The Show

In my dream, I was stranded on the edge of an icy lake surrounded by snow-covered mountains and smoothed red clay cliffs, iced over in some parts. It was almost dusk. I called Oxbear, hanging out with his buddy – The Duke – to come get me so I didn’t have to swim for it. Not sure if he made it…

Yali was practically smothered by his eager 3rd grade audience that morning. The Yali-demand was so high, he decided to be shy and buried his head against my neck as the comments came pouring in:

“Oh! He is so CUTE!”

“Can I hold him? Please!”

“He’s so TINY!”

“Yali, let’s put on our show!”

“No, here; watch. This is OUR show.”

“I wish he was MY baby brother.”

Eventually he dished out some happy knuckle bumps to Puck, Snicky, and Mickey, a kiss for Heidi, and a wave to Big J. Quota fulfilled.

An unexpected snow hit us again in the afternoon, caking over the roads. We lingered after school, hoping the salt trucks and plows would get a round in before we left again. Of course this provided another opportunity for Puck, Heidi, and about four other kids to run around Hans’ classroom in a loud display of ridiculousness, also involving a mini trampoline, that definitely kept Yali entertained from his seat on my hip.

Our drive home was just about at the 75-minute mark at the edge of a pink banded sunset behind the snow. Little surprise. The plows and salt trucks hadn’t hid the roads yet, at least not our route. We didn’t mind. It only provided more “think time” – a commodity Puck has also surprisingly valued for a few years now – while listening to some Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road album on Spotify.

“Mom?” Puck asked after awhile, “How many balloons do you think it would take to lift Yali into the air?”

Twelve days into Yali’s yogurt-soup-applesauce diet, he was getting pretty tired of being denied normal food. Tears spilled at the dinner table while Puck consoled him.

“Aw, I know, buddy. I know. Soon, soon. It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s alright, buddy.”

Tears dried.