Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews.
“OK, so, I think you should maybe not ground George for all eternity, because he and Milton kinda did us a favor. We know the ground we're on isn't going to sink like Bayard Heights, because if it could have it would have, so now we know that we're safe, and I think that should count for something!”
Capt. R.E. Ludlow smiled at seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow, his most compassionate grandchild, whose brain was trying to catch up with her heart of gold and getting fascinating results...
“Well, nobody told him and Milton to waste all that water, and nobody told them that Tinyville needed quicksand testing, and they need to learn how to ask for permission before doing things,” he said gently. “But, I had not considered all of the current events like you have, Amanda.”
“I try, because people are doing the best they can and sometimes that's not good, but, but, God gives us all kinds of second chances and I know George is on like a lot of chances – hey, Rob, what's that number you need when you don't know how big it is?”
“A zillion!” said five-year-old Lil' Robert Ludlow as he ran up to his first big sister.
“Yeah, that's it – is there a bigger one?” Amanda said.
“Yes – a kabillion,” Lil' Robert said, “because, see, you can one, two, skip a few to a zillion, but when you really need a really big number, one, two, skip a lot – kabillion!”
“OK, so, we got numbers – so, what I'm trying to say, Papa, is that George is probably on a zillion chances getting closer to needing a kabillion chances, but, if we don't skip it all, there's plenty in there for him to have another chance!”
Capt. Ludlow considered this, working on his composure because he desperately wanted to laugh like Mrs. Thalia Ludlow and their cousin Mrs. Maggie Lee in the background, but would not do so in the faces of two of his three youngest grandchildren.
“Well,” he said, “somewhere between a zillion and kabillion chances is kinda rough, but I'm willing to hear you out. Got a solution?”
“I was remembering there's something called a halfway house – hey, Grayson, can you bring your Legos over for a minute?”
Six-year-old Grayson Ludlow, the middle child of the three youngest Ludlow grandchildren, duly appeared with his little red wagon packed with Legos.
“What do you need me to build, Mandie?” he said.
“Well, I'm trying to get George out of being grounded for all eternity, and I remember that there's these things called halfway houses for people coming out of lockup before they go back to real life – can you build one for George?”
“I can,” Grayson said, “and I can go blueprint it, but I need to know how much time I have to build it.”
“Let me save y'all all this trouble,” Capt. Ludlow said. “I'm just going to give George half off an eternity being grounded, because after all, we do know we aren't living on quicksand, and that counts for something.”
Somewhere in the background, Mrs. Lee fell out … .
“OK, great, Papa, and thank you!” Amanda said, and gave him a big hug and then hugged her two little brothers before they all went off to play in the Lego pile.
“I'm not telling Mandie about infinity being bigger than a kabillion,” ten-year-old Glendella Ludlow said to eleven-year-old Eleanor Ludlow while ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow shook his head, “and about how half eternity is still eternity.”
“No point,” Eleanor said. “First of all, I'm not trying to hear Rob talking about one, two, skip a kabillion, infinity, and second of all, it doesn't make any difference.”
“Nope,” Andrew said, “George and Milton are going to be caught up for quite some time. Amanda just got the nicest 'no' Papa has ever come up with. She has such a heart of gold and just doesn't get it.”
“She doesn't have to get it yet, though,” Glendella said. “It's not like she's double digits old, like us.”
“Yep,” Eleanor and Andrew said.