Sunday, March 16, 2008

The Return of the pitiful and Wretched Child

( a continuation...part three)

Away the family went, excited to see what the next part of their adventure entailed. After a short drive the car pulled into another parking lot. Again there were many vehicles in the parking lot. The children were very pumped! Their bouncing up and down in the back seat shook the whole car. They scrambled from window to window. Seat belts were not used during this era so there were no restraints at all to contain the extreme enthusiasm of the children. When their father opened the door the kids rolled out onto the pavement!

This time, there was a multitude of children present. Squirming, squealing masses of bright easter dresses, lace socks and ringlets darted to and fro. Jumping, leaping and yet well scrubbed boys shouted exuberance. The girl looked out over the expansive lawn of the park that was before her. A long bright ribbon was stretched out from one end of the park to the other end. Just enough space was allowed to contain all the children behind the ribbon.

The girls mother herded her children into the crowd of children. "When the officials cut the ribbon, run as fast as you can. Keep hold of your little brother. Find an Easter Egg for each of you and return here as soon as you do. You are only allowed to keep one egg. Some of the eggs have prizes in them" the mother instructed.

A man shouted in a huge booming voice "Ready...Set...Go!"

A mass of knees, legs and elbows flew across the ribbon. The girl held her little brother close and tried to avoid being trampled. The two of them ran as fast as two year old legs could travel. She gave her brother credit. He was up for the challenge and when the girl cried "Run!" he seemed to pump his short legs faster.

All the time the girl was searching the area and hoping against hope to spot some eggs that the other children may have passed by in their greedy haste. She spotted a clump of bushes. "Crawl in there." she ordered her brother. "I don't think I can fit."

" The little guy scooted into the shrubbery. "Can you see anything?' She asked her voice a little shrill with tension. Branches shook. She heard a muffled reply " Mine!" he said. "Did you find anything ? How many?" She cried. The boy answered "Two...six..nine." The girl shook her head and laughed. Her little brother was very cute. She got down onto her stomach and tried to wiggle her way into the bushes. She got her head in far enough to see. There were two eggs. "Hand the eggs out to me" she commanded. Her brother replied "Mine!" The girl did some quick calculations in her head. She decided that the best way to get her brother to come out of the secure nest the shrubs gave him was to agree with him. This tactic pacified the boy and he crawled his way out clutching the treasure. The girl noticed that she had gotten her dress dirty from her contact with the ground and her brother had brought a large amount of grime with him from his trip into the bushes. She didn't think the spit wash was going to be of much help and hoped that her mother would realize this as well.

They made their way back to their parents. At this time the girl's father managed to remove one of the eggs from her brothers tightly clutched hand. The suspense was getting to the girl. "Can we open them now?" She asked. Her father nodded his head in affirmation. Quickly the children opened their eggs. Their shoulders sagged only a little as one by one they saw that their eggs were hallow. Their disappointment was short lived. While the eggs may have been hallow, they were still very tastey! The girl already knew that chocolate had near magical qualities.



















*Just a little commentary here regarding the authors ability to remember the color of the three quarter length jacket: "O.K. ! So the jacket is light blue and not navy! The gloves are not present because they got messy from the attempted try of gaining access to the shrubbery! The little lace socks and shiny shoes are cut out. Sigh!"

*The story is still not over! The fat lady (moi) has not sang. I have not wrote "the end" yet.

6 comments:

Eve said...

Ah, the magical chocolate eggs of Easter. I thought sure you were going to report that your brother had robbed a bird's nest! :D I love the picture - so typical of th era.

Margaret said...

What a great story and for you, a great memory. This is the kind of thing childhood is made of. I love it.

Fluffy said...

When I was little my mother and grandmother used to make chocolate eggs. They were so good. When my kids were little, I experimented with various flavors and colors. They turned out great, too. Now, my daughter makes them.

Sue said...

Great story Chris. I was hoping that your egg had a treasure and that you still had it. Oh well. the picture is a pretty good treasure. You look like each of your kids but mostly Mikey.

Momisodes said...

What a wonderful recount :) And that picture is darling! Your post is getting me all excited for the weekend!

Can't wait to read the rest.

Jientje said...

Yes it is such a great story, I agree with Sandy! It's like I'm right there with you, I can feel the branches of those shrubby bushes itching, and I can smell the chocolate!
I did not have time to sit down and read the whole story yet, sorry I'm so late!