes shut, and pulled back his hand.
Maybe, somewhere far overhead, a shooting star swept across the sky. Maybe there was an angel that flew by on silent wings, or some unseen fairy sprinkling pixie dust. Or perhaps it was just the power of one little boy's dreams, enough power to roll up all the magic of childhood in one sweet, short burst. Whatever the explanation, something incredible happened.
If only there had been no tablecloth. If only Jeff and Granny Jobson had been able to see.
Because as Davey pulled his end of the wishbone back to the breaking point, the other end stayed dead still in the air…almost as if someone were actually holding it.
***
Jeff looked up at Granny Jobson, and tried to inject some levity. “Well, if having a significant other is so great, why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
Seeing that the conversation had come to an end, and feeling that she may have pushed a little hard into sensitive areas, Granny complied. “When I want a hairy, smelly beast I have to feed all the time, I’ll get a horse, thank you very much.”
At that very second, the tablecloth in the next room exploded and Davey sailed through the air, screeching, “I WON! I WON! I WON! I WON!”
After Jeff scraped himself off the kitchen ceiling, he watched Davey madly circle the kitchen table then shoot into the hallway towards the front end of the house. “I WON! I WON! I WON! I WON!”
As the “I won’s” finally faded, and muted footsteps pounded the stairs to the second floor, Jeff turned to Granny Jobson. “Well, minus the hairy part, you’ve already got one.” He stood up with a groan and headed for the stairs. “Time to put somebody on Ritalin.”
As Jeff walked away, there was no reason he would have checked under the dining room table. So he did not notice the short piece of wishbone, still lying on the floor.
***
“Good heavens, Jeffrey, what was that all about?”
“It was Davey.” Jeff walked on by, as though that were all the explanation necessary.
“Well could you please keep him down to a low roar? Your father and I are trying to sleep.”
<< previous page | next page >>
Copyright © 2008 Darren Pillsbury. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment