Stephen handed the box to his niece. Jamie put Peter's coffin aside. It was a wooden box It was, of course, all covered with dirt. There wasn't anything extraordinary about it. It might have been a jewelry box once, he guessed. On the lid, there was a monogram engraved.It was locked.
"What could be in it?" Jamie wondered. She was trying to break the lock. She shook and something rattled inside.
Stephen shrugged his shoulders to indicate that he didn't know. "Let's just finish Peter's funeral, then find out," he suggested.Remembering what they were actually doing in the garden in the first place saddened Jamie's face. For a while there, she forgot about Peter. She let go of the box and picked up Peter's coffin.
They buried Peter on the hole he digged. The hole was just big enough to be the fish's final resting place. He placed the box there.Jamie helped him cover up the hole. "Can you say a few words, please" the girl requested. He wanted to laugh again. He has never presided over a funeral before, and a fish's at that.
Still he said, "To Peter, who have joined his creator. You have been a great friend and will be greatly missed."He heard little Jamie sob. He was glad there was nobody else at home. That speech could have won him a lot of attention for days.Attention that would include name calling and laughing.
"Now that, that's over let's go wash up." He held the girl by the hand and led her towards the house.
"The box," Jamie said, losing free of his grip and picked it up from where she left it a few moments ago."How are we going to open it?" she inquired. This time it was she who took his hand and led him towards the house.
"It's easy to pick, I think," he answered. It wasn't a complicated lock. A handy screw driver or a hammer may do. He saw something sparkle in the child's eye. Poor Peter, already forgotten. Maybe everyone of us likes mystery in one form or another. Puzzles, detective stories and the like. We like to be intrigued. We like our minds to be challenged.
"How long will it take?" There was excitement on her voice. So much like when she's about to open her presents during Christmas or her birthday.
"Not long," Stephen answered.
>>to be continued
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label childhood. Show all posts
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Time Capsule Part 1
"Can you dig me a hole in the garden?" That small voice was followed by a persistent shaking of his limbs.
"What?" he asked, now half awake. He didn't realize he fell asleep on the couch until his niece woke him up.
"Please Tito,"the little girl pleaded and stroked his hair with her little hands. Even he could not resist that cuteness.
"What do you need a hole for?"he asked, sat up and put the child on his lap.
"Peter went to heaven. He needs a funeral." Her voice was sad, she was holding back her tears. Maybe all kids get sad when their pets die but this one wants her uncle to dig a hole in the garden to bury a goldfish.Stephen was tempted to ask her to just flush Peter down the toilet. It would both save them some time and effort.
And what is this 'went to heaven thing' and Peter, what a funny name to give a fish. He looked at Jamie on his lap, waiting for his answer. He swallowed those words. It would only break the kid's already broken heart. Her dad gave Peter as a birthday gift and she has took care of him well, but all life has got to end. That is a reality. A friend of his once told him, that a person can grasp the meaning of death easier if he or she had pets as a kid. "Okay, let's get a trowel."
The garden isn't a real one. It's just a piece of land in front of the porch that has a lot of weeds growing in it. They just moved to this house and nobody has the time nor the heart to start gardening. Celine, his sister and Jamie's mom, never had a green thumb anyway. He couldn't expect Lander, his brother-in-law, who was always away on a business trip, to care about plants.There are still a few santan bushes but maybe once upon a time, that garden was filled with orchids or roses or other flowering things.
"Where do you want a hole?" he asked Jamie. The kid was now carrying a chocolate box. It's her childish version of a coffin. He smiled and thought that it is a long time ago when he was a kid himself.
"Anywhere, just make it deep, please," Jamie requested.
"All right. I'll dig here near the bushes so that you'll know where to visit Peter," he answered and almost broke into laughter. He wanted to laugh at himself for playing along with his niece.
He had to wet the soil before he could start digging. It was easy, they had a garden hose. Lander bought the property just a few months back and they just moved in two weeks ago but maybe nobody has lived in that house for years. He started digging and smelled the freshly turned earth. He almost forgot what it smelled like. He dug a hole that he thought would fit the box. Jamie wouldn't want Peter to be buried without his coffin,she was watching the whole time.
I'll just pretened I'm digging a treasure, he thought. After few scoops, the trowel struck something hard. He thought it was a rock. He tried to pull it out. It came out easy, with very little resistance. "What is it Tito?" Jamie asked.
"It's a box." he answered and thought:"Did a little girl used to live here a long time ago? And did she bury her dead gold fish on the same spot Jamie will bury Peter?"
>>to be continued
"What?" he asked, now half awake. He didn't realize he fell asleep on the couch until his niece woke him up.
"Please Tito,"the little girl pleaded and stroked his hair with her little hands. Even he could not resist that cuteness.
"What do you need a hole for?"he asked, sat up and put the child on his lap.
"Peter went to heaven. He needs a funeral." Her voice was sad, she was holding back her tears. Maybe all kids get sad when their pets die but this one wants her uncle to dig a hole in the garden to bury a goldfish.Stephen was tempted to ask her to just flush Peter down the toilet. It would both save them some time and effort.
And what is this 'went to heaven thing' and Peter, what a funny name to give a fish. He looked at Jamie on his lap, waiting for his answer. He swallowed those words. It would only break the kid's already broken heart. Her dad gave Peter as a birthday gift and she has took care of him well, but all life has got to end. That is a reality. A friend of his once told him, that a person can grasp the meaning of death easier if he or she had pets as a kid. "Okay, let's get a trowel."
The garden isn't a real one. It's just a piece of land in front of the porch that has a lot of weeds growing in it. They just moved to this house and nobody has the time nor the heart to start gardening. Celine, his sister and Jamie's mom, never had a green thumb anyway. He couldn't expect Lander, his brother-in-law, who was always away on a business trip, to care about plants.There are still a few santan bushes but maybe once upon a time, that garden was filled with orchids or roses or other flowering things.
"Where do you want a hole?" he asked Jamie. The kid was now carrying a chocolate box. It's her childish version of a coffin. He smiled and thought that it is a long time ago when he was a kid himself.
"Anywhere, just make it deep, please," Jamie requested.
"All right. I'll dig here near the bushes so that you'll know where to visit Peter," he answered and almost broke into laughter. He wanted to laugh at himself for playing along with his niece.
He had to wet the soil before he could start digging. It was easy, they had a garden hose. Lander bought the property just a few months back and they just moved in two weeks ago but maybe nobody has lived in that house for years. He started digging and smelled the freshly turned earth. He almost forgot what it smelled like. He dug a hole that he thought would fit the box. Jamie wouldn't want Peter to be buried without his coffin,she was watching the whole time.
I'll just pretened I'm digging a treasure, he thought. After few scoops, the trowel struck something hard. He thought it was a rock. He tried to pull it out. It came out easy, with very little resistance. "What is it Tito?" Jamie asked.
"It's a box." he answered and thought:"Did a little girl used to live here a long time ago? And did she bury her dead gold fish on the same spot Jamie will bury Peter?"
>>to be continued
Barbie Bride
"Have you ever owned a Ken doll?" She laughed at the question. What did it have to do with her current predicament anyway.
"That's really your plan, then," she said then shipped her now-cold coffee. "To bring me out here and ask if I ever owned a Ken doll".
He smiled back, sipped some coffee himself. "Most parents buy little girls Barbie dolls in wedding dresses, but not a lot buy a groom to go with it."
She paused, didn't know what else to say. Yes, she remembered having a Barbie doll in a wedding dress. That pretty little doll and her doll house and her top-down car and all her pink thngs. Yes, she remembers that. At age five, she found out that people get married, and at that same age, she feared growing old alone. The fear often accompanied by nightmares of an old version of herself, sitting on a rocking chair, all alone and lifeless.
How could a person like this know of such things. She technically just met him; him and all the weird stuff about him. "Let's stop talking about dolls,shall we?"
"That's really your plan, then," she said then shipped her now-cold coffee. "To bring me out here and ask if I ever owned a Ken doll".
He smiled back, sipped some coffee himself. "Most parents buy little girls Barbie dolls in wedding dresses, but not a lot buy a groom to go with it."
She paused, didn't know what else to say. Yes, she remembered having a Barbie doll in a wedding dress. That pretty little doll and her doll house and her top-down car and all her pink thngs. Yes, she remembers that. At age five, she found out that people get married, and at that same age, she feared growing old alone. The fear often accompanied by nightmares of an old version of herself, sitting on a rocking chair, all alone and lifeless.
How could a person like this know of such things. She technically just met him; him and all the weird stuff about him. "Let's stop talking about dolls,shall we?"
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