The Gift of Tomorrow

“Where’s Steven?!” I say to myself. I got home from school 10 minutes ago and can’t wait for him to come and play. I kick my legs under the table wondering why it’s taking him so long to get here. I’ve been looking forward to this all day, mostly because class was pretty boring. We were learning about boys and girls and how their bodies do different things like pee and make babies. I’m not sure why all this is so important, but Ms. Sally seems to care, and I like Ms. Sally, so I paid attention and learned some cool things. She talked about the past a lot. She looked a bit sad, I hope it wasn't because of me or the other kids in the class—we tried our best to pay attention.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK

“That must be Steven!” I say out loud with excitement and run for the door before Mommy can beat me to it.

Behind the door was Steven, a big smile on his face and two large sticks in his hands. Steven is 3 months older than me and has brown skin and dark brown eyes. He’s about my height but significantly faster than me. Maybe when I turn 8 next week I’ll be as fast and as strong as him. Eight seems grown-up.

“Hi Steven!” I say.

“Hi Luke!” he responds while turning around and heading for the backyard.

I follow Steven to the yard and down a small hill toward the dried out river. He throws me one of the sticks and starts swinging it.

“Woooosh, woooosh, wooooooosh” He says. Reminding me of those movies my dad likes, Wars of Stars or something like that.

CLANK, CLANK, CLANK

Our wooden swords smash against each other over and over again, making my hand and arm feel funny. I think I’m winning and I spin around to show off before giving my final shot to Steven. At that moment, he hits the top of my stick with so much strength that I drop my wooden sword in the dirt. For a second, I don't say anything, but then I burst out laughing and fall to the ground, holding my tummy. I feel like I can’t breathe; the more I try to stop laughing the harder I laugh.

“I win, you lose” Steven says as I lie on the ground trying to breathe.

Like when I get gastro and Mommy and Daddy also get sick, Steven starts belly laughing, and we both roll around on our backs, giggling. When I stop laughing first, I look at Steven, and the look on his face makes me burst out laughing again. The last time I laughed that much was last weekend when Dad tickled me while pretending to be the tickle monster.

After a few more sword fights and then building a fort with tree branches, I hear mom call me home for dinner.

“See you tomorrow at school” I shout to Steven while running home.

“Bye Luke… but remember… I am the champion… argggg” says Steven.

I rolled my eyes and thought about how much fun I have with Steven. I’ll get to play with him outside some more this weekend, but before then I have another day at school and we’re learning something about the side of a triangle. I’m not sure, but I’ve never liked math, I’m not very good, and it’s boring.

When I get close to home, I smell my favourite food—roasted chicken and potatoes! I run a little faster at the smell. As I go through the door, I can see the living room filled with furniture that smells old, almost like wet wood and mud—maybe a little like Grandpa. It’s not a nice smell, like roasted chicken, but it smells like home to me. There’s a small TV in the living room that Dad says belonged to Grandpa in the 1970s. It doesn’t work, but we leave it there as a decoration. It's strange that families used to have a TV in their living room, where they would watch it for hours every day. Crazy, because in 2050, we never really watch TV or movies on school days—just on special occasions with a projector, and when Mommy and Daddy and George, my dog, are all together. Most of my friends are the same—I think.

I head for the dinner table.

“Luke, have you washed your hands?” Mommy asks.

“Yes” I say while looking at my dirty hands.

“Are you sure?” Mommy asks again, squinting at me.

“Ughhhh fine” I say as I agree to go wash them in the sink.

When I sit down at the table, Daddy is setting out the plates, while Mommy brings over the chicken and potatoes.

“Yum!” I say grabbing my fork and my knife.

Mommy gives me a smile and serves me first—the thigh, my favourite! We all eat in silence for a couple of minutes “yumming” and “umming”.

“How was your day? anything memorable?” Daddy asks Mommy.

Mommy takes a second to think and says, “I started a super fun project at work, it’s to help a big corporation transition to renewable energy—something they’ve resisted in the past due to costs. I’m excited; it makes me feel like I’m making a difference for the planet”.

“Amazing! Wouldn’t expect any less from you, Miss Saves the World Every Day” Daddy says, winking at Mommy, and her face turns light red.

“On my end, I met a few pediatric leukemia patients that were prescribed that new immunotherapy I mentioned a few times. The doctor told me that their treatment starts tomorrow, so I have to get the medication ready for their visit in the morning” Daddy says with pride while putting a piece of chicken in his mouth.

“I’m super excited because this drug has done wonders in clinical trials, and it’s so reassuring to have a treatment that works and allows these children to have somewhat of a normal childhood”. Mommy gives Daddy a strange look, almost like the one Ms. Sally had this morning, and takes his hand in hers. Then they both turn to me.

“What about you, Luke? How was your day?” Daddy asks.

“Ms. Sally taught us about boys and girls today and it was interesting! Did you know that girls have really cool bodies, so much cooler than us?! They have these hor-gnomes that change constantly and affect so many things that I can’t remember. They’re like transformers” I say loudly.

“I think you mean hormones, and that’s great, buddy. Girls are very cool!” Daddy says looking and Mommy with a wide smile on his face.

After dinner, Mommy and Daddy tell me to go to bed early, since tomorrow is a school day… ughhhh. I go give a hug to Mommy, and she says, “I love you, goodnight”, and I say it back.

I head over to Daddy and he stops the water in the sink to give me a hug, saying, “ I love you. Have a great day at school tomorrow. Mom will take you since I need to be at the hospital early”.

As I head upstairs I moan, “But I don’t want to go to school tomorrow, can I just stay home with you?” I look back at Daddy with a frown.

“I know you don’t want to go, buddy, but you’ve got to go to school and grow that brain of yours. Make it as big as Mom’s so she stops beating us at Scrabble” he says jokingly.

“Anyways, I’ve got something fun planned this weekend for us if you go to school and finish homework in time” Daddy reminds me.

“Ughhhh okay” I say, sounding annoyed. But really, I’m super excited—family activities are always fun, especially when Daddy plans them.

While I lie in bed, I think of the fun time I just had with Steven. It makes me smile as I start to feel sleepy. I hear the low voices of Mommy and Daddy downstairs.

“Babe, do you have anything to add to the grocery list for tomorrow, I’ll head to the store after work” Daddy asks.

“Sure, can you add coconut milk, I'm going to make a curry” Mommy replies.

The last thing I hear is, “I love you” … “I love you more”.