Ch. 3 D.C. & Wilbur

Ch 3:

James had been looking to this family vacation for weeks. He had longed to go to the National Air and Space Museum since he’d become fascinated with space. He was particularly interested in the 1903 Wright Flyer. His parents had long bragged about the Wright Brother’s being from North Carolina. Before the twins had been, his parents had taken him and Violet to Kill Devil Hills and the museum to learn about their experiments in aviation. Upon arriving at the bed and breakfast, he wasn’t sure he could sleep. Mildred had stated she didn’t want to do any cooking on this vacation, and at least if they stayed in a bed and breakfast, that’s one meal they didn’t have to go out to eat.

Where they were staying was a historic home that had been built in the 1800s. The house was two stories and had four white columns at the front of the building. It had recently been given a new coat of paint. There was a long driveway that led up to the entrance. Part of what had been the large lawn was now a parking lot for visitors. It was now a thriving business run by a husband, wife, and their two children. The son was the chef who made delicious breakfasts. The daughter was the business office manager who assisted with managing bookings. James had been too exhausted to pay attention to the names of the staff. He’d fallen asleep in the car during the drive and had been woken up when they arrived. He had sleepily gathered his pillow and blanket to fall asleep once they had arrived at their rooms promptly. Mildred and Oscar had decided upon two rooms at the bed and breakfast with a connecting door. One room was for the children, and the other was for the adults. James had been assigned the pull-out couch in the children’s room, the twins shared a queen bed, and Violet got a whole queen bed to herself. When asked by an indignant James why she got a bed to herself, Mildred had responded with, “ It’s hard being the oldest, and she deserves to have a bed to herself; plus, tomorrow night you two will switch, and you’ll have the bed, to yourself because being the only boy can also be trying.” Satisfied with this answer, all four children fell asleep quickly, dreaming of the adventures they would go on the following day.

The first adventure of the family vacation was getting out the door the next day. Violet wanted to sleep in, Mildred wanted everyone to get up at 7:30 am, and Oscar wanted everyone to get along. In the spirit of harmony, Mldred compromised with a wakeup time of 8:00 am as long as everyone got ready efficiently and didn’t waste time. To Mildred and Oscar’s surprise, everyone was fed, dressed, and prepared to go before nine-thirty. The next stop was the National Air and Space Museum. Violet had brought a book, and after an hour and a half of wandering around, she found a bench to start reading about another set of four siblings who also went on adventures, The Boxcar Children.

On the other hand, James was enthralled and could’ve spent another day exploring the museum. Unfortunately, that was not to be. After four and a half hours, everyone was hungry, having eaten their snacks, and it was time to depart for lunch. James was sad to be torn away from the exhibits he was so enraptured by, but he had to admit he was starving. After a pizza lunch, the family visited the Museum of Natural History. Mildred and Oscar had already decided they couldn’t take the children to every museum on this trip. The next day, they would make sure they visited the National Museum of Native American History and African American History. After four hours at the Museum of Natural History, everyone was exhausted despite not seeing all its exhibits. An exhausted family headed back to the hotel after getting Chinese takeout to eat at the hotel. 

Upon returning to their accommodations, James’s attention was diverted from his hunger to a scraggy dog that ran by their parked car. “ Arf Arf” barked what would only be described as a small lab with hair loss. He had noticed the dog that morning squeezing through a hole in the fence around the parking lot. When he pointed out the dog to his parents, his mom went back inside to inform someone before they left. The dog had disappeared from his view. When his mom returned to the car, he asked, “ Are they going to take care of the dog?”. Mildred sighed. She didn’t want to lie to her son but didn’t know the complete answer. “ They said they would take care of it.”  James had always wanted a dog. Whenever he asked his parents in the past, they said he wasn’t old enough to help with the dog’s care. He quickly unbuckled his seat belt, threw himself out of the parked minivan, and ran after the animal. “ Wait, you can’t just run after a strange animal,” cried Oscar, and he was now running after James, who was running after the dog. Neither of them had far to run. The dog had been cornered by the daughter/ business office manager and another woman with a loop at the end of a long pole, both of whom were panting. As James rounded the corner of the inn where the dog had been cornered, his eyes met the animals.

The longings of childhood are intense. It may be because, in childhood, we are so full of hope and have not yet had our hopefulness beaten down by the world. The longings in childhood are more straightforward and less complicated than those in adulthood. There are dreams and longings from childhood we remember for the rest of our lives. Love is so pure that we carry it until our last breath. It is with this intensity that James wants a dog, and as soon as he sees this particular dog, he has his heart set on it. He knew better than to get his hopes up. Whenever they would pass dogs at the park, and Mildred would see him staring longingly at the four-legged being, she would often say, “ A living thing is a lot of responsibility.” This was usually followed up: “We’re not ready for a dog yet.”  He had tried to suggest that they foster animals from the local shelter because, in his mind, they would not be with the family forever, but his dad had put a stop to this idea. “ You’ll get too attached,” he would say over his newspaper or watching a football game. James had long gotten used to these responses and had settled for merely daydreaming about the dogs he would get someday when he grew up. Even though he knew the tan dog would not be his, he needed to ensure it stayed safe. 

The soft brown eyes seemed to be asking him for help. “ Don’t hurt him!” James cried, moving towards the dog. Oscar grabbed his arm to prevent him from moving any closer. “ We’re not going to hurt him; he needs medical attention,” the woman holding the pole with the loop on the end said. “ He’s missing hair because a parasite has burrowed into his skin, and he’s skinny. I’m going to take him to the vet and then make sure he goes to a good foster family to get healthy”. James looked up at his father, who reassured him, “ I’ll talk to Amy ( the business office manager) and get this nice woman’s contact information so that we can check in on the dog.” James didn’t want to leave the dog alone with the adults but didn’t have a choice. He slowly turned around and walked back into the inn. His dad followed not far behind. 

James thought about the dog for the rest of the vacation. His sisters had been distressed by the dog being taken away but were constantly asking his dad how the dog was doing, whether the vet had gotten the bugs out of the dog’s skin, and whether the dog was happy with his foster family. Oscar had texted the woman from the rescue a few times, and every update was positive. The dog was putting on weight, responding positively to treatment for mange, and was happy with his foster family. This gave James a sense of peace, especially as the trip drew close. On the last day of the vacation, they all piled into the van and started what they thought was the drive home. As the GPS directed the family east, Mildred said nothing. She knew where they were going, but none of the children knew. Eventually, they pulled up to a one-story house in the countryside and pulled into the driveway. Oscar turned from the driver’s seat to face the confused children in the back seats. “ We have a surprise for you all, but especially for James,” he said with a grin. “ James, would you come with me to the backyard to collect a box.” James was confused. His father had never asked him to help get a box at a stranger’s house. But he dutifully climbed out of the vehicle and followed his dad to the back gate. Uon reached the fence posts, and a familiar face met his.

The brown dog from the inn was standing in the yard, healthy and happy. It looked up at him with a gently wagging tail, smiling at him. James looked at his dad. “ Why are we here?”. Oscar smiled. “ We’re here to take the dog home with us; he’s going to be our family dog.” James could not believe it and smiled through his tears. “ But you and mom said we couldn’t get a dog.” Oscar sighed and looked down at the ground. “ We decided y’all are ready”. James turned back towards the dog. “ Can I pet him finally?”. His dad responded by opening the gate and saying, “ Please get acquainted; just don’t hug him; dogs don’t like to be hugged.” James knelt at the animal’s level. It licked his face, and he laughed. James hadn’t felt so happy in a long time and wasn’t sure when he would feel this giddy again. After several minutes of James petting the dog, his dad spoke again. “ His name is Wilbur, and we still need to get the crate to take him home”.