Status: short story

Day of Fun?

one

“Dylan, get your head back in the car!” My Dad barked at me around the cigar hanging from his mouth. He flicked up the tip of his hat that had slipped down as he stirred our fancy new station wagon around a curve in the road.

“But, Dad, I can’t help it,” I said. “I’m just so excited!”

“You’re always excited,” Susie, my little sister, snapped. At eight years old, she thought she was smarter than anyone else. Simu-ltaneously, she rolled her eyes at me and popped her fresh stick of bubble gum. Susie was really good at that.

“And you, Dan, what do you think you’re doing back there?”

Dan, my twin older brother, momentarily stopped making rude gestures at the car behind us. Dan always kept his curly red hair longer than mine so it flapped all about in the breeze as he turned to address our Dad. “There’s this ugly girl behind us who kept smiling at me all weird. Then I made faces at her and she started crying.” He laughed snidely. “It’s hilarious!”

The sun was bright and refreshing as it washed through the window and onto my granny’s face in the backseat with Dan. “Why don’t you sit down and quit bullying that poor girl.”

“Nah. This boy, Bobbie, at school told me that if you’re mean to a girl, she’ll like you.”

“And how many girls have been chasing after this Bobbie?”

“Um . . .”

“My point exactly.” Granny settled back into her seat, her hands folded delicately over her bag, looking satisfied.

From the front seat, my little brother, John, giggled merrily and pointed at Dan. “Beat you!” He garbled in his three year old speech. “Beat you, beat you!”

“Enough!” Dad roared, a vein bulging in his forehead. “Shut up, all of you!”

“We only have about an hour left ‘til we reach the lake. ”In the passenger seat, my mother shifted John in her lap so she could look at us better. I had a running theory that my mother was the kindest, most gentle person in the world. So far, I hadn’t met anyone as nice as her. “Can all of you try being good ‘till then? For me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” all the kids answered automatically. No one ever said no to our Mama.

“That means for you to sit your butt down, Dylan,” Dad ordered again.

Sheepishly, I sat down in my seat, pulling our dog, Skippy, into my lap with me.

It was a beautiful summer day in 1952. About a month ago, a new lake marina had opened up for the public. This was the first time we were going and I was practically bursting with excitement. I couldn’t wait to swim through the water and fly kites. Mom had even made a special picnic lunch for us to eat once we got there. I bet it was going to taste great.

We drove on. The scenery was great and I loved the wind blowing on my face, I loved days like this. They always made me so happy.

“Dad,” Susie whined after about an hour. “Shouldn’t we have gotten there by now?”

My father’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Yeah, according to the map, we should be.” He glanced down at the paper again, unsure.

“It’s already 2 o’clock” Dan informed us. “The lake closes at five.”

“Maybe the map is out of date, Barney,” Mom said. “Should we stop and ask for directions?”

“I’ll get us there so quit you’re nagging!”

She sighed, turning to stare out the window. “If you say so, Barney.”

We drove on down the highway for another two hours. After awhile, we started noticing places we’d already passed. We were going in circles. My dad looked like he was about ready to rip the map to shreds for all the good it was doing him. I began to feel nervous. What if we didn’t get there? What if we got completely lost and couldn’t find our way back? These were big things to worry about for a nine year old.

Susie, who had been sitting in her seat stewing for several hours, sat up abruptly next to me. Her eyes narrowed to slits and her gum popped overtime. I thought she was finally going to sprout claws for real this time.

“Dad,” she said and her voice could rip apart flesh. “That map you’re holding?”

“Yes, what about it?” he asked impatiently, glancing down at the article in question for the billionth time.

“It’s upside down.”

Everything in the car froze. Literally. My father’s foot hit the break and we all slammed forwards. We would have been run over if the road we had wandered to wasn’t so disserted.

Carefully, dad looked over the map, staring at it harder than before. Then, slowly, he turned it over. “Oh. So it is.”

All at the same time, everyone started shouting at him. Granny, Susie, and Dan were calling for blood. Skippy barked happily over all of the excitement. Mom and John laughed. I felt like I was going to puke.

“Aw, shut up, all of you!” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think my beast of a father was blushing. “We’re going, we’re going!”

By the time we finally found the highway again and made it to the lake, we found the place to be closing. We all got out, staring at an attendant flip the open sign to close. I sighed, wishing I could cry. But I didn’t because tough boys didn’t cry.

I wandered off away from my family with Skippy at my heels. I didn’t feel like being near any of them for another minute let alone the next three hours it would take to get back home.

“Hey, it’s okay,” I heard a voice say from behind me. A girl stood there in her swimsuit. She was pretty, and seemed to be a few years younger then me. She smiled sweetly at me, holding out her hand. In her open palm was a shell that she must have somehow found at the lake. I didn’t know how though since the lake was man-made.

“I know you’re sad, so you can have this pretty shell I found. So be happy, okay?’

Dazed, I took the shell from her and nodded. She grinned like she’d fulfilled some sort of task. “Well. Bye then!”

And with that she ran away, to where I could see a couple who must have been her parents waiting by a car across the parking lot.

“Dylan! Come on, slow poke, we’re going home!” I heard Dan call out to me from the station wagon. Tucking the shell in my pocket, I glanced back once more at the girl before running over to my family.

That evening, we drove back home, everyone in the car tired and disappointed. Dan, John, and my mom all fell asleep. Dad seemed to be breaking the speed limit in his haste to get home. Granny seemed as composed as always. Even Susie’s bubbles weren’t as big as before.

I was the only one who had a smile on my face. I looked at the window with Skippy, wondering when would be the next time we could go to the lake.

I felt the shell sitting in my pocket and grinned wider, satisfied with the day.

Who knows- maybe next time that girl will be there again.