Tally Quick

Puck’s morning started with a bowl of cereal and a – “Dad? Would you give me permission to spawn pigs?” This would, naturally, be a surprising inquiry from any five year-old. Prior to the genesis of “Minecraft”, that is… We live in an age of space. Beyond space. Which is why we limit his crafting of mines to Saturdays or Sundays.

It was still a dark, green world out there. Cold mornings. It was time.

“Mom?”

Puck slurged into the hallway strapped to his roller-skates.

“Yes, Puck?”

“The yolk of the egg fell onto the floor.”

Hard-boiled eggs for snacks – too easy.

“Pick it up, wash it off, and eat it.”

“I can’t, Mom.”

Now it’s my turn to ask all the questions.

“Why?”

“Because it’s all crushed up.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I rolled my skates over it.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because it was disgusting.”

That’s where the interrogation logically ends.

“Go pick it up.”

“Ok… Mom…”

A pair of dejected roller-skates scoots back down the hall.

When I returned to the kitchen two minutes later, there was decimated powdered egg everywhere, and the broom had somehow landed down the basement steps.

“It didn’t work, Mom.”

We kicked things off shortly after eight that evening. Sparkling blueberry juice and sparkling cider. Ice cream sandwiches. Indiana girls’ high school varsity basketball movie. Crackers cat-walked the top of the cement wall until Joe coaxed her back down.

Somewhere a train whistled in the night.