Leo the Great

         Leonard Paris was an extremely ambitious baby. He could build a tower 7 blocks high, colour inside the lines and converse both fluently and animatedly with any other toddler. One obstacle stood in his way to greatness, however, and threw a permanent shadow over his other achievements. He contemplated his downfall one morning as he sat upon a blanket in the livingroom. Playful ducks with flowing blue ribbons laughed silently in their quilted squares and a group of stuffed animals watched him indifferently. From his humble position, various feet and ankles presented themselves, taunting and judging. Even as he dismissed their condescending regards, he found himself admiring the grace with which they moved. Leo, as the owners of these parading feet called him, gazed at their unerring balance in awe.
         No one paid a baby the attention he deserved, the child had long ago decided. Any activity below their knee-level went unnoticed, unless said movement happened to send a plant tumbling or resulted in a mural on the wall. Apparently a lot of things were more important than Leo’s repeated successes. That particular day he carefully studied these ‘fascinating and crucial’ things that were of so great a concern to adults. Eventually it struck him that most of their energy went to walking tirelessly back and forth between the rooms of the house. Though this appeared to be a waste of time, little Leo knew that such a skill could bring the rest of the world to take notice of him. The fantasy lost him for a while in smothering kisses from his admirers and a cookie as congratulations; he would master the art of walking! How easy it would be to win them over.
         The first task before Leo was to raise himself to his full height, balanced on two tiny feet. It certainly looked easy. Just in case there was a more involved technique, he studied the adults’ movements once more and determined how they balanced their bodies. It seemed to be a combination of eating often to make them sturdier and staying close to other people for support in the case that they became unbalanced. After some deliberation, Leo pulled himself slowly upward while glued to the coffee table leg. The precarious height maintained only by feet far below caused him to freeze and reconsider, mid-climb. It seemed that the danger was more real two feet off the ground. He pushed his arms to the table top any way, with more courage than he had a right to feel. Fortunately, satisfaction flooded his body and pushed him to continue the quest.
         About to take what was referred to as a step, brave Leo again became aware of the distance he had come. Such a long fall would surely not be dignified for an adventurer like himself. His feet stood alone on the ground and his grip tightened on the supporting table. He surveyed the scene from his new vantage point and realized that such a view made him dizzy. He longed for a comforting blanket beneath him and the reliable parade of footwear he was accustomed to watching. No great man would abandon a quest at this stage, he knew. He was doomed to be a coward for the rest of his life (which was at that point an agreeable alternative to the shortened life that could be awarded to him, should he attempt to lift a foot.)
         In his petrified state, the baby fought to keep his eyes directed away from the floor. When the doorbell rang, his mother let in a couple cousins he recognized. To distract himself further from his situation, he remarked on the number of people already in the house and guessed that his family were having a sort of party. The younger folk danced through the kitchen to greet everyone who sat in the livingroom. How happily they bounced, without any fear of falling in their expressions, and how far off the ground they were! In the corner, old Grandmother rested in an armchair, cane across her lap. Her face bore its familiar discontent and the skin around her lips crinkled from frowning so continually. Leo suddenly understood the twisted lines on her face. They were marks of jealousy - regret that she couldn’t trot about like the rest of the people in the room. He felt a twinge of sympathy for her because those same feelings had just begun to enter his head. The old woman had obviously was unable to walk without support because she had been, like him, afraid to try. The thought scared him and for a moment he forgot all about how close he was to falling on his face.
         How he wished his head could float through the sky like the adults’! Their faces all looked less painful than Grandmother’s crumpled one. It seemed happiness only bestowed its blessings on those who bravely stuck out their foot and walked without fear. An urgency seized him and the toes of his right foot pushed a heel into the air. Leo’s weight shifted and his head tilted forward so that he had to replace the foot and let go of the table. His eyes grew wide as he tottered away from his support. He repeated to himself,
“Practice. No wrinkles for me. Keep going...”
         His eyes watched, astounded, as his other foot deserted its fellow to bring him closer to the couch only another step away. All at once, his arms seemed to realize what was actually happening. They windmilled wildly to keep balanced and the cushion drew nearer as his body began to tip towards it. Startled, he clawed at the soft fabric that could save his life, if not his dignity. Misjudging the distance, his hands fell through the air and his bottom rocked backward to thump onto the carpet. Two eyes blinked as the brain behind them registered exactly what had happened. The magnitude of Leo’s failure finally sunk in and his mouth contorted, half in frustration, half in pain. The near silence of the room broke up along with the sudden wail that issued from deep down inside the baby. A kind mother who had been watching all this swept him up to her chest and held him in her warm embrace. There was no doubt that she felt every pain he did and was quite capable of making the world look favourably on him. Leo whimpered to pretend that he wasn’t quite satisfied with this turn of results, but the understanding arms around him shushed and calmed until he quieted.
         The mother stood with her baby and moved back to where she had been sitting. It dawned on Leo in that moment that this mode of transportation was very comfortable and suited him quite well enough. All the stress walking had caused was really unnecessary. In fact, if he had these arms to fall into, he might even be content never to try walking again. His eyelids drooped and he settled into his mother’s lap as she sat back down on the couch. One last thought streamed through his head before sleep took him - something along the line of being the winner of the best consolation prize in existence. The nap was well-deserved.

This is an entry in "The Lucky Ducky Contest"