I’m a sucker for science-fiction and fantasy novels. I know, I know… that’s not very weird or anything. I mean – LOTS and LOTS of people waste their lives by reading silly stories about leprechauns who battle giant monsters from outer space. Nadia thinks it’s weird. Weird? She’s the one to talk. She starts to sing ‘feel good’ songs when she’s ironing.
Ironing! I mean, c’mon.
This story starts on a sunny morning in one of the last days of summer. I had just woken up and even though the weather reports the day before said it would be raining, the gentle first rays of sun through our bedroom window woke me from a peaceful slumber.
“Daaaaaddyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Can I watch TeeeeeeeeeeVeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”
Ah, yes. That might have helped as well.
After having been dragged out of bed, having stumbled down the stairs just to switch on the TV for Pewter, I figured it wouldn’t make much sense to crawl back to bed on a sunny morning like this one. Instead, I made myself some coffee.
Sitting at the breakfast table, sipping coffee and reading my newspaper always makes me kinda drowsy. It’s like you’re still asleep, yet you’re fully awake. It’s such a relaxing and comforting feeling that I wouldn’t mind spending an entire day in that state. But unfortunately, I have a kid.
“Daddy! There’s elves in the park today! Elves and trolls! They use magic!”
Really? Magic that would make you shut up for about 5 minutes?
“You wanna go and see them?” I reply in my most enthusiastic voice (for a Sunday morning).
“Can we dad? Please?” … The way Pewter looked at me made it really hard to say ‘no’.
But I did it anyway.
I told him to ask his mom if she wanted to go. But when he went up to our bedroom I heard a grumbling from Nadia that made it quite clear I should be the one to accompany the boy. Shit. I could hear my Sunday going down the drain already.
And thus we rolled out our carriage from the shed and headed to our destination, the magical and sunny fields where… Eh, what the… ? I mean to say: got the car and drove to Central Park. There.
It was nice to see that the little twerp enjoyed talking to Elves in what he imagined to be their native language. The poor actors, however, had a tough time losing him in the chase that followed, when it became clear to Pewter that none of his fantasy friends seemed to understand him. I have to admit that it gave me a good chuckle.
But as fun as the day started out, as soon as the sun disappeared the temperature dropped considerably. I was wearing my worn ‘Eat Shit And Die’ T-shirt, while pewter was wearing his ‘I suck titties’ longsleeve. The difference was that I just sat there on a bench and the little devil ran around and kept himself warm.
After a while, there was a grand show of a battle between trolls and elves and Pewter insisted we go see it. It took me a while to scrum my way forward so that Pewter could see, but it was all worth it to see my son be quiet for more than five minutes.
Even when it started to rain he couldn’t get the smile off his face. The rain poured down on top of us and when we finally got to the car, we were soaking wet. As soon as we got home we changed clothes, but I could already feel it was too late. That evening, I lay in bed under an electrically heated cover and some hot chicken soup on the nightstand.
Sundays with elves suck.
Badly.