The Budda

    When winter arrives, the children become anxious and impatient because they know that the time to visit their grandpa is near. They have waited all year in anticipation of the annual visit. Gathering their books and games, they prepare for the drive which will take an entire day, and with fewer fights than normal between these two siblings, they make their way north to the snow-covered landscape.

      Their excitement abated by the hours confined in the backseat of a small Nissan, and when they finally arrive, they are more tired than active. They are so tired in fact that the smallest child must be carried into the guest bedroom to sleep. Up the steps through a door and then up the stairs, the children find themselves in a small bedroom with explicit instructions of "do not touch anything." They are left to rest.

      On their first morning at Grandpa's, both children waking early and remembering the tutelage on touching wonder from their beds and get the first glimpse of the room in which they reside. In the center, is a sewing machine and manikin with a half-finished dress, and up against the wall a cabinet full of books and knickknacks whose uses were a mystery. Board with what they found in the room, they quietly open a door.  They lean out one small head above the other to peer down the hall in case anyone was looking.

      Seeing only light from one end of the corridor, they step out and move into the darker corner to see if it is still there, and reaching their objective. The children are pleased to find on a pedestal under a mirror a figure of a fat man smiling at them. He is all red and naked except for a robe and holds in his hands a fan. Around the base of the statue winds a dragon with a smile that makes the smallest child giggle. They reach out to touch the draping necklace which rests on the figure's chest. Two little hands made their way to Buddha's belly to rub it and make a wish as they had been told years ago they should.

      So delighted are the two children at their find that they do not notice the approaching figure coming up behind them. "So you sleepy heads are awake now." A booming voice could be heard echoing down the hall freezing the children where they stood. "And I see you are out for a little exploration, hum?" Too frightened to run, they turn and step closer to one another to see who caught them out of bed. When they eyes meet their Grandpa's, they relax and run into his arms. Their wish granted.