Donovan Kelly
Crummy But Good Writer with a Lighter Touch
I began talking to fruit when our grandson’s addiction to sand forced us to add an indoor sandbox for rainy days.
So much sand, so much boy, so little time to dig. Who can stop to eat, let alone wash hands and eat?
Which is why I brought in sliced bananas, each slice speared with a toothpick to separate sandy fingers from banana-smacking lips.
No dice. “I don’t want those,” said busy King Elijah from his throne on the edge of the sandbox.
“Oh, I didn’t bring these bananas out to eat. They just wanted to see what you were doing,” I said and turned away from Elijah and began talking to the bananas.
If you have ever talked to bananas in hopes of enticing a three-year-old to eat, you know that you can’t just pretend to talk to food. Three-year-olds can spot “pretend” ten sandboxes away. If you are to be taken seriously, you must talk seriously. Which I did.
“That yellow dump truck is mine,” I whispered loudly to the bananas, my lips just above the tooth picks. “I’m ’spose to fill it with sand, but I don’t know where to take it.”
“You can just dump the sand here,” Elijah said from across the room.
“I don’t think the bananas can hear you,” I replied and turned back to the bananas. “Elijah said I should put the sand over there,” I stage whispered.“But I don’t know why he wants the sand there.”
Elijah approached the bananas and me to explain. “Because we are going to build a road there,” he said. Then turning to me, he said very seriously, “You know, Paw, bananas can’t really talk.”
Ignoring this unwelcomed flash of truth, I told him “The bananas with the blue toothpicks are my special friends and I told them that you wouldn’t eat them.” Then turning back to the bananas, I said, “I’ll be right back,” and left.
When I returned, all the bananas with blue toothpicks were gone. Elijah sat in my chair with a big grin and banana-smeared lips. He held out a favorite book with animal sounds for us to read.
I was happy he had eaten something and always glad to read a book with him. Yet, I was disappointed that he hadn’t taken the bait and talked to the bananas himself. We often enjoy sharing such pretend worlds together. Oh well. Some days you just can’t have Everything.
So we opened the book to page one, which featured a pack of wolves. Elijah pushed the right button and the wolves began to howl. He quickly closed the book and hugged it tightly against his belly to muffle the howling sounds. Looking at me in alarm, he asked nervously, “Is that too loud for the bananas?”
Oh, how sweet Everything is.