I wrote this story a number of years ago when my daughter was quite a bit younger than she is now. I quite like this story, actually. To be honest, I’m surprised at the quality. Doesn’t seem much like me. Anyway, I thought I’d share it here because I think it deserves some more views.
Build It To The Sun
“What are you building there, honey?” said Ashley, raising her eyes from her smart phone just enough to verify her daughter was still in the room and that she was playing with something that was neither breakable nor lethal. The prior night had been such a trying one, again, and all she wanted to do was veg. At least her Facebook friends would provide her some sympathy.
“I’m building a ladder to the Sun, Mumma,” answered Sam, a pink spoke amidst a colorful loop of Duplo bricks. “I’m makin’ it real high.”
“That’s nice honey,” Ashley answered. “You do know you can’t really build a ladder all the way to the Sun, though, don’t you?” She was all for imagination, of course. However, preschool was less than a year away and theirs was a house of science, not fancy.
“Yes I can do it,” cried Sam, squeezing a brick with all her strength. “I’m doing it right now.”
“You don’t have enough bricks to build all the way to the Sun sweetie,” said Ashley. Why did they make the keys on phones so tiny anyway, she thought. And were the letters getting smaller and smaller, or had her eyes begun to age like the rest of her body?
“We could buy some more,” said Sam. “I don’t need much more.”
Ashley hit the send button on her status update, waited a moment, and then refreshed the screen, hopeful for the oncoming parade of comments and likes. She skimmed her friend’s status updates, clicking Like here and typing LOL there. “And how would you breathe when your ladder exited the Earth’s atmosphere? There is no air in space, you know. You would need a helmet and oxygen.”
“I have my Dora helmet,” said Sam. “But I don’t wanna wear it.” Now on her tip-toes, she placed a blue block on top of the stack. The blues ones always went on top of the stack.
“Mmm hmm”. Ashley launched her phone’s web browser because Facebook was so dead. Her status update had received just a single Like. Everybody was probably eating breakfast, she figured. She and Sam had done that hours ago, early as always.
This conversation was definitely post-worthy anyway. She contemplated putting away her phone and walking to the office to get the laptop, but she was just… so… tired. The thumb pain would be worth it. She logged into her blogging dashboard.
“Mumma,” said Sam, her voice loud with excitement. “I’m really very close to the Sun now, Mumma.”
“Sammy,” said Ashley, typing a title to her post as fast as she could. “I’m sure you tried very hard but it just isn’t possible. The Sun is just too far away.”
“I know, Mumma,” said Sam. “You said.” She turned the remaining blue brick in her tiny soft left hand. “But could you help me please Mumma?”
“Fine,” Ashley said. Come to think of it she was too tired to write anyway. She would blog later.
Placing her phone in her pocket, Ashley lifted herself off the couch. Stretching her arms, then her legs, she cracked her neck. Then, finally, she looked up at her daughter’s creation. For the first time that morning, she saw.
A winding, mish mashed tower of blocks, thin in some areas and thick in others, was balanced just so against the living room wall. The ladder stretched ever onward to the ceiling ending just below the Sun-patterned border at the top of the wall.
“You were right Sam,” said Ashley with a whisper, kneeling down to kiss the top of her daughter’s head. “You really are close.”
Ashley reached in her pocket and for a moment considered taking a picture, but instead walked to the kitchen and placed her phone in the top drawer. The junk drawer. “Why don’t we finish this up and then get out the play-doh,” she said, dabbing away the tear from the corner of her eye. “Would that be fun?”
“Yes!” replied Sam, clapping her hands. “I’m gonna make a car that can fly to the Moon.”
“That sounds brilliant,” answered Ashley.
The Struggling Writer 