Giant mushrooms bloomed across the horizon. The little girl clutched her dad’s hand tighter. Her hair blew back with the wind from each blast. She was not afraid. Her dad had told her that the mountains would protect them. They must not have been enough protection because now he said they were going back to see Mommy.
Mommy lived back in the city with the buildings that held up the sky. The girl lived there too. Sometimes she heard her daddy calling it the city that never sleeps. After her daddy’s job, she would ride the trains all throughout the city exploring everywhere. Though there would be many days when she would look up and at the sky. Her daddy was up there or across there. She was not sure. Then one day he came back.
He took her. Her took her to the sky kingdom. That was her name for it. It was the kingdom with the mountains that reached upward and clawed at the sky. It was the kingdom built on the green cloud. Her daddy had another name for it. Switzerland. She laughed at that name. Swiss was a type of chocolate not a type of kingdom. She looked down at the green cloud and thought of her mother. Her mother, all she remembered was that he mother would spend her days waiting for her. Her mother at the train stop. Her mother at her bed reading her stories. Her mother with her secret phrase that only she knew.
Her daddy was fun. Her daddy was different. She was unsure of him. The mushrooms grew larger in the distance. He stood there speaking the wrong language to man. She tugged at his sleeve. She was six. He should know that. Today she was six. Yesterday she was five. He should be proud of her.
The man kicked her daddy. Her daddy cried. Her daddy had been crying. Tall and proud. Small and round. The main pointed to the plane. Her father stood up. He hit the man. He wasn’t allowed to hit the man. If you hit someone you should be punished. Her daddy grabber her hand and they walked to plane. They were going back to see mommy.
They left the mountains and flew where the giant silver pancakes were flying between the mushrooms. It was scary. Her daddy hugged her too tightly. She was scared. The mushrooms had seemed beautiful from a distance but closer she could see giant white angels next to them. She could hear the loud beats from their wings. She was scared.
She could see the city in the distance. It was broken. Like her train set after her daddy had sat upon it. She had laughed at the time. She became sad when she saw he was hurt. He was hurt now. She could tell. He wasn’t laughing like a daddy.
They crawled through the giant train set. It was twisted and broken. It looked hurt. It groaned like a balloon as it slowly let out air. The girl would call mommy at the buildings. Every window had a shadow. Every shadow could be mommy. She was happy her dad was there to remind her mommy was not most of those shadows. Some looked twisted with deer antlers or were had red swirls on their faces, like peppermint. She saw a horse skull with a flower growing on top of it.
Her dad told her to wait. There was a neon sign. It said eat. She was happy she knew that word. She ran inside. She went to the counter. She grabbed a box of fries. Her daddy told her to wait again. Angry. She waited outside till a loud noise scared her. She ran inside. Her daddy ate the fries. She cried. She heard the groan. The eat sign was gone.
Her daddy lay on the floor and smiled up at her. He looked like her doll. One time it’s arm came off and her mom sewed it back on. She lost that doll after that. She wondered if she lost daddy would he reappear under her bed? She was not sure. Her daddy was still on the floor. He looked like he had sat on a zillion train sets. She knew he was hurt. He smiled at her.
- Spoiler:
“Marcelene? Do you know what time it is?
“Adventure time.”
It was her mother’s phrase. She cried.
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