Fiction & Nonfiction

"We Love You Dad"

The kids got busy. They were visiting their Granny in the neighboring state where flowers were always blooming and the trees stayed evergreen. Granny’s house was on the bank of a pond, the water of which looked glossy and inviting. Susan and Sam had a hearty swim in it several times during the day. During their summer vacation, they had a whale of time playing around the homestead and visiting granny’s friends in the village.
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There was always plenty to eat, and fish curry was their favorite dish. Granny prepared fish in more ways than they could count. It always tasted delicious.  Cookies and cakes were available by the dozen for the asking. That is why grannies appealed more to kids than their moms.

At the end of their ten-day visit, their Dad came to pick them up on a weekend. Granny packed a few goodies for the family in two paper bags. They left with heavy hearts as always. For them Granny’s house was like a Heaven on earth.
"Bye, Granny, bye till next time," said Susan in a tone of regret. Sam hugged Granny with his eyes full.
"Bye dear, take care darling."
The car sped away.

Susan, Sam and their parents lived on the first floor of a double storied house on a tree-lined avenue off the busy main street. Their neighbors Mark and Linda lived on the ground floor apartment. Their school, luckily was just around the corner.

On a fine Sunday morning, Sam and his father just got up and sat on the swing on the front porch. They could watch the passing cars and people.
"Dad shall we go to the aquarium today?"
"Sure son, soon after breakfast."

The baby beluga, the small white whale was the kids’ favorite at the aquarium. Sam had learned a song about the beluga that went all the way to the North Sea to find its family. Dad taught them the song, which he learned as a child from his mom.
The kids loved going to the zoo with equal fervor. Animals, birds and their sounds fascinated the kids to no end. Both the parents encouraged the kids to develop an interest in nature.

"Susan and Sam! Get ready. We are visiting your uncle and aunt ", said Mom on a Saturday morning. The kids squealed with joy.
Susan and Sam valued their visit to uncle Josh and aunt Sara very much. It was a five-hour drive from their home. They looked forward to traveling on the country road to this place. They enjoyed stopping at the gas station, and eat at the small parlor that offered their favorites for lunch.

The day was lovely with the Sun shining bright and the breeze, soft and cool. The kids and their Dad sat in the back seat having a lot of fun looking at the passing trees and the speeding vans, containers and cars. Mom enjoyed driving on cool mornings.
By the time they reached the landmark gas station, it was twelve noon. Mom stopped the car at the front entrance. Dad and kids got off while she drove on to the parking lot.

They went around the place in the quiet mid morning, breathing in the fresh air. The kids enjoyed the elegant and neat surroundings. It felt as though they were on a picnic. They looked at the gas station with interest. It was the only place around for miles. There was just a man minding the station. His red pick up was parked by the side of the building. He smiled at them as they came in.

"Dad, isn’t that star beautiful?" asked Sam. Dad looked up to see the star displayed on the pole just outside the station.
"It’s just like the Christmas star', said Susan.
"Yes. You are right. I like it too", said dad.

Soon after lunch, they had a stroll in the woods off the main road. Mom sat in the parlor chatting with Bill, the owner cum minder of the place.
The woods were attractive with tall trees and creepers with small flowers curling around their trunks. Some passers-by carved their names on the bark of the trees. Sam read ‘Jaky’ ‘Amanda’ ‘Sofia’ and ‘Jonathan’.
He too wanted to carve his and his sister’s name.
"Next time son, when we stop by we’ll do that", said Dad.
A few minutes later, they walked into the Texaco gas station, said their ‘bye to Bill and were on their way.

Josh and Sara loved to have them for a while. They had lovely time together. Fishing in the pond off the village and visiting neighboring farms of friends, offered Sam and Susan a variety of entertainment and new friends.

They learned to make models out of maps, which come with the construction toys. They were just at the age when they enjoyed making toy models of buildings, ships and various shapes out of jigsaw pieces. Heather, the ten-year-old daughter of Gregory and Emma, the next-door neighbors of Josh and Sara, was an expert with building blocks. She showed a number of models she made with building blocks.

"Alright buddies, we will meet you next month at your place, for Dad’s birthday", said Josh, as he lifted Sam into the car’s back seat. The weekend was worth every minute for the kids.
Mom sat with them while Dad offered to drive on return journey.

They knew their Dad’s birthday was on the eighteenth of next month. It was still three weeks away.
"Shall we buy him a shirt or something?" asked Sam.
"That ‘d be too ordinary, silly," said Susan.
"We will ask Mom".
They talked to mom about their dilemma.
"Why don’t you guys make something?" Mom suggested.
"Oh yes!" said Sam. "we can do something like Heather does", as the memory of the interesting models that Heather made, flashed on his mind.

There was a hush about building a gas station for Dad. Susan and Sam consulted Mark and Linda, their friendly neighbors downstairs. Mark agreed to take them with him to shop for the item they wanted. The kids were really excited.
On Mark’s day off, they went with him to the down town toy store to look for the building blocks. Luckily, they got what they wanted without much trouble. There was a huge concession on the buy, which came with the Halloween month. Susan and Sam, had just enough money to buy the same.

Car Wash Shell Gas Station City Town Road

Sam gaped at the label as they unpacked. He said,
"We will have to change that sis. We will paint it Texaco in red just as the one on the road we stopped by."
They started working on it in the attic where no one went except Mom to store some clothes or to take out some.
Uncle Mark and Mom were ready to help.
When they opened the pack, they found that it didn’t include the white wraparound open porch of the gas station. Mom came up with an idea. She offered the white cardboard pieces she saved from their previous house moving. They were just right for their purpose.

As Tom’s birthday drew closer, the kid’s excitement went as many notches up.
Mark, Linda and Mom too felt like kids, like conspirators in a coup, a pleasant one though.
It wasn’t a very easy task – to assemble 137 pieces, painting where needed, and above all keeping the secret took their time and energy.

Two days before the event, the project got finished. The two newspaper stands, service display stands, the gas pumps, the car wash space and the two poles with the red star atop with Texaco written across it, and the white veranda around, were in place. They managed to put a stuffed animal inside the display window of the station. Sam’s red toy pick up van came in handy. They remembered the van from their last visit to the gas station.

The eighteenth of October dawned sunny and cool. The kids hugged their Dad and wished him a very loving ‘Happy Birthday Dad’. Mom bought him a new shirt and trousers to wear for the party at 6 in the evening. Dad treated them to a nice lunch at the Roadhouse, the restaurant down town.

Uncle Josh and aunt Sara with Heather and her parents came at 4 O’clock. The house wore a festive look. They laid the table on the front porch overlooking a small patch of Roses, Chrysanthemums and Marigolds. The flowers lent color and fragrance to the atmosphere. The chairs were placed at random positions.
At 6, the party took off. The house looked bright and inviting. The neighbors and Dad’s close friends came carrying attractive packages.

The cake that mom and Linda made was particularly attractive, wearing three colors in three layers with a cream rose on top and a cherry fixed in the middle. Green creamy leaves curled around in mouth-watering shapes. There was a single candle in a stand. Dad was all smiles as uncle Josh took snaps of the happy moments, with family and friends. Sam, Susan and mom stood close to Dad as he cut the cake. The strains of  "Happy Birthday dear Tom" floated around followed by hearty claps and hugs. Tom gave pieces of cake to the kids and Mom, and ate from their loving hands too.
Mom, Linda and Sara went around serving drinks and food.

Susan and Sam slipped inside and quietly brought out their model covered in glossy silver wrap with Mark’s help.

Dad didn’t notice it first. When Heather exclaimed,
"Look what they brought!’ everybody turned to see. They brought it to the table and said again "Happy Birthday Dad, we love you Dad!".

Dad was a little taken aback at this unexpected gift from his kids.
As he uncovered the present his eyes shone with love and joy. The proud model gas station flashing ‘Texaco’ in bright paint stood in all its cute glory on the tabletop.
There were ‘ah’s and ‘oh’s and exclamations galore as everyone looked at the loving gesture of the kids.

A few years later:

Family ties have a way of building too with love and affection, thought mom as she showed her collection of keepsakes to her grand children. The Texaco gas station is still an attractive draw.

Now it is their turn. Grandpa got them some building blocks that would suit the five and seven year old Kim and Cathy.
The kids got busy.


Word Count: 1776


Third place winner in Stroll down memory contest.