Empowerment. Engagement. Authenticity.
Imaginings - How Stuff Works
“Will these help, Mommy?”
“Help what, darling?”
“My eyes work.”
One hand enjoying the prickly grass under his fingers, Tommy holds out
the batteries from his fire truck in his other palm. He nudges his toy
with a sandaled foot. “The siren in my truck won’t work and the men
inside don’t talk. Batteries make that stuff happen. Maybe batteries can
make my eyes work.”
“No, sweetie.” Tommy hears the smile in Mommy’s voice. She ruffles his
hair and he sniffs her perfume. “The wires in your head that make your
eyes work are broken.”
Tommy thinks about this for a few minutes. He remembers the time he took
apart his Brailler. There were so many cool wires and springs! But when
he put it back together, the keys wouldn’t press down. Boy, Daddy got
mad. He said Tommy had broken the wires inside and now they would have
to buy a new Brailler.
“Can I buy new eyes from the store where we got my new Brailler?” he
asks. When Mommy starts to cry, Tommy hugs her as tight as he can and
asks a happy question. “Mommy, what does the sun look like?” They are in
their backyard and the sun is warm on Tommy’s face. It feels like the
kitchen when Mommy is cooking. “Is the sun a stove?”
“Nope.” Mommy laughs. “It’s a huge light bulb.”
Daddy showed Tommy a light bulb once. It felt like a fat head with a
tiny neck. “Does it need batteries?”
“Nope. It works like the radio that needs a long cord.”
“A humungous cord to light up the whole world!” Tommy giggles. He’s not
supposed to touch cords. One time he pulled a cord from the wall and
stuck a fork in the slot. It made his fingers hurt. “Things with cords
never need batteries, right?” he says as an idea pops into his head. “So
maybe I could get a cord for my eyes!”
Mommy takes the batteries from him and he hears her put them back in the
fire truck. He pushes the siren to make sure it still works. He doesn’t
want the wires in his fire truck to break. He smells something like fire
and knows Daddy has started the barbecue.
“I’ll keep the fire truck right here ready to rescue you, Daddy!” he
calls.
(c) Kristy Kassie, 2016
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Imaginings
A character's imagination can add humour and
perspective to a story.
