When Mom was Gone

WHEN MOM WAS GONE...

...and i had to spend a whole

five days

with dad...

by ed fleming and brendan bailey

T O D A Y , M OM W A S LEA VIN G ON A T R I P.

I wasn’t ver y happy b e cau s e I k n ew I ’d be sp end i ng the w hole t i m e wi t h D a d . H e is a l way s at w ork , a n d i s n e ve r h om e ; and whe n he i s hom e , it’ s n ev er fu n , b ecause he ju s t re ads n e w s p a p er s o r cracks dum b joke s .

MOM MADE DAD PROMISE TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF ME. H e sa id b a c k t o h e r “ O h , I ' ll t a ke

c a r e o f hi m ! We're going t o hav e s om e r e a l fu n ! �

He p ro babl y mea ns ra k ing t he law n or t a k in g ou t tr a s h.

O nc e Mo m l ef t , Dad asked me t o h e lp h im in t h e g a r ag e. I ju st wa nt ed t o play vide o ga m e s , b u t D a d i n si sted. When w e got t o t he ga r a ge , D a d h it a b u tto n an d a roc ket ship appear e d. We t ook t h e r o c ke t i n to o u t er spac e! We left e a r t h , pa s s e d t h e m o o n, an d saw mars and jupit er an d plu t o! I t wa s l i ke n o thi n g I've ev er done before . D a d pr om is e d th a t to m o rro w w ould be just as f u n .

D AY 2 : As I g o t u p th e n ex t m o rn i n g , Da d wa s m a ki ng b reakfa s t a nd h e s a i d w e w ere g oi ng t o be busy all d ay . I was n o t l o o k i n g fo rwa r d t o i t . H e ' s p roba b ly ta k i n g a b o u t ra k i n g t h e l awn. C a n y ou im agine t hat- a n en t i re d ay w i t hout N i nt e nd o!

We to o k th e c a r fo r a rea l l y l o n g d ri ve t ha t nev e r e nde d, a n d s u d d en l y I rea l i ze d we we re b ac k in A nc ien t E g y p t . We s aw the pe opl e b uild i ng th e py ra m i d s ! A n d w e looke d a t g i a nt te mp le s c o v e r ed i n h i ero g l y p h i c s! Som e one wi t h a bir d' s h e a d t ri ed t o t a l k t o u s i n a we i rd l a nguage ! I t wa s s o co o l . I co u l d n ’t he l p but t hi nk o f Mom, b ut I wa s h av i n g s o m u c h fun wi t h Da d .

D AY 3 : When I wo ke u p , Da d wa s i n m y r oom t e l l i ng m e t hat he h ad a s p eci a l s u rp ri s e fo r m e . I wa s e xcite d t o s e e p a n ca kes a n d b a co n for bre a kfa st a n d I g o t t o e a t i t i n b ed ! M o m d o e sn’t l e t m e eat in b e d- s he s ay s I ’l l s p i l l s o m e t hi ng . Once bre akfas t wa s f i n i s h ed , Da d a n d I t ook a se cre t passag e way fr o m t h e b a s em en t i n t o t he ce nt e r of the E a r t h. We s aw l o t s o f ro ck s d i a m ond s, a n d ev e n g o t t o keep s o m e. We h ad t o run away fr om a g i ant r o ck m o n s t er, t h o u g h . I wa s havi n g a lo t mo r e f u n w i t h Da d t h a n I e ve r t houg ht possib le .

DAY 4 : Whe n I g o t u p i n t h e m o rn i n g , I wa s so e xci t e d fo r w hat D ad h a d p l a n n ed fo r t he t wo of us. We to o k a s ub ma ri n e a n d d o v e i n t o t he d e pt hs of the o c e a n. We s aw a w h a l e a n d l ot s of fi sh. We stoppe d fo r lu n ch a t a n u n d erwat e r re st a ura nt and h a d tu na f i s h s a n d w i ch es . T hey we re d e l i c ious . A f te r w e p a s s ed A t l a n t i s , we we nt ba ck hom e . D a d i ns i s t ed t h a t t h e n ex t d ay woul d be the b e s t day o f a l l . B et t er t h a n a l l t he ot he r days p u t t o g e t h er.

D AY 5: I w o ke u p i n th e m o rn i n g n o t t o Da d , but t o Mom ! I wa s s o h a p p y t o s ee h er, and t ol d he r a l l a bo ut th e a dv en t u res I h a d b een t hroug h i n t he l a st fe w day s . S h e wa s n ’t t o o h a ppy a bout m y bre akfas t in b ed , b u t s h e s a i d s h e woul d l e t i t g o this t i me . T h a t d ay wa s b et t er t ha n a l l t he othe rs p u t t o g et h er- I wa s b a ck wi t h a l l of m y family. I c a n’ t wa i t fo r t h e n ex t ad ve nt ure Da d a n d I hav e t o g et h er.

END

credits: fonts: A song for Jennifer - by Brittney Murphey - dafont.com Ammy’s Handwriting - by Ammy K - dafont.com

pictures by Ed fleming This is a story that we worked on for our final project in Children’s Literature at Plymouth State U. Hopefully, more illustrations will be added in the future.