First time

By: Angel Perdomo

Children are blown away easily: it's in the nature of youth.

Little beams of sunlight creeped through the cracks of the curtains in her room, but she slept soundly in the warmth of her best, bluest blanket.  Her mother marched into the bedroom. She let the sun in, gently shaking the small body coiled under the covers. 

"Come on, Monkey,” She said while caressing her head. “We have to go.”

“MHM!” Monkey said still half asleep. “Just a few more minutes…”  

They were going to Granny's house that day. Monkey was to spend the weekend with her grandparents and uncles. 

Monkey, a nickname she is really proud of, was getting on the bus for the first time. Her mother usually took a thirty-minute drive to go from their small town to the city to visit family, but today their car was at the mechanic's. “Greeny”, the green gassy car, could not carry them today (that's how Monkey named it after finding out that cars eat gas). 

Monkey saw the bus pull up to their bus stop while they waited in line. She was giddy. “It's a enormous humongous mum!” She said, beaming with excitement, pointing at the black bus. 

Her mother smiled. “Let’s go!” she said while grabbing her small hand. 

They sat near the front of the bus, Monkey on the window side. The bus remained still for a few minutes while the rest of the passengers boarded. The doors closed and its motor suddenly started. The bus rumbled, it roared like in a rollercoaster. A shrill, sheer, booming joy sparked out of Monkey. At every bump of the road she screamed and laughed, the trembling and rumbling that made her shiver and shake. 

Her mother was half-laughing at her reaction, and half-embarrassed at how much noise Monkey was making. “Shh…” she whispered while looking around as some onlookers took notice. They smiled and nodded. “Calm down, love.”

“HOW!?” Monkey said, looking amazed at her mother. “How!?”

“How what?” her mother asked. “What do you mean?”

“WHY!?” She replied, opening her eyes and presenting hands as if the question was super obvious from the beginning. “Why it vroooom?” 

“Because the bus,” she began to explain, “Has a big motor that makes the whole thing shake.”

“Mmm…” Monkey muttered, pondering. “Does it eat gas like Greeny?” 

“Yes,” her mother answered. “They all eat gas.”

Monkey laughed, as she always did every time she heard the word “gas.” 

“Why doesn’t Greeny shake like the bus?” she asked. 

“Grenny,” her mother began, “also has a motor that shakes, but it is smaller, and you don’t feel it.”

“Mmmh,” Monkey said. She looked around, fascinated by the size of the vehicle.“Ok.”

“Can we have a bus?” Monkey asked after a few minutes.  

“Where would Greeny sleep?” Her mother replied. “We don’t have enough space in the garage.”

“Okay.” She replied in a defeated tone. 

She looked through the window, seeing the trees go by. She thought of how she could make her own bus, or maybe she could ask Granny for one. It could sleep at their house, and she could ride it when visiting. 

She grew tired after a while. She laid her head on her mother’s lap and fell asleep. She dreamt of driving a big bus. 

Her mother looked down at her sleeping child with a smile. At that age, she thought, everything is a discovery –everything blows you away.