Age 6: Glistening in the Moonlight

by Dr Margaret Aranda

14 DEC

Sheriff John was a smiling sheriff on TV. He wore a shiny badge and shiny boots, and wore a brown cowboy Sheriffs line with a golden buckle that has covered up all his hair. I never saw his hair.

Every week on television in Los Angeles, California, he would sing, "Put another candle on my birthday cake", as a yummy carousel cake spin around and the camera went in for a close up. There were lions and tigers and bears on the carousel. Roar! They spin around and around, as if dancing in is their own world, oblivious to the rest of us. They were only focused on going up and down, down and up, chasing one another around and around. They were simply the Royal. Majestic.

I was six. I closed my eyes really, really tight and I thought that if I closed them hard enough and "thought" extra hard, I could turn into one of thes gorgeous animals. And so I did it.

I closed my eyes and I blinked just like that Genie in a TV that has a cute little home in a bottle with red draperies and black bedsheets, golden tassles all about. I closed my eyes and frowned so hard that I expected to open my eyes and literally be in the body of a great lion. My eyes crinkled. At first, I could feel nothing. After a time, I could definitely feel my tail growing, and I thought excitedly, "It must be almost time to open my eyes." 

I scrunched my eyes more now, as I wanted to make sure that nothing would be missing. I wanted to be sure as ever that my teeth would be long and sharp, and that my claws would glisten the moonlight. "There has to be nothing  better than  glistening in the moonlight, "I thought, momentarily forgetting that I was still a girl. Cracked my mouth as a gentle smile again, as my tail was starting to come out. I waited for it to grow fully, still crunching my eyes tightly.

Image 1 of The Lion. Now I thought I was ready to open my eyes now, without getting it wrong.

Certainly I was on the right track. Ever so painfully slowly, I opened my eyes. At first, they ached from Squinting so hard in my fervent prayer. I saw the light of day as they opened, and there he was again! I glared closer, disbelief covering my entire body. Wha ....?  Sheriff John was reading from a piece of paper.

"Wait!" I thought, "I'm not supposed to know what a piece of paper is!" My eyes begged to blur as the first tears  started  forming. "I must not be a lion!" He would not stop to care about my plight. "Linda, Joanne, Sarah, Tom, Edward, and Brian! Wishing you all a Happy Birthday!" Sheriff John said, happy as could be.

I was disappointed, hurt, and well, I was sad. I was shocked. ARROW! I was Devastated!  "How come it did not work?" "I can not I did not believe I work!" I was already six years old, the smartest one in my class, and I got the Golden Stars  on my tests ! What did I do wrong?

I sank into the living room sofa. I cried big tears of reality and disappointment.

And I learned, as we all do, that I could not just change into a lion whenever I wanted to.

I just kept it to myself until now. I'm only telling you because I know you will not tell anyone else.

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             A Version of this feel article was featured with Morgen Bailey's Flash Fiction Fridays:

Introduction:  Welcome to Flash Fiction Friday and the sixty-fifth piece in this series.  

This week's is a 572-word is by multi-genre author  Dr. Margaret Aranda . 

065 Flash Fiction Friday: Glistening in the Moonlight  https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/flash-fiction-friday-065-glistening-in-the-moonlight-by-dr-margaret-aranda/

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Dr Margaret Aranda's Memoirs: 

                                                   Age 1: Baby on the Edge

Age 2: Getting Past the Edge of the Bed

Age 3: The Edge of the Cliff

Age 4: Do not Panic
Age 5: The Edge of the Pool