“Look, daddy, the moon is out!” That’s not the moon…
I was just enjoying the day at the park with my son. He had ice cream. I remember it so clearly. Vanilla, his favorite. He looked up at me, beaming, with the ice cream dripping from his nose. There was never a happier moment in my life than seeing my son smile. As we approached the street, his adorable little fingers pointed above him as he licked the cone.
“Look, daddy, the moon is out!”
I follow his fingers, watching their strain to get me to see what he’s looking at. I see it with my own eyes and shake my head slowly.
“No, son. That’s not the moon.”
His face, contorted in confusion looks to me in dismay. The vanilla ice cream falls from his hands as tears brim the edges of his eyes. He is on the verge of hysterics and I fall to my knees and hug him tightly.
“Wh — what is that, daddy?” I feared for him. Would he even understand what I would say? How could he? He was so young! I held him at arm’s length and looked him deep in the eyes. He wanted to look back up at the thing he identified earlier, but unadulterated fear gripped him now. He breathed heavily and shook in anxiety-induced anticipation. I brought him close and whispered.
“That’s a stop sign.”