Three Strings of Lightbulbs

“So how was it? How did it look?”

The floors were clean. Yes, they were very clean. And it was like you said, clean is safe. Everything was too bright, I wanted to sleep. I don’t know why mom wanted us to go there so bad. 

“Was it pretty?”

I guess it was. It had high chairs. Some blue, other orange, others yellow. Ours were blue, orange, yellow, and red. And it had lightbulbs. We sat down under four strings full of lightbulbs. But, the second string was busted, so they wouldn’t turn on. But it was ok.

“Good. Now tell me about it.”

It was a very long drive. But we got there alright. I was looking at the cars in the window from where we sat down. “Benny!” Mom said, “They have chocolate cake over here… Two chocolate cakes please.”

“Was it any good?”

I didn’t want any cake, I told her, but she just told my dad to help me sit properly. The chairs were very high up. “But you love cakes.” She said, so I just nodded. I get too tired to talk. It was weird that she wanted cake before dinner. Mom would never let us eat sweets before dinner. Besides, dad doesn’t like chocolate that much. She seemed pretty happy. It was weird. 

I kept looking out the window. The cars were very fast. There were blue cars, grey cars, black cars. A lot of cars. The street was very wide. There were four lanes but one was under construction. The second one. 

“Are you sure?”

Yes. I think so. 

“Keep going.”

I was looking at the cars running. I was getting sleepy. But, mom started calling me “Benny! Benny!” And two chocolate cakes were on the table. “Look Benn- Thank you- Look! There’s soccer on the TV.” But the cars began to stop. Well, some were moving, others were just going slowly. And well, there was an ambulance. And everything felt sweaty and wrong. But mom called me, “Look! The red whatsitcalled- the team! The red team.” Dad interrupted, “Red is your favorite color ain’t it?” But, he was wrong.

“What’s your favorite color then?”

Blue. Like the blue chairs. Like the blue cars. And he asked why I put the hoodie on the chair. And I told him. Plus, the chair looked very empty.

“What color was the chair?”

Blue.

“So, Benny!” Mom said. “You haven’t touched your cake!” I had to tell her I didn’t like it. “Are you sleepy?” She asked, but she knows I didn’t sleep at night. I saw the waitress coming so I kept looking at the cars. There were a lot of blue cars. 

“No beer for you.” Is what I heard. It was a bit loud. She looked at me and asked, “Don’t you like the soccer team on the TV? You know, if you get back on the team, you can be like them.”

“Do you want to get back on the kid’s soccer team?”

No. I don’t like soccer. I wanted to go home. But she kept talking about soccer. I kept looking at the cars. They were eating dinner. No food for me, I wasn’t hungry.

“Did you like the area of the restaurant?”

Yes. I told her I did. That made her happy. She never took us somewhere so far. And dad would always be working. So I knew it was weird. Everything is weird now.

“Do you still feel weird?”

Yes. She asked me if I liked the houses. I said yes. “Look at those dear.” She said. “You see that house over there? It has a lot of Mums, the tiny ones are red poppys, and the yello-” “He doesn’t care about flowers.” Dad said. Mom went quiet. “I like mums.” It made her happy that I liked them. But I lied. I know you said lying is bad, but she was happy. 

“Didn't you eat anything?”

No. She wanted me to. But I wasn’t hungry. Dad ate my cake, but he didn’t like it. She said that I can try the cake again another day. “You know,” she said, “Your dad and I were thinking about getting a house here.” 

“How do you feel about that?”

I don’t know. She said the house would be smaller. Two rooms instead of three. She promised to take me there to see it before they buy it. Maybe get a puppy so the house wouldn’t feel so empty. But I don’t want a puppy.

“What would you like so that the house doesn’t feel too empty?”

Doesn’t matter, I can’t have it either way. She said that I should go to school again. But like, a different school, so that I can meet new kids and make new friends, and feel better. She said she wants me to be happy. 

“Do you think that would make you happy?”

I don’t know. Maybe. I asked if I could paint my room blue too, and she got sad. But then I asked if she would have Mums in the garden, she said she didn’t know because it might not be appropriate. Dad asked for the check, but mom got worried that I didn’t eat. Then they started arguing.

“Why?”

I don’t know, I didn’t listen. Dad says it is rude to listen when they fight. I looked at the cars.

“You sure like cars, do your parents have cars?”

Yeah. There are three cars in my house, but they’re selling the third one. They said they could buy me a bike, and that I need to play outside again. But then we left. I looked up to see the light bulbs, but the second string of lightbulbs were still off. So there were only three. There were a lot of three’s. There were three empty cups on the table. They looked like the glasses that viking would drink from. 

“So then, you left, right?”

Yeah. Mom paid, but she let us go ahead. We got inside the car and she took her sweet time, or well, that’s what my dad said. She came with a bag, and dad got angry. I thought they were going to fight again so I layed down.

“Did you take a nap?”

No. I just started to think.

“Think about what?”

That I want the new house to have four strings of lightbulbs.

-By LcW