Cherry Red Popsicle

The cherry popsicle was melting onto the boardwalk. Dad was ignoring all the tugging at his hand so she could stop the melting. Dad stopped causing her to run into his legs. This had been happening all day. Dad said mom had family in town but mom’s family was scary. They were loud and mean, but mom was always nice and sweet. Mom had always said people got loud because they cared, maybe they were just loud so mom would talk back to them. Mom never talked back to her, except when dad gave messages from her. Dad wanted to come to the boardwalk for some bonding time, he packed clothes into her backpack so they could go on a vacation together. The boardwalk was just the beginning of their fun! The crowd was thick, the popsicle wasn’t going to survive without a napkin.

The white napkin fluttering in the wind from a nearby cotton candy stand had caught her attention, while her father frantically looked for someone in the craziness of the boardwalk crowd. She tugged and tugged with all her little strength until her hand slipped free and she slipped through the chaos only to be knocked over short of her goal. She stood with watery eyes over her lost popsicle and turned to where her father was only to see him hugging a large man. He didn’t look happy to see the man and her father must have had a cherry popsicle too because his was dripping onto her shoes. Dad dropped after the large man let him go, maybe his shoe was untied.

The pushing, shoving, angry crowd carried the little girl away from dad and the large, ugly man, with a face like an ogre from a storybook, who turned to watch her be swept away. Dad really needed to be more careful, his popsicle was all over his shirt. A metal bench under an umbrella was a nice quiet oasis out of the crushing crowd. Her mother had always told her to stay put and mommy would always find her. Hopefully, mommy could find her even though mommy had to go away to be with God. Maybe dad could take her to see mommy when he found her.

A woman with gray hair and nice eyes sat beside her to share her quiet spot. A fairy godmother here to help. She fixed the long brown hair so it was no longer coming out of the butterfly clips. The fairy godmother looked worried but said she was calling for friends to help the little girl out. The friends would be there soon and could help her and dad! The friends came with lights on, pretty blues and flashing reds, but they were loud so loud. Loud is never good, loud is what dad gets when he’s angry then apologizes cause he was worried. These friends must be very worried with how loud they were. They talked to the fairy godmother and took her backpack over to their blue and red flashing car.

           They had a nice car with a little seat that was perfectly little girl sized and drove away from the fairy godmother to a place that was large called a station. The ride was cold and the friends didn’t seem to want to hear about her lost popsicle. The fairy godmother needed to make a better carriage for her friends. The station was not nice. It was cold and too bright and uncomfortable. All the friends in the station dressed the same. Maybe their dad likes to match too. They asked questions and seemed mad that dad’s name was dad. They didn’t understand that dad needed to clean the red popsicle off his shirt. They took the backpack and pulled out all the stuff. It wasn’t very nice of them. They just kept asking things and getting loud after all the answers.

A lady had a picture of dad on her screen. She was very scared when I looked at him. The lady was so sad because I was happy, they knew him. Apparently, dad’s name is John Doe but dad is much better. Also grownups get angry when you use grown up names for them. They got loud again after that. The plastic chair was uncomfortable so I grabbed my bear and went to go find a better place to sit. It was very loud in the station so the outside was much quieter so outside was best. The friends could find me outside when they found dad.

           A nice man held the door open while dragging in a tall guy that looked vaguely like a mouse. The man didn’t smell very good and my nose began to burn. He must be hurt so that’s why the friends had to carry him in. Maybe after they help him, they can fix dad’s shirt. Some friends fix shirts, like dad’s lady friend that he says helps him clean his room. Another friends yelled at me to go away when he carried in another hurt person so I decided to find somewhere else to wait for dad.

            The bench is where the friends found me so that’s where they will tell dad to find me.  There were new friends along the way in a little street near a big building, who had little girl food and blankets. They had a big fire coming out of a big can that was very hot. They got loud when I tried to touch it. I yawned and my eyes were achy. No naps for big little girls, but it was dark so I could sleep. The ground was hard and there was no blanket but it was like camping. Camping was something big girls got to do. The fire was warm and the light would keep the bad guys away. My body felt heavy, maybe when I wake up I can go to the bench. Dad should be at the bench in the morning, hopefully he cleaned off the popsicle.