Daily Archives: 1:26 am

Big Brother

Barely able to hear her voice, I crane my neck around to see her.
She is in the sling but leaning to the right like she’s never done before.
It is dark enough that I can’t make out her features but I can tell that her eyes are open.
She mutters something quietly and I ask my brother-in-law to shine the flashlight on her.
Her face glows red but she is unfazed.
She’s almost asleep, I think.
But she doesn’t drift off.
She holds her head just right so that she can see the moon and the stars.
It is dark out here and the stars are brilliant.
Even as a sliver of a crescent, the moon lights our way.

She sits upright and yells “tuh-tuh”!
When she gets no response she yells it again and points.
The wind muffles her tiny voice and, even with her close to my ears, I have a hard time hearing her.
There’s no way he can hear her, I know.
And so I call to him.
“Carter!”
“Carter! She’s calling you.”
He rushes back, proud that it is he who is the object of her affection.
I lean over so that they can be close and he kisses her gently on the cheek.
She squeals and claps.
Oh, how she adores him.