If you take the time to look, really look, there are amazing, wonderful things occurring every day in the world around you – things you might never expect until you see it with your own eyes. For me, today was one of those days. And because I’m a writer of short stories, days when I notice one of these amazing things make me happy because I can share my experience with you.
Guess the best place to start this story is at the beginning, a beginning that started very early this morning at 3:00 am. As the alarm sounded, we begrudgingly rolled out of bed, quickly got ready, grabbed the bags we’d packed the night before, and were out the door less than an hour later. The plan was to catch the second flight to Washington, DC so we’d have lunch and spend time with her parents, then go to the hotel, have an early dinner and then go to bed. The plan was perfect…almost.
What you don’t plan for can change everything.
The first change to our plans was that our 7:20am departure didn’t occur. Due to de-icing, our flight didn’t leave until an hour later. This delay made our long trip even longer. Upon arrival in DC, we spent a couple of hours with her parents before going to the hotel, checking in and finally heading out to our early dinner.
The second change.
Close to the hotel is a large shopping area called the Mosaic, so instead of driving, we decided to stretch our legs and take the short walk to find a place for dinner. Knowing we were super early and would miss any dinner rush, we selected a popular Italian restaurant. Walking through the door, I noticed there were already four or five couples seated up front and a family of four in the middle of the room. I didn’t really care where we were seated; I just didn’t want to be right next to the family with two small children. (After such a long day, all we wanted was a peaceful dinner.)
Guess where we were seated?
After placing our food order, we recounted the long day’s events. While waiting for our dinner, I was anticipating the two children to start misbehaving. It didn’t happen. The children were perfect. In fact, the conversation the dad was having with his son was so unique, it caught The Wife’s attention.
Mental math is served.
In between bites of their dinner, the conversation between dad and son went something like the following.
“Okay, now what’s 240 times two?”
After a short pause the young man answered, “Four hundred and eighty.”
The dad smiled, “That’s correct. Good job.”
The Wife and I both glanced over at the table and the young man who had just answered. We exchanged surprised looks.
“Did you hear that? How could he know that answer?” I asked the wife in a whisper.
She answered, “I know, he’s…”
Before she could finish, the young boy added to his answer. “That’s just 24 times 20.”
“Correct again. Good job.” The dad responded, and then went back to his meal.
The Wife and I were stunned at what just happened. So much so we told the young parents how impressed we were at their dinnertime conversation. The Wife said, “You know your son is gifted. That’s my area of education.”
The proud dad said, “Really? He also knows the birthdays of all the kids in his class.”
Our dinner arrived as The Wife whispered to me, “He’s not just gifted, he’s brilliant.”
The unexpected but expected dessert.
Soon bowls of vanilla ice cream were placed in front of the kids. The young daughter, age three or four, started to enjoy her vanilla ice cream, but the son did not. He had selected another dessert, and his choice made both of us laugh and this story memorable.
The Wife said, “Look at what he is eating. It’s not the ice cream.” After a quick glance, it was everything I could do to keep from laughing out loud. The brilliant child, who was enjoying doing mental math at dinner, was also enjoying his dessert of choice: a red crayon.
Did I mention the dad told us their son was only five years old?
At first glance, some things in this world aren’t what they seem to be. The little boy seated at the next table over was one of them.
