A Lesson Learned

Flash Fiction

A Lesson Learned

“This is taking forever.”

“How long is forever Dad?” Jason asked, “Cause, I really have to go to the bathroom!”

Dad looked at Jason, age five, trying to be such a good helper, and not wet his pants!

“Go, go! You’ll be done in a few minutes; you can still help me then!” Jason ran. His father smiled watching him scoot across the lawn. He and Jason had been out here for over half an hour.

Suddenly Dad realized that, being so occupied with the fixing the lawn mower, he had hardly even spoken to Jason. He practically forgot Jason was there. That immediately shot him back to his own childhood.

He had tried very hard then, to get his father to let him work with him. The rare times he did get to help, often wound up in a catastrophe of some kind that made the job harder. Catastrophes that had nothing to do with him, he could see that now. But back then, he always assumed it was his fault, and his father never mentioned why it happened. After a while he’d just stopped helping.

As an adult looking back, he could see how easy it was to make those mistakes. Even his father made them, like he himself did now, adults, trial and error. But as a child, he always thought it was his fault, and his father never said what really happened.

Suddenly, with this memory, he realized this was is exactly what was happening with Jason. He never told Jason what really broke something.

As Jason walked back out, not looking happy, Dad shouted, “I just found out what I was doing wrong! Come help me do it right!”

He could see the smile coming all the way across the yard. Life was good again.