Short Story
One of my Many Childhood Fantasies
I remember back when I was eleven years old, my mother would send me up to bed every single night at 9:30 PM. For many kids, going to bed is a hassle and the worst part of a day. For me, it was quite different. I loved it when my mother sent me up to bed because it gave the opportunity to think to myself and admire the things that many people don’t.
At that point in my life, I was living in a two story barndominium with my mother and father right on the outskirts of a desolate city called Mercedes on the southern peak of Texas. I would spend all days during the summer helping my parents tends to the animals we raised on our property. The farm was mostly to provide for our family, but we would occasionally give away small things such as chicken eggs and fresh milk from our cows.
Most days, I would be working for seven hours at a time, but I didn’t mind because I loved the presence of my family. My mother and father seemed happiest together when working on the farm, so that made me happy, too. At the end of each day my parents would reward me with some pocket change, typically somewhere between twenty and forty cents. I was able to use that money to go down to the local market, they had all of my favorite snacks. Everything from little Ju Ju candies to sliced up fresh honeydew.
After a while of working on the farm, I started to save the money my parents would give me. In no time I had around twenty dollars in change, all dispensed amongst three mason jars. One day I went downstairs to show my parents all of the money I saved. They were very proud of me for being so responsible. I then asked them if we could go out and use the money to buy a telescope. With little conversation, my parents were both okay with it.
Back in that time, you couldn’t go to a local Wal-Mart or Target superstore and buy a telescope. We had to drive about 10 miles away to find a hunting store. When we finally arrived, my parents went to browse the store while I looked for the telescopes. When I found the telescopes my level of excitement went through the ceiling. Looking at all of them, I was fascinated. As I proceeded down the aisle of telescopes, I noticed that all of them costed nearly two to four times more than I had saved up. In disappointment, I left to find my parents. After not finding them for over five minutes, I got worried. The store was big and I had no idea where they went. Eventually, I bumped into them walking back into the store. They told me were right out front getting fresh air. After explaining to them that I didn’t have enough money, they looked at me in disappointment, and we went back home.
By the time we got home, the sun was almost completely down, meaning it was just about time for me to go to bed. Right as we walked in the door, I went upstairs, got my shower, and went to bed. As I laid in bed, I looked out the huge window right next to my bed. Since I lived in a pretty rural area there were no street lights, so I could look out my window and see hundreds of thousands of stars. For some reason, the moon was very bright that night. It illuminated a very pale beam of light into my room, so I decided to close the curtains and go to bed.
The following day I woke up and opened my window. I was surprised when I looked out the window and didn’t see my parents working on the farm. It was even more strange that I woke up to a very potent smell of bananas. I walked downstairs to find my mother sweating over the stove, she was making her homemade banana nut pancakes. As I walked over and gave her a good morning hug, she explained that she had a “surprise” for me. It’s very odd for my parents to surprise me, so I was beyond excited. As she took the last two pancakes off the stove, I sat down at the dinner table and devoured them. They were the most fluffy and moist pancakes I have ever eaten, absolutely amazing. When finished up, she cleaned up the dishes. I went upstairs and got myself dressed for another day on the farm.
When I came back down, my mother and father were sitting in the living room. In front of them stood a very tall box wrapped in balloon-covered wrapping paper. There was also a huge green bow on top. My father told me that this was an early birthday gift. I walked over and stood next to the box, it was almost as tall as me! I began to unwrap it. The more paper that I ripped off, the clearer the image on the box became. There it was, a huge picture of a telescope. I had a smile on my face that nearly stretched from ear to ear. They explained to me that they purchased it when I wasn’t looking, and threw it in the trunk of the car during the time I couldn’t find them in the store. We brought the box upstairs and began to put it together in front of the other window in my bedroom. Unfortunately I could not put it to use because it was still daytime and very bright out.
As the day came to an end and the sun became less visible over the horizon, I became more and more anxious to use the microscope. Around nine o’ clock, it was completely dark out. As I read the owner’s manual, I quickly learned how to function it. Looking through the lens, I was able to see so much more than what I was able to see just by looking through the window. My level of admiration exceeded what it was before. Looking through the tiny hole, I was fascinated by the multiple stars the shined so blissfuly. I then turned the microscope and took a good look at the moon. The sight of something so vast and bright was truly an amazing sight.
As the night went on, I lost track of time and my mother walked in the room. She told me that it was time for me to go to bed. For the first time, I didn’t want to go to bed at my bedtime, but I didn’t give her any grief. As she shut the door and I got under the covers, I looked over at the microscope from my bed and smiled. I was finally able to appreciate things at a greater level because of the microscope. That was probably one of the best days of my life.
At that point in my life, I was living in a two story barndominium with my mother and father right on the outskirts of a desolate city called Mercedes on the southern peak of Texas. I would spend all days during the summer helping my parents tends to the animals we raised on our property. The farm was mostly to provide for our family, but we would occasionally give away small things such as chicken eggs and fresh milk from our cows.
Most days, I would be working for seven hours at a time, but I didn’t mind because I loved the presence of my family. My mother and father seemed happiest together when working on the farm, so that made me happy, too. At the end of each day my parents would reward me with some pocket change, typically somewhere between twenty and forty cents. I was able to use that money to go down to the local market, they had all of my favorite snacks. Everything from little Ju Ju candies to sliced up fresh honeydew.
After a while of working on the farm, I started to save the money my parents would give me. In no time I had around twenty dollars in change, all dispensed amongst three mason jars. One day I went downstairs to show my parents all of the money I saved. They were very proud of me for being so responsible. I then asked them if we could go out and use the money to buy a telescope. With little conversation, my parents were both okay with it.
Back in that time, you couldn’t go to a local Wal-Mart or Target superstore and buy a telescope. We had to drive about 10 miles away to find a hunting store. When we finally arrived, my parents went to browse the store while I looked for the telescopes. When I found the telescopes my level of excitement went through the ceiling. Looking at all of them, I was fascinated. As I proceeded down the aisle of telescopes, I noticed that all of them costed nearly two to four times more than I had saved up. In disappointment, I left to find my parents. After not finding them for over five minutes, I got worried. The store was big and I had no idea where they went. Eventually, I bumped into them walking back into the store. They told me were right out front getting fresh air. After explaining to them that I didn’t have enough money, they looked at me in disappointment, and we went back home.
By the time we got home, the sun was almost completely down, meaning it was just about time for me to go to bed. Right as we walked in the door, I went upstairs, got my shower, and went to bed. As I laid in bed, I looked out the huge window right next to my bed. Since I lived in a pretty rural area there were no street lights, so I could look out my window and see hundreds of thousands of stars. For some reason, the moon was very bright that night. It illuminated a very pale beam of light into my room, so I decided to close the curtains and go to bed.
The following day I woke up and opened my window. I was surprised when I looked out the window and didn’t see my parents working on the farm. It was even more strange that I woke up to a very potent smell of bananas. I walked downstairs to find my mother sweating over the stove, she was making her homemade banana nut pancakes. As I walked over and gave her a good morning hug, she explained that she had a “surprise” for me. It’s very odd for my parents to surprise me, so I was beyond excited. As she took the last two pancakes off the stove, I sat down at the dinner table and devoured them. They were the most fluffy and moist pancakes I have ever eaten, absolutely amazing. When finished up, she cleaned up the dishes. I went upstairs and got myself dressed for another day on the farm.
When I came back down, my mother and father were sitting in the living room. In front of them stood a very tall box wrapped in balloon-covered wrapping paper. There was also a huge green bow on top. My father told me that this was an early birthday gift. I walked over and stood next to the box, it was almost as tall as me! I began to unwrap it. The more paper that I ripped off, the clearer the image on the box became. There it was, a huge picture of a telescope. I had a smile on my face that nearly stretched from ear to ear. They explained to me that they purchased it when I wasn’t looking, and threw it in the trunk of the car during the time I couldn’t find them in the store. We brought the box upstairs and began to put it together in front of the other window in my bedroom. Unfortunately I could not put it to use because it was still daytime and very bright out.
As the day came to an end and the sun became less visible over the horizon, I became more and more anxious to use the microscope. Around nine o’ clock, it was completely dark out. As I read the owner’s manual, I quickly learned how to function it. Looking through the lens, I was able to see so much more than what I was able to see just by looking through the window. My level of admiration exceeded what it was before. Looking through the tiny hole, I was fascinated by the multiple stars the shined so blissfuly. I then turned the microscope and took a good look at the moon. The sight of something so vast and bright was truly an amazing sight.
As the night went on, I lost track of time and my mother walked in the room. She told me that it was time for me to go to bed. For the first time, I didn’t want to go to bed at my bedtime, but I didn’t give her any grief. As she shut the door and I got under the covers, I looked over at the microscope from my bed and smiled. I was finally able to appreciate things at a greater level because of the microscope. That was probably one of the best days of my life.