| Time for a Story |
This story first appeared in our writing group’s third anthology, A Little Off the Page
Bennett and Kingsleigh
..sometimes the younger you are, the more you know about love.
Installment 5
Little noise emanated from the family room. The kids settled right in to their movie. Michelle served them their snack and left them watching the screen with paper and pencil alongside to “write down stuff.” She resisted the temptation to tell them they were taking notes like middle schoolers.
“Did you write down the part about the toes? That’s so cool.”
Kingsleigh giggled. “You said ‘cool.’ Of course, it’s not, really. They had toes fall off—ew!”
Bennett grinned at her, and Kingsleigh felt the sparkles jump around in her heart.
They watched in silence the scenes of Washington and his men preparing to cross the Delaware which alternated with scenes of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia where the colonial representatives worked out the Declaration of Independence.
Kingsleigh sat back a moment, frown lines appearing on her smooth young forehead. She stared at the screen as representatives stepped up to a large brown desk covered in a huge sheet of paper. They each signed their name then ceremoniously stepped down and returned to their seats at small tables scattered about the room.
“I saw this! I mean, we saw the movie, 1776. Mom and I watched it last summer. They told the whole story, but with songs and stuff. They had a big bell ringing when everybody signed—like a church bell, real slow.” She swayed from side to side.
Bennett pretended to gag. “People don’t sing songs when they do stuff! That’s not real. Besides, we don’t even know if this is right. Nobody had cameras then.”
“Well, it’s what Mrs. Sumner said happened.”
“That doesn’t mean she knows everything!”
“She knows this and a lot more, especially what’s in our books!”
“So what? My dad says that there’s enough to worry about with where the world is going today; we don’t have time to spend on books. He says we need to learn how to take care of ourselves.”
“He doesn’t like her, does he?”
Bennett dropped his head over his paper. “He likes her okay. He just doesn’t think school is as important as she does.”
“Oh.” Kingsleigh thought a minute. This wasn’t the first time Bennet had mentioned Mr. Kussler’s dislike of education, but it was still such a foreign idea to her. She knew that her mother planned for her to go to college and that meant learning whatever she was taught in school now. Mom always said that school was Kingsleigh’s job. “But doesn’t he do a lot of that—that reenacting? You said he was teaching you how to make things by hand. Isn’t that like learning at school?”
“Yeah, but not from books.” Bennett nodded toward the TV. “It was a lot like this–where they’re showing the encampment. He showed me how to make campfires and set up those rack things to hang cookpots on. He even showed me how to put the gunpowder in the cloth bags. I did four bags all by myself. It was kinda like you and Grampa Joe.” He paused. “He says he wants me to be able to take care of myself when I’m a grown man. And he says I have to think about what I want to be, but that football can make me ready for anything.”
“Huh? How?”
Bennett shrugged. “I dunno. Teamwork, he says, working together to win. And it’s going to make me strong too,” he added, straightening his back and flexing a muscle on one arm. He held it out for Kingsleigh to touch. She pressed on his bicep.
“I still don’t get it, really. I guess I don’t understand grown-ups,” Kingsleigh said.
“Me either.” Bennett scanned his paper. He didn’t mind the idea of football, but he did like school. He was smart, too, even though he was careful not to make it too big a deal at home. It was part of the reason he and Kingsleigh got along so well. “Hey, did you get that part about the guy signing bigger than everybody else?”
“That was John Hancock. He signed first.”
“Right. Let’s put that in, and let’s put in about how long it took Washington’s men to get to New Jersey.”
They scribbled for a few minutes, then Kingsleigh put down her pencil with a sigh. “I think we have everything we need. What if we each draw a picture of our favorite part?”
“Okay.” Bennett bent over his paper, drawing an old-looking tent covered with snow and a campfire with a stack of wood beside it, and two human figures sitting with arms crossed, long guns on the ground.
Kingsleigh concentrated on drawing a big desk with a crowd of men around it, one figure bent over the desk with a long feather in his hand. They compared drawings, pleased with the results.
Bennett grabbed a handful of grapes and passed some to Kingsleigh. “Hey, Kingsleigh?”
“What?”
“Happy Birthday,” he said shyly, his smile kind of sideways on his face. He fished something from his pocket. “I held onto one of these for you.” He handed her a photo of himself in his football uniform. “I thought maybe you’d like one. “
Kingsleigh could swear she heard fireworks, but she simply grabbed the photo and put it on the TV for later. “Thanks. I’m glad you remembered.”
“Well, yeah, I did. I mean, it was your birthday, and—. Here, have another grape.”
She took one and popped it in her mouth, sighing as she chewed. “I wish grown-ups were all like Grampa Joe.”
Bennett nodded, chewing emphatically. “I like your grandpa.”
“He’s nice and patient, and he’s a really good teacher. I don’t think my mom would let anyone else show me the how to use the tools like he does. She trusts him to show me all the safe ways to woodwork.” Kingsleigh popped in another grape.
“That’s just ‘cause he’s her dad.”
She swallowed. “I know, but—did you know he said he’d teach you too? If you want.”
“He did? I don’t know. Maybe. I did like all the building and woodworking the elves did on the last movie.”
“Grampa Joe knows a great way to make a toy box. It’s easy and he’s going to let me help him with the next one. If you can come over sometime, it’ll just take a day.”
Bennett slowly smiled. Then he nodded and handed her one of the oatmeal cookies her mother had provided.
“Thanks. Grampa Joe says that it’s important to know how things are done and where we all came from. He said we learn all that in school and from reading books and from doing things—like playing sports or building things. He says all the world’s a school and everything is a teaching moment.”
Bennett mulled this over with the help of another cookie. “Hmph. Okay, but I hope I don’t get in trouble for choosing school learning over sports learning tonight.”