The ninth episode, wherein Daniel writes what is almost, kind of, sort of, on the verge of being an autobiographical story, and then, to no ones surprise, goes off in a completely unexpected direction!
Inspired by the phrase, “I don’t know where I’m going, but I promise it won’t be boring.”
STORY
“Dad, this is boring.” Thomas was 6 years old, and there were many things he thought to be rather boring. Mostly they were things that didn’t involve race cars, or jet planes, or going very, very fast. Slow things bored Thomas.
“I told you, Thomas, I’m busy right now, but in a little bit we can go play, okay?” Thomas’ dad was a businessman. This meant that he spent a lot of time sitting completely still in a chair. Thomas wasn’t sure how he could stand it and not be bored all of the time, although sometimes he did hear his dad making car noises when he was sitting especially still.
Thomas could see that he was not going to be getting anywhere with his dad right now. “Maybe if I go play for a while, dad will hear how much fun I’m having, and he’ll come join me.” Thomas thought this was a pretty good plan, and he knew that the louder he played, the sooner his dad would hear him. “VRRROOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!! SCCCRREEECCCCCHHHHH! WWOOOOOOSSSSHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!” Thomas knew that his dad would be able to hear how much fun he was having.
“Thomas, can you play quietly, please? I’m trying to work right now.” This was not what Thomas had wanted to hear. “But dad, I’m bored! Can we go do something?”
“Not right now Thomas. Wait until I finish, and then we can go play.”
Thomas did not like to wait. Waiting was like moving extra super slow, and Thomas much preferred moving fast. Sometimes it seemed like Thomas would have to wait forever and ever and ever before he could go play. He wished his dad could just be finished right now.
“Dad, are you done yet? Are you ready to play now?” The worst part about waiting for his dad to be done was that Thomas never knew how long it would take. Thomas liked knowing things ahead of time, because it meant that he could do them faster. He thought his dad liked to know things too, but not so he could do them faster. His dad just liked to know what was going on all the time. That’s why he spent so much time sitting still at his computer. “I’m almost done, Thomas. Would you like to go on a trip with me?”
Thomas liked to go on trips. He usually got to ride in a car, and sometimes he got to go very fast. His dad went on trips a lot, but they were usually not very fast trips. He went on trips for work, and from what Thomas could tell, they usually involved a lot of sitting still.
“Where are you going, dad? Is it a boring trip?
“I don’t know where I’m going, but I promise it won’t be boring. You can come with me, but we will have to be very fast. Do you think you can do that?”
Thomas could hardly believe his ears. Before his dad had even finished asking him, Thomas was on the move. “Let’s go, dad! Hurry up! Can we go right now?”
“Sure we can, Thomas. In fact, we need to leave right now. But there’s one thing first. Come here, Thomas.” Thomas’ dad closed his computer and waited until Thomas had come to his side. Then he reached under his desk, and Thomas heard a clicking sound, just before the bookcase in his dad’s office disappeared. Thomas didn’t see the bookcase anymore, but he did see the giant slide going down into the floor that took its place.
“Okay Thomas, we have to hurry. There’s a boat waiting downstairs for us.” (Thomas had not known that his house had a downstairs). “It is a very fast boat, and it is going to take us to a jet plane, which is also very fast, and which will take us far away. We’re going to have to keep moving fast. Are you ready?”
Thomas’ eyes were very, very wide as he nodded his head yes.
“Then let’s go, bud. Adventure awaits.”
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