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Short Stories Miscellaneous Stories Speed Bump
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Speed Bump |
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| Written by David Neve | |
| Thursday, 27 March 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 March 2008 ) |
"I don't know dad, I don't see how it can get any better."
"Look, don't make any decisions right now. It's Friday, why don't you hang up the phone, drive over here, and let's talk about it. Your mom's been missing you like crazy lately anyway."
There was hesitation in Scott's voice, "Okay, all right, I'll come over. I don't think it's going to change anything, but I'm sure the drive won't hurt."
"Great. We'll see you in the morning then, drive carefully!"
Gary hung up the phone and looked out the window. Across the cornfields he could see his youngest son trying to negotiate the cows into their pens. Always a good laugh, that boy. Somehow he grew up thinking that cows, pigs, and horses were people.
Endless conversations with the lad didn't seem to have any effect on him. Sure, he knew the cows and pigs were food, but until then - they were neighbors. No, better than neighbors, they were his friends. Heck, Andy couldn't get on a horse without first advising the horse of its rights, and telling the horse exactly what it was to be involved in.
Scott was a little different, that boy knew farming. He had farm thoroughly imbedded in him, but some other drum was beating in his head. In Scott there was the need to get out and explore the rest of the world. This was his second year away from the farm, and things weren't going quite - textbook.
Scott arrived early after sunrise the next day and found Andy in the barn getting the tractor ready for another day of seeding, "Hey Andy!"
"Hey there stranger! What brings you back from the city so soon? Everything okay?"
"Just came to visit with dad for a while, got some business stuff to talk about." Scott looked around, "Where is dad, anyway?"
"Down by the creek. You know, that spot with the small waterfall. That's got to be his favorite spot on the planet."
"Guess I'll go head down there then. I'll come visit with ya before I leave."
Scott turned and headed down to the creek. His dad's spot was easy to find, he had been there so many times that there was a trail from the back door to the creek's edge. He found his dad sitting on a log facing the waterfall, staring into the foam where the falling water met back up with the rest of the creek.
"Hey dad!"
"Hello son, got here a little sooner than I expected. You look great! Come sit down."
Scott sat down on the log next to his dad, "Dad, I've thought about it some more and I don't think I can make it back in the city. You see..."
Scott's dad cut him off before he could finish the sentence, "Slow down son, you just got here. Sun's just come up, let's give this wonderful morning a few more minutes. Indulge your old man a little bit and just sit, close your eyes, relax, and listen to the waterfall."
They both sat in silence for a few minutes before his dad spoke again, "You know, waterfalls are a reflection our lives on earth - all of nature is. Waterfalls are noisy, noisier with your eyes closed, but you understand it; you know where the noise comes from, and you know that the noise is right.
Open your eyes and look at the waterfall, see how on the left side the water is just sliding down quietly into the creek? How the middle is falling off of the rocks and violently splashing back into the creek? How on the right side the water is sliding in a mad rush to get back into the creek?"
"Now, if you look back before the falls, the water is smooth and flowing as a single entity. If you look after the falls, the water is smooth and flowing as a single entity. Every molecule of water is dealing with the falls in a different way, but all of them are eventually right back where they belong. None of them got to choose which side of the falls they ended up on, they just keep going down the path until things are right again.
Scott was confused, "Dad, are you seriously trying to cheer me up by telling me that? That I'm floating down an endless path of random muggings?"
His dad laughed, "There is good news. You've got a pretty big advantage over those molecules of water," he winked, "you can steer. It's all about how you look at it - that's how life works. There are going to be some rapids, and there's going to be some falls - and there will definitely be some smooth rides. You just have to do your best to always steer into the smooth lane.
You come from a farm, and the noise here is different, not necessarily better, it just sounds right to you. You understand it; you're used to it. When you come to understand the noise of the city, you'll get used to that to, and it will sound right."
They both sat in silence for a while longer. Then Gary turned and looked at his oldest son sitting on the log still staring at the fall, "So, enough of that floating guru nonsense, tell me about this problem you've been dealing with."
"You know, it's nothing really, just a speed bump in life now that I think about it."
"You think you have a handle on it?"
"Yeah, I think I do. I guess I was just being a little narrow-minded. I'm in too much of a hurry for things to happen. Guess the city does that to a person."
They got up and started walking up the path to the barn to see how Andy was doing with the tractor.
"Scott?"
"Yeah dad?"
"What's a speed bump?"
Comments (9) |
 03-27-2008 02:10, Nice easy read » Reply to this comment...  03-27-2008 10:26, Wished my dad explained things like that to me, Really lovely read, » Reply to this comment...  03-27-2008 11:09, Poetic in nature...now there was a pun! » Reply to this comment... 03-27-2008 11:16, strikes again... i was just going to check in on my comments (and thank you for the comments) - and i realized i had the opportunity to speak with an accent and couldn't resist! write on! » Reply to this comment... » See all 1 replie(s)  03-27-2008 11:17, hey! my accent is gone... blast! write on folks! » Reply to this comment...  03-27-2008 11:36, Great sense of humor, I enjoyed reading this a lot :) » Reply to this comment... 03-27-2008 22:32, Well written, thoughtful, entertaining. You have a real talent man. More please! » Reply to this comment...  03-28-2008 08:43, Really interesting how you write about simple stuff, it's just amazing, it's inspiring and a little philosophical at the same time. I just love it man, keep it up! :) » Reply to this comment...  03-30-2008 20:18, Aye Tarnoggin' that was a wonderful story, very amusing, and the analogousness yer instilled went over well with me, sort of like a waterfall. (Yeah, once again, I'm that bad of a reviewer) Take care, 'Anna » Reply to this comment... |
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