340 Words on Driving With My Daughter
The other day my daughter Marina and I were on a car ride by ourselves. Usually at least one of her siblings is with us, so it was a rare moment to imagine together. We were on an adventure through the forest. We came across a dragon. When I asked Marina whether she (the dragon) was scary or friendly, Marina said “She’s both.” Fair enough. We approached her with fear and trembling. Would she be friendly, or scary? Uh oh, she was in a scary mood. Lucky for us, we had her favorite food, (jam) in our “pack pack.” Crisis averted. We threw some glitter at her, just to be safe. Off we went, riding on our wagon, pack pack full of treasures, ready to handle whatever came next. “Oh no! Not a swamp!”
How would we get across? Should we just risk it with this wagon? It didn’t look too deep to me. “Oh no, mama, no” Marina insisted. “We can’t drive the wagon across this swamp!”
“Well,” I proposed, “We could always make a boat and float across it, there are plenty of trees and even big leaves we could use to make a boat.” Marina wasn’t having this either.
“No Mama, we can’t make a boat.”
“Hmm.. well, I guess we could swim,” I said. “We only have backpacks and I’m sure we can make it. I’m a great swimmer.” I assured her.
“No, Mama. You can swim, but I haven’t had that many lessons and I don’t have my floaties,” she said.
I am kind of out of ideas here I thought, crankily. And clearly, Marina doesn’t know the first rule of improv. She keeps shutting down my ideas.
“Well, Miss Marina,” I said, if we can’t swim and we can’t make a boat and we can’t float, how do you propose we get across this swamp?”
“Silly Mama. You forgot this wagon can fly.”
Oh, my sweet girl. I did forget that this wagon can fly. Adults always forget.
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Word Count: 340
#WritersWrite and I write almost every day. Sometimes share my thoughts publicly in this series called “500 Words or Less” This practice allows me to explore a variety of different topics in a restrained/contained way and learn what resonates with people. I wrote it, not AI. If you share, please give proper credit. © Traci Smith, 2023. All Rights Reserved.