A little Seattle vignette
The ramp in the story. We staff were rearranging the store as we transitioned from spring and summer to fall and winter.
A child, one little boy – maybe two, three years old at the most – pushes a yellow, toy Tonka truck down the ramp here at work in the Downtown Seattle REI store. He’s fierce, determined, and lost in focused joy. His Mom stands at the top of the ramp watching, bemused, as he takes off a pushin’. My coworker the Bandana Man stood near the bottom and off to the side, chuckling, chuckling hard enough to make his belly shake.
Little Boy couldn’t keep up with his truck as he neared the bottom as his toy began to roll away from him faster than he could keep up with it. Oh my goodness, lookit! His short, little bitty legs churned as fast as they would go. And he refused to let go of his toy cuz, hey, no runaway truck here! Was too much, however, just too much for the little fella. Quickly he collapsed. Fell down on his butt with a plop. Still gripped his toy truck with one hand. He turned his head back to stared up at his mama and laughed. A little burst of chuckles. All of a sudden his expression changed into one of fear and shame, altho I’m not completely sure, and he looked as if he would burst into tears and wail. Then just as quickly as he fell, he laughed again and stood up on his stubby little legs. He waddled over to hug his Mama as she strode a grinnin’ down the ramp.
Bandana Man laughed and laughed and shook his head in empathic amusement. I laughed, too, further away enough to have witnessed it all, and blurted out something silly like, “Hey, we were all little kids once.”
William Dudley Bass
Monday 25 September 2023
Saturday 30 September 2023
Revised Sunday 1 October 2023
Shoreline/Seattle, Washington
USA
Cascadia
Earth
Sol
Copyright © 2023 by William Dudley Bass. All Rights Reserved by the Author & his Descendants until we Humans establish Wise Stewardship over and for our Earth and Solarian Commons. Thank you.