Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

I’m Pink Lady Apple Yeggs and my friend, and brother-in-law, Deviled Yeggs suggested that I record each project that I set up in the hopes of reforming the people who continue to work for Lily the Pink Enterprises.  If for no other reason, it would show how God is at work.

I was finishing up on some paperwork.  No one was in line for an open door.  And Grannie Fannie was in the play area with Liam, Olympia (Lympie to the other kids), Ellie Rain, Daniel, Levi, and Karl, and of course, Sparkle, Kanok and Joon.  Liam, Olympia, Kanok, and Joon had the summer off from pre-school.  The only one missing from Sparkle’s Playmates was Stormie.  Remind me to give Fannie a bonus this month.  She has had a crowd all summer, but in September, she will be helping in the pre-school.  Since Sparkle is going to pre-school with her friends, there will be no one in the play area next year.

Sparkle came over and asked, “Mommie, can I ask you something?”

I replied, “Sure, Sparkle, you can ask.  What is it?”

Sparkle said, “I watched the video of Stormie going inside a volcano.  I want to go inside a volcano.”

I sighed, “Sparkle, we had a very brief vacation this year.  Your Mommy and Daddy are very busy right now.”

Sparkle said, “No!  Stormie went to a volcano.  I want to go to a volcano.”

I sternly said, “Maybe next year, Sparkle.  You have had your vacation already for this year.  We might do something close by.”

Sparkle stamped her foot. “No!  I want to go to a volcano. NOW!”

I calmly said, “Pink Sparkle Yeggs, we are going to have a long talk.”

Sparkle suddenly had a shocked look on her face.  Then crocodile tears formed in her eyes.  “No, Mommy, not the long talk.  Long talks means the answer is ‘no,’ and saying my whole name means I’m in trouble.”

I gave a concerned look, “Sparkle, you have always been the easy-going type.  You have never had a tantrum until now.  I will not tolerate such behavior.  You are correct.  We are not going to a volcano, at least not this year.  But I want to know why you think that you can just tell me your desires and I stop everything to do what you say?  I am Mommy.  You are the child.  I have a job to do.  And I could not drive you there anyway.  I do not have a driver’s license.  Come over here and sit on my lap.  We need to do some investigating.”

Sparkle asked, “Like Uncle Dev does?”

I smiled, “He has taught me a lot.”

Sparkle asked, “Am I going to be arrested?”

I snickered, “No, Sweetie, I just want to know how you suddenly got the idea that you could demand something.”

Sparkle sighed, “I don’t know.  Some of the ladies in pink coveralls have said that I could ask for anything and get it.  I asked Liam what they meant, and he said that you own everything.  And that I am the baby of the family.  And like Ellie Rain gets what she wants more than Lympie and he does, then I should be able to ask for anything.  The volcano is the first time I saw what Stormie had, and I wanted it.”

I asked, “And why did you choose this volcano?”

Sparkle shrugged, “Mommy, a girl wants what a girl wants.”

I laughed, “I think you heard that line, too.  Sparkle, do you even know what a volcano is?”

Sparkle said, “It’s a mountain.  And it must be easy to climb because Stormie went inside it.”

I huffed, “The video that I saw, she was riding on her Daddy’s shoulders all the way down and back.  That is not much of Stormie climbing the mountain.  But Capulin Mountain, or as they call it now Capulin Volcano, is classified as a cinder cone.  If it were an active volcano, then it might erupt and hot lava would spew out, and it would burn up everything around it.  But a cinder cone is a type of volcano that forms by erupting, and then once was enough.”

Sparkle asked, “What is cinder?  What’s a cone?”

I said, “Cinder is tiny pebbles of rock.  We had a cinder track at Flintheart high school when I was there, but I think they have changed it since then.  It hurt when you fell down.  But a cone is like an ice cream cone.”  I took a sheet of paper on my desk and twirled it into a cone.  “See, you turn it this way and it looks like a mountain, but you turn it upside down and that is what Stormie went into.  The lava spewed out and then the rock cooled off.  The mountain is close to being a cone, and then the crater inside is a cone.  See.”

Sparkle asked, “So, why can’t we go see it?”

I sighed, “Why have you become obsessed with it, Sparkle?”

Sparkle replied, “Stormie went there and I didn’t go.”

I asked, “So, where was Stormie when you went to Hunting Island Beach a couple of months ago?”

Sparkle threw up her arms, “I don’t know?”

I smiled, “That’s right.  You went on a short vacation to South Carolina and Stormie did not go.  So, you have had a trip this year and Stormie had a trip this year.  You each did other things.  Stormie is going to be gone for three weeks, but she only went to Capulin Volcano one day.”

Sparkle asked, “What about the other days? She’s been gone a long time.”

I said, “She is staying at Michael Rowe Casey’s farm while the Turtle team chases storms.  I hear they had some really good storms to chase.  Big enough to observe and the worst damage was some minor barn damage.  No animals or humans hurt so far.  But let’s get back to me owning everything, and I can demand and get anything.  What do you see me do all day?”

Sparkle replied, “You sit right here and talk to people all day.”

I asked, “Have you ever heard me shout?  Have you ever heard me demand?  Have I ever been bossy?”

Sparkle shook her head, “Nope, I just hear you talking softly to people and then giving them a hug.”

I nodded, “So, let me get this straight.  You wanted something, but you did not know what it was.  You wanted it because someone else had it.  They had that experience.  And you thought because I own everything and you are my baby girl, you could do something that I never do.  Is that right?”

Sparkle sighed, “I don’t know, Mommy.  When you talk sometimes, I get confused.”

I smiled, “I think you understand more than you are admitting.  You understand, and you know what you did was wrong.  Why did you want to go into a volcano?  You coveted the experience that your cousin had.  But the point is that the Tenth Commandment is to not covet.”

Sparkle asked, “What is cub-it?”

I smiled, “Covet. C-O-V-E-T.  It’s a strong desire.  The desire is so strong that you think bad thoughts or do bad things.”

Sparkle asked, “Like yell at my Mommy?”

I laughed, “Yes, you just did that, but would you steal something because you want it really bad?”  Sparkle shook her head.  “Would you lie to someone in order to get what you wanted?”  Sparkle shook her head.  “Would you kill someone to get what you want?”

Sparkle gasped, “No, Mommy.”

I gave her a hug.  “Some people would do those things.  You just yelled at me.  You got angry because you did not get what you wanted.  And the Fifth Commandment is to honor your mother and father. It’s one thing to think that I own everything.  It is something quite different to think you can get me to give you everything.  God is our heavenly father.  He gives us what we need.  And as your mother, I give you what you need.  But I do not always give you what you want.  A want is above and beyond the needs.”

Sparkle whispered, “Mommy, I’m sorry.”

I chuckled, “I acknowledge that you are sorry, and I hope you do not do that again.  But we need to clear up some things.  I do not own everything.  I own Lily the Pink Enterprises, although I owe some money for the CRAGS operation in Washington state.  But I do not own everything that’s in this room.  Can you guess what that might be?”

Sparkle looked around.  “Nope.  I think you own all this stuff.”

I sighed, “What about in the play area?”

Sparkle gasped, “Did you steal the toys?”

I groaned, “No, Sparkle.  Who is there?”

Sparkle said, “It’s just Grannie Fannie, Kanok, Joon, and my friends.”

I asked, “Do I own any of them?”

“No.”

I nodded, “So, why should I treat them as if I owned them?  Why should I boss them around?”

Sparkle asked, “Like Aunt Mary?  Bossy Boss?”

I laughed, “B.B. is learning.  When it comes to imminent danger and getting the camera pointed in the right direction at the right time, she might have to be a little bossy, but she knows when to calm down.  I think Ethan is teaching her a lot.”

Sparkle said, “But he’s just a baby.”

I nodded, “And babies have needs.  One of those needs is to have a mother who is in control of things.  That let’s Ethan feel safe.”  Sparkle nodded her head.  “And I do not own everything.  Not even everything on this campus.  Do you see Grannie Fannie’s purse?  The car keys in that purse are for vehicles that I own, but her wallet contains her money, not mine.  So, I have to show the employees respect.  They work hard so that we can all enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

Sparkle gasped, “Like the water slides?”

I smiled, “I was thinking about everyone that works here has a nice paying job, a place to live, and friends to hang out with.  The water slides are something extra.”  Sparkle giggled.  “So, I treat my employees with respect.  I show God’s love to them.  And I am repaid by everyone wanting to please me.  It takes a special kind of person to work here, and we have a lot of them.  No one is perfect, but they want to please me because they know that I love them.  Sure, we may get someone who tries to take advantage, but they either have a change of heart, or they do not last that long.”

Sparkle asked, “Am I not going to last long?”

I hugged her tightly, “Sparkle, you are my daughter and nothing can change that.  But if you start getting bossy, and you get a case of the ‘I want this or I do not want that.’  We are going to have to have more of these long talks, okay?”

Sparkle said she would not raise her voice again.  I wondered how long that would last.  Her second birthday was just weeks ago.

Then a thought came to me.  I called Sophia.  Naomi was at home, finally listening to the doctor.  I called Naomi and she would love to have company.  She had been in bed a lot, but she had Gigi with her and Gigi could use a change of scenery.  I made a few more calls, including one to Irusya Jetson.  She was already home and loved my idea.

Grannie Fannie and I gathered all the children in the play area, and we took the bus to the home of Lt. Dev Yeggs.  He would be home about the time we got there.  We stopped by one of our favorite pizza parlors and got enough pizza.  We got enough pizza for our hosts, all of us, the Jetsons, and the Levys and Niblicks.

Without saying why we were there, the children hugged Gigi like they had not seen her in a month, when it had only been a couple of days.  We all gathered on their deck in the backyard.  Everyone found their favorite type of pizza and they had their fill.

But Elroy and Irusya were late to the party.  We saved them some pizza.  They were going to provide the entertainment.

As the children had finished their pizza, Elroy and Irusya emerged from the trail that connected a few important backyards.  They were each pushing a stroller.  Caulk was walking behind them.

Each child that Caulk had not met before had to stand while Caulk sniffed them and imprinted them as being distant family.

But then, Irusya and Elroy started to empty the strollers.  They had brought all ten of the puppies.  With the nine children that I brought with me and Gigi, each child had a puppy to hold and pet.

The adults were watching to make sure the children were doing everything right, but Caulk supervised also.  She was a proud mother.

And hopefully this diversion would keep Sparkle satisfied for a little while.  Maybe Stormie would be back and part of her group of friends in the play area.

Credits

I see no Credits.