Daddy’s World

How this man got, creative, when the world stopped, operating like it once, had, translated…

There was, this, odd notice posted in the elevators, “From this day on, from four to six in the afternoons the time slot will be designated for children exercising, do arrange your nap or break times at other times, to avoid being disrupted……”

The world outside wasn’t functioning, there’s the sun, but we’d, lived in the darkness, for several weeks on end, the children’s moods became, white like their complexion.  I stood at this park, which was once my son’s favorite, same time last year the weather was, just as nice, my son got stuck on the three meter rock climbing walls, spread his limbs outward like a giant spider getting stuck, not known where he could go.

I’d told my son, rock climbing is like learning to play chess, you need to think of your next moves, then the next, and every move you are going to play gets thought out, then, you can, start going after the peak.  My son faced that wall again, focused, using his little hands, pointed to the colored pegs, he’d already, found the key point of support for himself, then, we will be returning tomorrow, to perform it for mom one more time.

After tomorrow, the world, turned upside down.

The parks, declared dead, the children’s play area, taped around with the yellow tapes, became a ruin.  The outbreaks, it’d, sealed up my son’s world, and, that light green facial armor on his face, sealed up his daddy’s world as well.  Like the apples inside the bags at the fruit farms, I can’t see his childish face anytime I wanted to, worried, that in a blink of an eye, he’d, grown up some, and I’d, missed out on what he looks like, right this very, moment……………

In the living room, I’d taught my son to use the thumb of his left hand and his index finger, to get the rubber band to pop from one finger to the next, to turn it into a braid.  My son’s tiny fingers couldn’t prop up the larger rubber band, and, the rubber band kept sliding off as he’d, tried transition it from finger to finger.  I’d told him, rock climbing, like braiding the rubber bands, all rely on the strengths of our fingers, that he needed to know how to apply the forces, and when to, loosen it.

illustration from UDN.com

I’d used two bottles of water, propped up the braided bands, so my son can, hop over it.  He’d started, smiling again, his bangs kept getting lifted up by the airflow, his originally long lashes started, blooming again, and his eyes, squinted into the shape of the new moon, with the stars glowing inside them, he’d, kept on, challenging the new heights, before the rubber band slid downward, he looked energize, just as he had before the outbreaks happened…………daddy’s world is, back again.

As mom heard the raucous, came out of the kitchen, turned back into that childlike state and, called out, “I want to play too, high jumps, are the best skills of the girls with the long legs, you and dad pull the rubber band rope up, mom will show you!”

My wife couldn’t lift her legs as high as she was once able to, the shake of the floorboards, caused the water in the glass on the table to start rippling.  Although, it wasn’t, pretty when my wife jumped, but, after a night, the two of them had, strained out all their physical energies, after bath, my son went to bed, on his own.  And, out of my expectations, I got me, that night’s worth of, peace, and quiet.

And so, this, is how you get creative, when you can’t go anywhere, because of the world outside, is with the epidemic, raging on, and so, you needed to, find something else, to lift up your child’s moods, because he loved playing out, and now he couldn’t, so, you came up with an alternative plan, to set up a sort of a miniature exercise ring for your son, to drain out his, energies.