Part One: Eunice’s Tricycle
Eunice LOVED her tricycle.
It was the old-fashioned kind, with one big front wheel with spokes and two small back wheels with a little platform between. It was painted red with white trim and had shiny blue ribbons of plastic streaming down from the handlebars, and a little silver dome-shaped bell with a special lever you could push to ring ring ring everyone out of your way.
Eunice especially loved that it was so versatile. She could sit on the seat and pedal in the usual way, or she could stand with one foot on the back and push with her other foot to bob along in a sort of scooter-like fashion. She could even take a friend for a ride by allowing them to stand on the back holding onto her shoulders, as she sat on the front and pedaled around proudly.
Eunice’s tricycle was also an excellent vehicle for her imagination. One of her favorite pastimes involved turning the trike upside down and grabbing the pedals of the big front wheel and turning them round and round in a spinning motion as she sang a little song:
OH! Will you buy some ice cream from
the ice cream man, the ice cream man?
Ice cream from the ice cream man, all day long.
She would sing this little ditty over and over as she churned away, happily spinning the wheel making imaginary frozen treats. Eunice’s friend, Froggy, also very fond of this game, was always ready to join in.
“What flavor would you like, Froggy?” Eunice would ask, even though she already knew Froggy’s favorite.
“Green pistachio, please, with crunchy locust-shell sprinkles,” she would reply, handing Eunice an imaginary nickel.
Eunice dished up Froggy’s pretend cone, making elaborate gestures as she sprinkled imaginary crispy golden crunchies on top. Then she would help herself to a big scoop of her own all-time favorite, Chocolate Dung-ball Delight.
Froggy and Eunice would then sit on the curb side-by-side, next to the make-believe ice cream churn, eating their make-believe ice cream cones, enjoying the pleasure of each other’s company which, fortunately for them, was not make-believe at all.
. . . coming this March to a website near you, Part Two: The Big Race