“What happened to your shoe?” Dad was exasperated. This was the third shoe the boy had lost in as many months.
“I was hurrying daddy, but you walk too fast,” the boy was sitting in the sand, huge tears catching in his long, blond lashes. “It fell off. I couldn’t see you. I had to run to find you again.”
Dropping the totes carrying beach towels and sunscreen, and a big rainbow umbrella, Dad rubbed the salty grit from his face. Breathing in slowly, he exhaled his frustration.
“Don’t be mad Daddy.”
“This is why you can’t have nice things.”
The 100 Word Challenge, a writing prompt created by Velvet Verbosity, takes a single theme to tell a story in only 100 words ~ no more, no less. This week’s theme is ‘Hurrying.’
My heart went out to the boy–how could a child possibly keep with a frantic father who appears to be frustrated and annoyed? The poor kid was stuck in a catch-22 situation ! Lose the shoe or loseDaddy?
Wow! Poor little guy. It’s sad when we parents take out our frustrations on our kidlets.
Well written to draw our emotions like this!
Aw geez. Poor kid. I kind of feel for both of them. You know, you get to the point where you’re trying to juggle everything, and then you look to see that the kid only has one shoe on. Again. You’ve captured one of those really common, really hard parts.
Great details. Makes me feel for the child, but also a great reminder for me to let things go, to take more time and not spend my days as a mother hurrying!
Just break my heart why don’t you? And yeah, I’ve seen that scenario play out too. Parents dragging their kids around some vacation spot wondering why there are tears and tantrums, looking befuddled and angry and stressed.
Oh my word!! My youngest used to throw his shoes out the window when I was driving on the highway. I wouldn’t have a clue till I got home. I have so many shoes that aren’t a pair!!
Good work! Not so long ago, my brother and I took my nephew fishing and lost our flip-flops while crossing a small inlet! Six individual flip-flops went into the water that day, only one came out!
get.out.of.my.head.
My youngest girls lose their shoes and flip flops so often I’m considering tethering them to their ankles. It happened yesterday, but we weren’t on vacation.
yeah, I’ve learned to chill out on family getaways…still learning
I just said a prayer for all dads. “Help us Lord” :)
Oh, poor kid! I can see why dad is frustrated but I still feel sorry for the little one.
Same here! What a powerful ending though.
Aww….I was hoping dad would give him a big hug and say sorry, he’ll try to walk slower.
I’ve seen this scenario play out on the beaches here so often. It’s like the parents forget it’s a family vacation and not just theirs. I’ve seen parents act like their kids are spoiling all their fun by just being there. Very sad.