This is the story of George and Bob who were brothers.
One was older than the other.
But I forget which one.
George and Bob were bored.
It was a Saturday afternoon and it was raining very hard outside.
The television was off because there weren’t any good programs on, not ones they were allowed to see, anyway.
The giant grandfather clock stood against the wall of the living room, ticking and tocking and bonging every hour. It had just finished bonging two times. It was too early for dinner, even too early for snack time.
“What do you wanna do, George?” asked Bob. He was laying on the living room floor, with his arms criss crossed behind his head, elbows sticking out. His right leg was crossed over his left, forming a right angle. There were leggo forms all over the floor, having just finished building a village, which he promptly destroyed as the alien Booger Breath Beast.
George was sitting on the high back green chair in the corner of the room farthest away from his brother. He was trying to read the latest book from his favorite series, Rocketman and the Rocketeers. But he couldn’t pay attention.
“I dunno. What do you wanna do, Bob?“
Bob was about to answer when they heard footsteps coming down the stairs, breaking the silence.
Mommy, whose real name was Madeline, had a basket full of laundry in her hands and was on the way to taking them to the basement, to do yet another basket of clothes. It seemed like most of the clothes belonged to their little sister, Francine. She was always trying different outfits on and never put them away, just left them on the floor. Mommy never knew what was clean and what was dirty, so she just scooped them up like a giant crane and washed them all.
She had tried several outfits on this morning before going to a birthday party down the street. Her older brother Frank walked her down to the house, and then he went to go to Boy Scouts.
“Whew!“ Said Mommy as she plopped herself down in the comfy chair near the fireplace.
“Time for a break. I wish I had time to take a nap.”
George and Bob looked each other. When they were younger, Mommy was always trying to get them to take a nap. They never would. Why was Mommy talking about naps now?
“No time, though, no time.” She said as she looked absently off into space.
Several minutes went by as they listened to the rain rapping against the picture window, and tinging on the tin roof over towards the kitchen.
Suddenly, Mommy looked over at the clock. It was close to three o’clock now and the minute hand wasn’t moving very fast.
In fact, it wasn’t moving at all.
Mommy stood up and announced to nobody, “Well it’s time to wind the clock again.“
George looked at Bob. He had a brilliant idea.
“Mommy“ George said, “why do you wind the clock?“
Mommy was looking in the desk drawer for the special key she used to wind the clock. It was usually in the top draw, but she seemed to be having trouble finding it.
“What honey?“ Mommy answered. She wasn’t paying attention.
“Why do you wind the clock?“ He asked her once again.
“Yeah, why do you wind the clock, Mommy?” Bob asked as well.
Mommy looked at them as if they had lost their mind. “Why? Well, if I didn’t no one would know what time it is.”
George looked at his brother with a big smile on his face.
“Well, wouldn’t that be a way to stop time?”
Mommy stopped and stared at her two little boys with intensity. The saying out of the mouth of babes ran through her head.
“Yeah, Mommy” said Bob. “That way you would have more time to do nothing. Maybe even take a nap” he ventured.
Mommy slowly walked back over to the comfy chair and sat back down.
“You might be right, boys” she smiled.
“I can’t stop time forever. Time goes on whether we want it to or not. It’s how babies get big and flowers grow tall. How food gets grown and seasons come and go.”
“But maybe I can take a nap. Just for now. You both stay in the room here with me, okay?”
And she laid her head back on the fluffy part of the chair and closed her eyes.
Pretty soon she was snoring lightly, her breathing slow and her mouth open ever so slightly.
George and Bob went and got an afghan from the bedroom and put it on Mommy’s lap and pulled it up around her chin.
They smiled at each other and then gave Mommy a kiss on a cheek.
Mommy smiled in her sleep.
Then they went and got their green army men out of the toy box and pretended she was a mountain, planting the plastic platoons on her shoulders and on her lap. They stuck soldiers in between her fingers and hid them in her hair.
It was a good day.
And that’s the story of George and Bob who were brothers.
One was older than the other.
But I forget which one.
*From “George & Bob Stories: Life Lessons From Little Brothers”
