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intheheartTitle: Sundays
Rating: PG.
Summary: Sundays are Olivia's favorite days.
Date: April 1992
Notes: none
Olivia's dress is a princess dress, soft blue with layers and layers of skirts, and her shoes-- Mary Janes-- are polished brightly. She thinks they are beautiful, her shoes. All through the service she could see light reflecting off them as she kicked her feet back and forth, and now they catch the sun in bright spots. "Look, Daddy!" she says, and holds her foot out so he can see.
Her daddy is the best daddy in the world. She knows he is, because he looks, and exclaims properly over how beautiful her shoes are. Her mama does not think her shoes are wonderful, but then Olivia thinks that her mama does not think anything is wonderful. This makes her sad, when she thinks about it, so she tries not to. She thinks about her daddy instead, and Sunday when it is just them and no mama to shout or be unhappy.
Her daddy is leaning down, fixing the bow in her hair. "All right, Sunny, are you ready?"
Sunny is what her daddy calls her, instead of her name, which is Olivia Emily. He says it's because she's the sunniest person he knows. She loves it when he calls her Sunny. When it's his turn to put her to bed, she makes him sing "You Are My Sunshine," because she loves that song too. She likes to think it was written just for her.
"I'm ready! I'm ready!" she says, and bounces up and down with excitement. Her daddy smiles down at her, and asks the same question he always asks.
"Where shall we go, then?"
Olivia gives her answer gleefully. "To the park! Let's go to the park!"
Her daddy pretends to be surprised, like he's done every Sunday that Olivia can remember. "To the park? All right then. What shall we do at the park?"
This is Olivia's favorite part. "Let's get ice cream and play and watch clouds and go on the Ferris wheel!" She claps her hands at the end of it.
Her daddy laughs. "All right," he says, and takes her hand.
The park is less than a block away, and it is Olivia's most favorite place. It's big and green and filled with people, and there is a swing set, and a carnival nearby, and an ice cream stand and a big green lawn to lie on when you eat it. If she could live her whole life in the park, she would.
The man at the park gate is named George, and he knows her and her daddy by name. "Morning, Hugh," he says, every Sunday (Hugh is her daddy's name). "Morning, Miss Olivia."
"Good morning, George," Olivia says, politely as she can, every Sunday. She must always be polite to George, because he is polite to her, and good manners are the one thing every girl cannot be without. Olivia knows this is true, because her daddy has told her it is.
George lifts up the gate and lets them in, Olivia in her princess dress and her daddy in his neat suit, and the colors and sounds wash over them and draw them in. They get ice cream-- Olivia gets strawberry, and a little bit melts on her dress, and she knows her mama will scold if she sees it, but her daddy just wipes it up with a napkin and points out a cloud that looks like a rabbit. Later he will push her on the swings, and the ruffles on her dress will fly up and she will laugh to see them. Just before they go home, he will take her on the Ferris wheel, and at the very top she will stretch up her hands and feel that she can touch the sky.
All this, she knows, will go on forever.
--
It will not, of course, and when Olivia is grown up, it will be different. When Olivia is grown up, she will not like Ferris wheels, because they are too high, and she thinks about the car tipping over and the wind whistling past her ears as she falls until she starts to cry and cannot stop. She will not like strawberry ice cream, because it chills her mouth and tastes too sweet. She will not cloud-watch, because she does not have time. And she will not like "You Are My Sunshine," because she will have heard all the lyrics and she will know how scary they are.
But she would still give anything to hear her daddy call her Sunny, one more time.
Rating: PG.
Summary: Sundays are Olivia's favorite days.
Date: April 1992
Notes: none
Olivia's dress is a princess dress, soft blue with layers and layers of skirts, and her shoes-- Mary Janes-- are polished brightly. She thinks they are beautiful, her shoes. All through the service she could see light reflecting off them as she kicked her feet back and forth, and now they catch the sun in bright spots. "Look, Daddy!" she says, and holds her foot out so he can see.
Her daddy is the best daddy in the world. She knows he is, because he looks, and exclaims properly over how beautiful her shoes are. Her mama does not think her shoes are wonderful, but then Olivia thinks that her mama does not think anything is wonderful. This makes her sad, when she thinks about it, so she tries not to. She thinks about her daddy instead, and Sunday when it is just them and no mama to shout or be unhappy.
Her daddy is leaning down, fixing the bow in her hair. "All right, Sunny, are you ready?"
Sunny is what her daddy calls her, instead of her name, which is Olivia Emily. He says it's because she's the sunniest person he knows. She loves it when he calls her Sunny. When it's his turn to put her to bed, she makes him sing "You Are My Sunshine," because she loves that song too. She likes to think it was written just for her.
"I'm ready! I'm ready!" she says, and bounces up and down with excitement. Her daddy smiles down at her, and asks the same question he always asks.
"Where shall we go, then?"
Olivia gives her answer gleefully. "To the park! Let's go to the park!"
Her daddy pretends to be surprised, like he's done every Sunday that Olivia can remember. "To the park? All right then. What shall we do at the park?"
This is Olivia's favorite part. "Let's get ice cream and play and watch clouds and go on the Ferris wheel!" She claps her hands at the end of it.
Her daddy laughs. "All right," he says, and takes her hand.
The park is less than a block away, and it is Olivia's most favorite place. It's big and green and filled with people, and there is a swing set, and a carnival nearby, and an ice cream stand and a big green lawn to lie on when you eat it. If she could live her whole life in the park, she would.
The man at the park gate is named George, and he knows her and her daddy by name. "Morning, Hugh," he says, every Sunday (Hugh is her daddy's name). "Morning, Miss Olivia."
"Good morning, George," Olivia says, politely as she can, every Sunday. She must always be polite to George, because he is polite to her, and good manners are the one thing every girl cannot be without. Olivia knows this is true, because her daddy has told her it is.
George lifts up the gate and lets them in, Olivia in her princess dress and her daddy in his neat suit, and the colors and sounds wash over them and draw them in. They get ice cream-- Olivia gets strawberry, and a little bit melts on her dress, and she knows her mama will scold if she sees it, but her daddy just wipes it up with a napkin and points out a cloud that looks like a rabbit. Later he will push her on the swings, and the ruffles on her dress will fly up and she will laugh to see them. Just before they go home, he will take her on the Ferris wheel, and at the very top she will stretch up her hands and feel that she can touch the sky.
All this, she knows, will go on forever.
--
It will not, of course, and when Olivia is grown up, it will be different. When Olivia is grown up, she will not like Ferris wheels, because they are too high, and she thinks about the car tipping over and the wind whistling past her ears as she falls until she starts to cry and cannot stop. She will not like strawberry ice cream, because it chills her mouth and tastes too sweet. She will not cloud-watch, because she does not have time. And she will not like "You Are My Sunshine," because she will have heard all the lyrics and she will know how scary they are.
But she would still give anything to hear her daddy call her Sunny, one more time.
