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News Satire and Funny Photos.
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What We're Doing Right Now ...
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Written by Rick Taubold
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Monday, 10 November 2008 |
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  Jay looks up at the sky. It's a good day. The gray, winter clouds are thinning, and it's not as cold as it has been. He kneels and sets his journal on the ground in front of him. "Beautiful Dreams and Warm Memories" he has written on the cover. It's full of stories he's gathered, some from his own memories. He's chosen his favorites. He pauses before he opens the cover, then flips to the first bookmarked page.
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MAY 1985
Ricky is five. The swing is one of his favorites:
"Push harder, Daddy. Make me go higher!"
"Not too high," Mommy says. "Hold on tight or you'll fall."
On his first day of school:
Ricky and Mommy get out of the car and he starts crying. "I don't want to leave you, Mommy."
Mommy hugs him and starts crying too. "You'll have fun and make new friends."
"I'll be good, Mommy."
She wipes away his tears. "I know you will. You're a big boy now."
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AUGUST 1987
Ricky is seven. The pony ride:
After the ride is over, Ricky and Jay come up to Mommy. Jay is five and very smart for his age. "The ponies smell, Mommy," Ricky says. Mommy wrinkles her nose. Jay pushed Ricky backwards into the pony poop, but Ricky doesn't tell on Jay because Mommy says that older brothers should set a good example for their younger brothers.
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 FEBRUARY 1988
Ricky is eight. Daddy sometimes brings home surprises:
"Were my boys good today?" Daddy asks when he comes in the door. They squeal and run to him.
Daddy puts the puppy down. Its paws slip on the wooden floor as it scrambles its way toward them and pounces on Ricky first.
Ricky tells Jay to name it. Jay scrunches up his face, thoughtful. "Chocolate chip. He looks like a big chocolate chip." Then Jay says, "He'll be our Buddy."
Ricky uses some of his allowance to buy Buddy a squeaky toy. It's Buddy's favorite. Ricky loves animals. None of the neighborhood dogs ever bark at him.
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JUNE 1989
Ricky is nine:
"Eric Steven! How did mud get all over my car?" Mommy calls Ricky by his real full name when he's in big trouble. Then she makes him sit in the corner for the rest of his life.
"Jay made mud pies and dared me to hit him," Ricky says.
"I don't see any mud on Jay."
"He ducked."
"You stay right here, Mister."
She goes into the garage. Ricky doesn't dare smile because mothers have eyes in the back of their head. She returns with the wash bucket and sponge. When she says he has to wax the car, too, he tells her he'd rather sit in the corner for the rest of his life.
"Make Jay help."
"He's too young, and you're supposed to set a good example for your brother." He hears that a lot.
Jay laughs while he watches Ricky wash the car.
When Ricky says he'll squirt Jay with the hose, Jay reminds him of that temper tantrum when he was six--
Ricky didn't want to go to school that day and wouldn't get dressed and said he'd pee on the floor. Mommy grabbed her yardstick and smacked him across his bare butt. "Now, get ready for school!" He came home that day with a bloody nose from the bully kid who had punched him. Mommy said she was sorry for spanking him instead of asking why he wanted to stay home.
Two hours later, Ricky is done waxing the car. Mommy's big silver-blue Chevy shines. He says his arms have never been so tired. When they go back in the house, Jay smells cookies. Some of them are burnt. Mommy tells Ricky to change his wet clothes first. By the time Ricky comes back, Jay has already eaten the best cookies.
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APRIL 4, 1993
Ricky is thirteen:
He decides to walk home from school today. It's only half a mile, and it's the first beautiful day of spring. A neighbor's dog--one of his favorites--is lying injured at the roadside. Ricky stops to help. The driver of the car doesn't see Ricky kneeling there.
# # #
Jay closes his journal. He brushes away the light snow from the gravestone and lays the flowers he has brought across it. "Dream well, big brother. Happy twenty-first birthday." |
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Rick Taubold
