"Naomi! Time to go!"
Mrs. Wentz's call to her daughter went unanswered. She continued packing a couple of carrier bags, shaking the sand from the beach towels before folding and stowing them. Towels, her magazines, the empty pop bottles - one item after another was picked up, shaken off, and stuffed in.
"Naomi! Naomi Wentz!"
From two hundred yards down the deserted beach came an answering call: "What?"
"It's time to go! Come on back and get cleaned up!"
The girl's voice was windswept but clear, carrying easily over the flat, open distance. "OK, I'll be right there."
"NOW, Naomi! We'll come back tomorrow." She turned back to her packing, expecting to have to go enforce the departure order once everything was ready.
"Mom! I found a bug! It looks really cool!"
"Well, don't pick it up. It has germs."
"Aw, you think EVERYTHING has germs!"
"Everything does, especially bugs. Leave it alone. It's time to go."
"Just five more minutes?"
"NOW, Naomi Ruth. We'll come back tomorrow and you can see your bug again."
"Promise we'll come back tomorrow?"
The woman stood with hands on hips, facing the child across the open expanse of sand. "Of course we'll come back. What else is there to do around here? If we'd gone to the beach by Atlantic City like I wanted to, we could go to an amusement park tomorrow, or spend the day on the boardwalk eating popcorn and ice cream. We could even go to a casino and see what THAT might be like, God forbid we should have so much fun. But no, your cheapskate father wanted a nice, open beach where he wouldn't have to fight the crowds. Which is why drove fourteen hours so we could spend two solid weeks in Lake Moosejaw, Maine. We already saw the lumberjack museum AND hiked in that mosquito-infested forest, so there is nowhere else for us to go tomorrow EXCEPT right back here. Now will you get your little self OVER here so we can go back to the cabin? Whether or not he actually read any of that book he brought up here, I can guarantee that your father has his precious 'local' beers cold by now. If we're lucky, he also remembered to thaw the hamburger patties."
"It's Musajanaw."
"What is?"
"The name of the town. It's Lake Musajanaw, Maine. That's the Algonquin word for sunrise."
"Naomi, I'm warning you - I have a headache."
"All right. Let me say goodbye to my bug."
"You do that. And don't pick it up. Bugs have germs."
The little girl bent over to the bug and whispered, "I'll come back tomorrow, OK? You be good until I come back. I'll bring you some more Cheez-Its, OK?"
In the shade of a driftwood log, a long, thick millipede paused in its mastication of a stack of orange crackers she'd piled on the sand. For a moment, it almost seemed as though it understood. Then the moment passed and it went back to eating, ignoring Naomi.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I promise. I love you, bug." She stroked a finger along its iridescent blue-green back. "I love you."
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Mrs. Wentz's call to her daughter went unanswered. She continued packing a couple of carrier bags, shaking the sand from the beach towels before folding and stowing them. Towels, her magazines, the empty pop bottles - one item after another was picked up, shaken off, and stuffed in.
"Naomi! Naomi Wentz!"
From two hundred yards down the deserted beach came an answering call: "What?"
"It's time to go! Come on back and get cleaned up!"
The girl's voice was windswept but clear, carrying easily over the flat, open distance. "OK, I'll be right there."
"NOW, Naomi! We'll come back tomorrow." She turned back to her packing, expecting to have to go enforce the departure order once everything was ready.
"Mom! I found a bug! It looks really cool!"
"Well, don't pick it up. It has germs."
"Aw, you think EVERYTHING has germs!"
"Everything does, especially bugs. Leave it alone. It's time to go."
"Just five more minutes?"
"NOW, Naomi Ruth. We'll come back tomorrow and you can see your bug again."
"Promise we'll come back tomorrow?"
The woman stood with hands on hips, facing the child across the open expanse of sand. "Of course we'll come back. What else is there to do around here? If we'd gone to the beach by Atlantic City like I wanted to, we could go to an amusement park tomorrow, or spend the day on the boardwalk eating popcorn and ice cream. We could even go to a casino and see what THAT might be like, God forbid we should have so much fun. But no, your cheapskate father wanted a nice, open beach where he wouldn't have to fight the crowds. Which is why drove fourteen hours so we could spend two solid weeks in Lake Moosejaw, Maine. We already saw the lumberjack museum AND hiked in that mosquito-infested forest, so there is nowhere else for us to go tomorrow EXCEPT right back here. Now will you get your little self OVER here so we can go back to the cabin? Whether or not he actually read any of that book he brought up here, I can guarantee that your father has his precious 'local' beers cold by now. If we're lucky, he also remembered to thaw the hamburger patties."
"It's Musajanaw."
"What is?"
"The name of the town. It's Lake Musajanaw, Maine. That's the Algonquin word for sunrise."
"Naomi, I'm warning you - I have a headache."
"All right. Let me say goodbye to my bug."
"You do that. And don't pick it up. Bugs have germs."
The little girl bent over to the bug and whispered, "I'll come back tomorrow, OK? You be good until I come back. I'll bring you some more Cheez-Its, OK?"
In the shade of a driftwood log, a long, thick millipede paused in its mastication of a stack of orange crackers she'd piled on the sand. For a moment, it almost seemed as though it understood. Then the moment passed and it went back to eating, ignoring Naomi.
"I'll be back tomorrow. I promise. I love you, bug." She stroked a finger along its iridescent blue-green back. "I love you."
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
so where's the foreskin? That's a weirdly wonderful story Tony.. good call..
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tom. I'll have to save the foreskin for next week. ;-)
DeleteSweet little girl, but kinda sad that the only living thing she has to connect with is a bug... Sounds like she has two pretty self-absorbed parents.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Tony...
Yeah, from an emotional standpoint, she's pretty much on her own for this vacation. Sad.
DeleteI agree with Janet's comment. Hopefully she finds the bug again tomorrow, though I wouldn't count on it. I enjoyed her correcting her mother with the name of the town.
ReplyDeleteNaomi was clearly paying attention during the tour of the lumberjack museum. 8-)
Delete14 hour drive? Where did they come from?
ReplyDeleteThey came from York, PA.
DeleteHopefully the mom will be in a better mood tomorrow. Sheesh, a vacation where all you do is hang out at the beach and maybe drink and read books? She just described the PERFECT holiday imo!
ReplyDeleteVery nice slice of life here. :)
Interestingly, this would be a perfect vacation for some, but a vacation from hell for others. I guess you have to be comfortable with yourself, with solitude and with books to be able to enjoy it. I don't think the mom qualifies.
DeleteHey Tony, great story. I was expecting full on comedy but this was way better. Ugh, the mum is terrible and the Dad noticeably absent. The ending is poignant I think.
ReplyDeleteNaomi is cool. She had a future as a protagonist in a book or as a writer herself.
I wanted to write comedy, but this one took hold. I was left with sad and poignant.
DeleteI'm glad you like Naomi. 8-)
I had holidays exactly like this both as a child and when I became a parent. The mother is right, what's the point of a rental cottage when she still has to do the cooking, cleaning & shopping same as home, only in an unfamiliar environment and without all the familiar tools of home. Beaches are inherently dull and boring once you reach the age where a bug or a crab ceases to be fascinating, luckily your little girl was still under that age.
ReplyDeleteOne slight quibble, I did think the Mum's rant was to the reader rather than her daughter, a bit too much telling. But I did love the idea of a lumberjack museum!
marc nash
Beaches are inherently dull and boring once you reach the age where a bug or a crab ceases to be fascinating
DeleteThere's some disagreement about this, as evidenced by Ganymeder's comment above. Going to the beach is a HUGE activity here on the East Coast. Every shore town does big business all summer long.
For the record, I've been to this lumberjack and logging museum and it was fascinating.
I expected the bug to be some kind-of murderous alien or something so the calm ending was almost a twist for me. But maybe that's just my irrational fear of bugs...
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention that. I had another ten lines wherein the bug was revealed to be a mind-controlling alien who forced Naomi to bring him rare earth metals which he could use to repair his spaceship. I cut it all away, though. So nevermind.
DeleteAWWWWWW! I actually said that when I finished this. I used to get like that with the birds wherever we stayed, and the voles in the mountain wall behind our cabin in Scotland. I love the simplicity of child logic, and the fact Naomi obviously has a greater appreciation for where she is. Her parents have their own agendas, and all she wants to do is be fascinated by her surroundings. Bless her for that.
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic, Icy - I'm glad there's such a connection her for you! She's at that age where a big bug can fascinate for hours. I can only hope that she'll be able to retain that interest and open mind.
DeleteI'd be perfectly satisfied with a cottage on a remote beach. If there's a working grill, I'd do the cooking anyway. Mason and I could take nice long hikes.
ReplyDeleteI wonder just what it was that Naomi found, though. Alien lifeform? Something more Lovecraftian? Will it be the Wentz family that travels home from this vacation? And where are the snogging tweens?
No snogging teens, sorry. I started to write that, then realized it would get way, way too erotic for a FridayFlash. I'll keep that prompt in mind for other venues, though. ;-)
DeleteI too more or less "aww"-ed at the end. Lovely moment, all the more poignant because the hinted-at whimsical or supernatural twist never came. Could've been a classic Roald Dahl type thing with the horrible parents and neglected child, but no, just real life. Good story.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nick! I struck out all the supernatural and science fiction elements, since it seemed that the real life drama was enough to carry the emotion.
DeleteHunh. I'm opposite of everyone else. I have to wonder if she's devoting that much love to the bug... what the HELL is she going home too....
ReplyDeleteGood insight, Alexander. What she'll go home to is what she has on the beach: physically and emotionally absent parents. Yeah, I might open my heart to a bug under those circumstances, too.
DeleteI enjoyed this and understood the mother's frustration. However the rant could have been part interior monologue. Didn't really sound like what you'd say to your kid. Glad the kid was enjoying herself although the parents would do their best to spoil it...
ReplyDeleteNo, this isn't the kind of thing a good mother would say to her child. However, this isn't a good mother. She not only said it, she laced it with acid tones to make sure little Naomi understood exactly what she was saying across the distance between them.
DeleteSuch a lovely day at the beach...
Wow - grouchy mom. I'd like to think grouchy mom may still have a good life because Naomi is so perfect. I like Naomi. Dad, though not so hot - he should listen to mom more often. Not that I dont think the lonely beach is the best vacation, I do, but doesn't seem fair that she has to do what he wants, especially when she doesn't want that. Thanks for this little glimpse into Naomi's childhood.
ReplyDeleteSome people really have horribly narrow ideas of what the term "holiday" means.
ReplyDeleteGreat depiction of how the light will get through, no matter what.
Aww sweet little girl - it seems like the bug was her only friend. Nice story Tony. ^_^
ReplyDeletePoor kid, she seems dreadfully lonely. It reminded me slightly of the scen from the labrinth where the tiny blue catapillar talks to Sara when she first enters the maze. I almost wanted the bug to talk back to Naomi :) Nice work Tony
ReplyDelete