He looked back up the sidewalk from where he'd come, and there, far back, was Pammy! Furiously pedaling her tricycle, trying to catch up with him, again following her big brother.
Once upon a time, when Papa was just a little boy,
his little sister Pammy loved to follow him everywhere, especially when he was nearing four years of age and she two. They lived in a small city (for the early 1960s) and Dougie often rode his small bicycle out on adventures, brazenly riding in the street. But there were also wide, white sidewalks, and he was supposed to ride on those, and generally he did. It had not been long since the training wheels were removed from his tiny bicycle, and he loved standing on the pedals and chugging his bike faster, and faster. Mama considered it safe for Dougie to ride around the block -- but no further! Maybe the world was not as crazy in those days as it is today, because the grown-up Papa would never allow his four-year-old, or even his five-year-old, or even his SEVEN-year-old to ride around the block, let alone go out in the front yard by themselves! But perhaps the world is a little different today.
One day Dougie was riding his bicycle out into the world, like a traveler to far lands, and he planned on going around the whole block, and fast, but when he had gone only a hundred yards down the road he looked back and saw his baby sister, Pammy, riding along behind him, far back, on her tiny tricycle. Dougie stopped pedaling. He sighed. Why did this always have to happen?
"Go back, Pammy!" he shouted, motioning her back with his arms. "You better go home! You're not old enough to ride around the block!"
She stopped pedaling. She stared at him with her big dark eyes. She never spoke much then, but she did do a lot of staring.
"You better go home, and NOW!" Dougie shouted with authority.
Pammy began pedaling and cranked her handlebars, doing a neat about-face and began heading off for home.
Whew, that went a lot easier than it usually did. Usually he had to take her home himself, because she was notoriously disobedient when Dougie told her anything (much the same way Dougie was with Donna when she issued orders). Happily, he set off once again upon his journey, squinting his eyes in the bright sunlight. He often imagined he was flying his airplane, because at this age his greatest plan was to become a pilot.
When he arrived at the first corner he looked back up the sidewalk from where he'd come, and there, far back, was Pammy! Furiously pedaling her tricycle, trying to catch up with him, again following her big brother.
That did it! He jumped from his bicycle and allowed it to crash to the sidewalk. He stomped his feet and shouted at Pammy. "Go home! You better go home NOW!"
As before, Pammy did a neat about-face and headed off for home.
Dougie sighed. It was tough having a baby sister, it really was.
Wearily, so put-upon and fully of heavy responsibility, Dougie set off again on his adventure. He rode hard and soon forgot about his troublesome little sister. It took him about an hour, but he finally made it home. Wearily, he threw his bicycle down upon the front lawn and trudged into the house.
It was more than an hour later that Mama couldn't find Pammy, not in the front yard, and not in the back yard. Soon the whole family was looking for her everywhere. Mama and Dada asked Dougie when it was that he had seen his little sister last?
He thought about it. When was it? Was it when he was floating boats in the little pond in the back yard? No. She hadn't bothered him in quite a while. In fact, the last time he saw her was when he yelled at her from the first corner of the block, and saw her turn around for home.
Dougie told his parents what he remembered, and they exploded! Why hadn't he realized she would turn around AGAIN and follow him AGAIN? What was he thinking? Didn't he care about his baby sister? Didn't he know it was his responsibility to watch out for her, to protect her?
He wasn't sure why they were so mad, as he had told Pammy to go home, several times. And twice he had seen her head out for home. It seemed to make greater sense to him that she would have gone home, finally, than again turning to follow him on his adventure, plus, couldn't they figure out that a baby wasn't supposed to go out on an adventure?
Dada and Mama went out in the car, searching for their baby. They drove around the block.
No Pammy.
Then they drove back to the corner where Dougie had last seen her. Maybe she had not turned the corner? So they set out down the road, driving in a straight line, and still, no Pammy. They returned to the corner where Dougie had last told her to go home, reasoning that she had probably followed him, and turned the corner, as she had seen Dougie turn the corner.
So this time, they drove in a straight line, following Pammy's imagined path, if she turned the corner and then continued not knowing to turn the next corner to stay with Dougie course. They drove a mile beyond where Pammy might have missed the turn. No Pammy. They were very worried. Nothing like this had ever happened before, especially with Pammy, as she was a good girl. Sure, things like this happened all the time with Dougie, but not Pammy, and never Donna.
It was getting close to evening and Pammy was missing for almost three hours!
Then, far up the road, Mama spotted a small shape, rocking from side to side, steadily moving forward. It was Pammy!
When they stopped the car and called to her, ran to her, she didn't seem to think there was anything to make a fuss about. She was merely following her big brother, and she was sure she would catch up to him, and soon!
They had found her more than two miles away from the corner where she had missed the turn.





Larsen Family Snapshots



The Little Papa Stories

www.DouglasChristianLarsen.com


All Stories © 2009 Douglas Christian Larsen

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He looked back up the sidewalk from where he'd come, and there, far back, was Pammy! Furiously pedaling her tricycle, trying to catch up with him, again following her big brother.
The Little Papa Stories - When Papa was a Little Boy. Vignettes and scrapbook memories of childhood. Stories for Harrison Christian, Alicia Kathryn, Bronte Carolena, Dirklan Christian, Wolfgang Christian, and Genevieve Nancy.
Pammy's Runaway Tricycle
When Papa was a Little Boy
The early life memories of Douglas Christian Larsen, The Little Papa Stories, When Papa was a Little Boy, stories for Harrison Christian, Alicia Kathryn, Bronte Carolena, Dirklan Christian, Wolfgang Christian, Genevieve Nancy
www.TruthSeek.net   -   www.SoldierOn.net   -   www.AngelWolfRanch.net   -   www.DeceivingtheElect.net
Never, never, never, never, never, never, NEVER give up! Soldier On.
Unembellished: Although I'm neither adding to, nor taking away from these stories, it must be remembered that every recollection is recreated in the brain (the noodle works that way, it does not draw upon a static storehouse or upon concrete "memories," but like a mad scientist the brain bubbles up potions of chemicals and electric spark, and drawing from here and there amongst the neurons and dendrites, creates a new movie in the mind, every single time), and viewed through the lens of remembering me the way I was via the interpreter of who I am today. I am certainly as fallible today as I was then, whether two years of age, or four years, or forty-six years (and really, just as prone to tears!). But I capture these memories here, for my children, much the way my own Dada told me, and my sisters, stories of when he was a little boy. This way the memories go on, and never die.
- Douglas Christian Larsen