Generations

Flash Fiction

Generations

“I don’t understand a word you are saying.”

“It’s all English Grammie, you know English. You were one of the people who taught me to talk in English,” six year old Cindy answered.

“That’s just a saying, Honey. It doesn’t mean I don’t understand English words. I do understand all the words. I meant I don’t understand what you’re trying to tell me with them.”

“But that’s not what you said.”

“No, you’re right. I said I didn’t understand a word you were saying when I really understood every word, I just don’t know what you were trying to tell me with those words.”

“That was kind of funny.”

“Funny?”

“Yes because you said you didn’t understand a word but you really understood all the words! But... I still don’t know what you mean.”

“What I probably should have said to you is, ah... what was it we were talking about before that anyway? I seem to have forgotten.

“I can’t remember either.”

“Well, it couldn’t have been important.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Oh, that’s another saying from the old days.”

“What exactly is this ‘saying’ thing?

“Apparently it’s a bunch of things we used to say when I was younger that don’t make any sense anymore.”

“Oh! Is that like when Mom tells me to hang up the phone, or roll up the window in the car?”

“Huh?”

“Gram! There’s nothing to hang up on a cell phone and there’s just a button on the door to push to shut the window in the car, nothing to roll. It doesn’t make any sense really. We kids just call it “Parent Talk.”

Gram couldn’t even answer, she was laughing so hard.