Bedtime Stories

Feeding The Hungry

My four year old sister and I live in Santa Cruz, California with our Momma. We love Santa Cruz because it is on the ocean and nice and warm all year round. We love going to the beach to swim and watch the whales. When we want to cool down and need a change from the beach and the ocean, we go to visit our grammy and grampi. They live in Calgary which is in Canada and next to the Rocky Mountains. It is cold in Calgary and even the rain in summer is cold. But it is a great change for us. Grammy and grampi spoil us. They take us to the mountains where we walk around a beautiful lake, swim in the hot pool and picnic next to the river. We see elks, marmots and mountain goats, the animals we don't have in Santa Cruz. We love going to the zoo where we play on the swings and to the Dinosaur museum in Drumheller where we picnic in the Badlands and play for hours in the kids' playground next to the museum. We do go inside the museum for a short time where huge stuffed dinosaur models scare us so much that we cling to grammy and grampi.

On our last visit to Calgary Momma spent only two days there and returned to Santa Cruz. We had another week in Calgary. Grampi drove Momma, me and Asha to the airport. I do not know why, but on the way to the airport Asha started crying with tears as big as dinosaurs running down her cheeks and asking in a heart-rending voice, "Momma, don't go." Nothing that Momma and I could say or do made her feel any better. Grampi even promised to take us to the Heritage Park but Asha did not calm down a bit.

On the airport Asha tightly hugged Momma and won't let go. Momma and grampi said all the consoling things they could think of but Asha was inconsolable. Poor Momma, she had to clench her teeth and loosen Asha's grip to get away. Asha's cries became even louder and more pitiful as grampi drove off.

Grampi asked me to sing Asha's favourite song “We love grammi” and tell her the story of Little Black Sambo .But she very rudely told me to shut up. My feelings were hurt. Now I was losing impatience and my head was starting to hurt. Then the miracle happened, as it usually does when one of us is so very sad.

A plane came flying overhead so low that it may have touched the roof of our car. Grampi asked Asha, "Did you see the plane approaching our car?"

"Yes s s s s" she replied in sobs.
"Did you see it go across our car?"
"No o o o o" She said sobbing a little less.
"Kahlo, did you see the plane cross our car?" Grampi saked me.
"No," I said lying, sure that grampi was up to one of his tricks.

"I did not see either," grampi said and added, "Wonder if it landed on the roof of our car.Asha, can you feel it in how the car is moving?"
"No o o o o," the car is a bit slower though," Asha whimpered.
"Asha, the plane has landed on our car. I even heard the thud. Lucky this is a big car. A small car would have been squished," I added. Continued...
"I am not going to stop to check up. If I do the car may not move again. We will go home, let the passengers down and call the airline," Grampi said.

This captured Asha's imagination. She piped in, not crying any more "Grampi, they will be hungry, we will have to give them lunch."
"What a great idea. It so happens that grammy did a big shop yesterday and she got a humongous bag of pasta. We also have a lot of leftover curry. I am sure she can whip up a nice lunch by the time they all come down from the plane," Grampy replied.
"Grammy can do anything," I agreed and asked, "Grampi, how many passengers are there on the plane?"
"Asha, what do you think?" Grampi deflected the question.

"Hundred, two hundred, nine hundred," Asha answered in the count of a four year old.
"The plane was probably full the way car is feeling to me. That means one hundred and twenty people including pilots and hostesses," grampi guessed, then asked, "How many children do you think?"

"Fifty!" I ventured.
"Sixty, eighty, two hundred," Asha returned.
"Twenty boys and thirty girls, I think," grampi said and asked, "How many will have pasta and how many curry, What do you guess, Asha?"
I butted in, "Curry for adults, pasta for kids."
Asha started to whimper, "Grampi asked me Kahlo."

Grampi's anxiety level shot up and he quickly intervened, "Kahlo, let Asha answer. Asha tell me what every body will want to eat?"
"Girls will have pasta, boys curry and grownups nothing," Asha was more realistic.
"Well, grownups will have whatever is left," Grampi said and asked again, "What will the kids drink?"
"Girls will have juice, boys water," Asha said in the tone of a fairminded teacher.
"That seems reasonable to me," grampi said agreeing with Asha again and turning the car on to the driveway. "Girls, get out and help me with the ladder to let the passengers down," grampi instructed us with the authority of someone in control of a nasty situation.

We got out of the car, looked up and screamed,in unison, "There is no plane!"
"Asha, it must have taken off again," I said smiling.
"Yes, it must have taken off again," Asha repeated.
"Wonder why I did not feel the car becoming lighter?" Grampi asked.
"You were too busy counting," Asha replied and we ran inside laughing.