%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 Brief prose and poetry lacking other categories... |
| Donnie Duck wiggled in the backseat of his mom and dad's overstuffed dune buggy. He poked at his older brother Ronnie, who was playing a noisy video game on his phone. “Mom, can we stop? Ronnie woke up Daisy, and now she needs to use the bathroom.” Little Daisy made a cranky squealing sound and flapped her wings in her car seat, knocking the phone out of Ronnie's hands. The teenager groaned, diving to the floor to retrieve it and bumping into Donnie, who let out an even louder groan. “Hey kids, settle down.” Dad looked in the rearview mirror to investigate matters. “There's an exit soon. After a quick break, we'll be on the final stretch to the beach. Ronnie, have you been checking Google Maps?” “No, I've been playing Shenzhen Invasion. I'm on Level 109!” Dad clucked, returning his eyes to the road. “You'll melt your brain with that gaming nonsense. Donnie, are you keeping track of our route using the paper map?” “Yeah, actually.” Donnie straightened up in his seat, spreading out the state map on his lap and tracing a finger across it. “We’re approaching Exit 219, at Green Valley. The beach is another thirty miles away, or three more exits.” “Excellent. You'll get an ice cream cone when we stop.” “Hey!” Ronnie put down his phone. “Do I get one?” “Ronnie, you need to learn to pay attention to real life. You have to pull yourself away from the screen every once in a while, or you'll be a zombie.” “What's wrong with that? I play zombies all the time in Dead Man's Escape!” Donnie started laughing and flapped a wing at his brother. Daisy squawked as if she wanted to laugh too. Now it was Dad's turn to groan. Mom shook her head, closing her paperback book. “We're not saying it's wrong to play video games, hon. We're just trying to help you know when it's the appropriate time for gaming.” “That's not fair! I want an ice cream cone too.” “Can you stay off the phone until we get to the exit?” Mom asked. “I'll try.” Ronnie sighed and stuffed the phone in his backpack. He leaned over to pull the map away from Donnie. It tore down one of the worn fold lines, splitting in half. “Great. Now neither of us will know where we are.” “It's ok, we can still use it.” They spent the next ten minutes studying the map: pointing out icons, decoding symbols on the legend, arguing over where they were, and calculating the distances between various towns. *** A couple hours later, the Duck family arrived at the beach. Ronnie and Donnie helped unload surfboards, coolers, umbrellas, and piles of beach gear out from the dune buggy as seagulls soared and screeched overhead. Waves crashed against the dunes, sending up wafts of tangy salt wind. “Cool place, huh?” Donnie said to his older brother. “That ice cream was nice. I bet you're glad you got to have it too.” “Yeah.” Ronnie set his backpack down on a striped blanket and pulled his phone out. He stood frowning at the screen for a few minutes, trying to see past the glare of sunlight. Then he let out a wail. “There's no signal here! Now what?” Dad ignored him and focused on pegging down a jumbo umbrella. Mom adjusted the dials on an old-fashioned radio, bringing in a classical music station. She smiled at Ronnie, who was nearly in tears. “How about living life unplugged for a few hours, son? You'll appreciate it. There's so much to get excited about. This is a wildlife sanctuary.” “I brought a field guide to shoreline animals and plants.” Donnie waved a chunky book in the air. “Look, I want to see a real live plover while we're here.” Ronnie wiggled his beak and peered at the handbook. He soon lost interest and tried to pick up a signal again, wandering off to stand on a dune and point the phone in all directions. Mom and Dad arranged a picnic under the umbrella. Donnie ran along the seashore, stopping to pick up and identify seashells. Then, “Daisy! Where is she?” Ronnie ended up quite a bit away from his family in his search for a cell signal. He heard them calling for Daisy and looked down the slope to see them fanning out desperately. “Uh-oh,” he mumbled, stuffing his phone in his pocket. “Guess I should've been keeping an eye on her. Yikes.” From his elevated vantage point, he spotted his little sister toddling away, almost disappearing into thickets of brush and sea grasses. He heaved a sigh and started flapping until he rose and coasted downhill, quacking out her name. When he caught up with her, she was sitting in the sand, playing with bits of glass and pebbles. “No, don't put that in your mouth! Come on, let's go back to Mommy and Daddy, ok?” He bent down, took her by the wing and led her along the coastline towards the picnic area. They stopped to watch a flock of sandpipers poking their skinny beaks in the mud. Ronnie reflected that it was probably a good thing his phone was out of service. There did seem to be a lot of fun to be had outdoors. And besides, it was best to keep a good head on his shoulders in such unfamiliar territory. Shenzhen Invasion could wait until he got back home, or at least until the family was safe in a hotel room for the evening. Happy that he had come to this conclusion on his own, he waved at Donnie and his parents from a few yards back. “Ronnie! Daisy! We were in a panic about both of you.” Mom wrapped them both up in her wings. “Aw, I was fine. Daisy was trying to eat dirt, as usual.” She let out a protesting quack and held up a pretty pink seashell. Dad patted Ronnie's shoulder. “I'm glad you were focused enough to take control and find your baby sister. Don't you feel better than if you were playing games the whole time?” Ronnie shrugged. “Sure. Hey, what's my reward gonna be? I'm expecting like, maybe a whole pizza all to myself.” “No fair!” Donnie shouted. “I'm the one who spent more time looking for Daisy! I bet she wasn't even lost. You had her with you the whole time.” “Did not! I had to fly half a mile to catch her before she got swept into the sea.” “Enough of that.” Dad's voice was stern. “We came here to have fun, not to argue. You'll each get half a pizza, customized. Now let's sit down and have our picnic before the seagulls eat it for us.” “Afterwards, we can build sandcastles,” Mom said, holding up a handful of mini flags. “Sounds good to me,” Ronnie chuckled. He was beginning to enjoy himself. Words: 1150. Written for "Writing 4 Kids"  Prompt:  |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
![Merit Badge in Reviewing 7
[Click For More Info]
Awarded for sending at least one review every day for a week . This badge can be earned over and over again. Each of these badges adds one (1) Community Recognition!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/achievements-Reviewing_7.gif)
