The Scooter

As I watch my grandchildren play in the unseasonably warm weather outside, I remember my own childhood at the carnival. Here's a little story about a toy I and my sisters wanted really badly.

We were running the carnival in another small town in central Hessia. Carmen, Josefa, and I trundled home from school, leather satchels on our backs. One of the girls in my class whizzed by on one of the wooden scooters that were so popular that year. These scooters looked a lot like the metal toy scooters nowadays, except they were bigger and had only one wheel on the front and on the back. As she sped by us, the girl stood on the board between the wheels, braids flying.

“I wish we had a scooter, too,” Josefa said.

I sighed. Mutti and Vati couldn’t afford many toys, and we wouldn’t have any room in our caravan home for it, anyway.

We arrived home, had lunch, and worked on our bit of homework until Mutti said, “Go on out girls. The sun is shining.”

I grabbed my jacket and followed my sisters outside, squinting into the sun. When my eyes got used to the bright light the first thing I saw was the same girl, standing next to her scooter and watching Vati put up the carousel. Next to her stood a much older girl, freckles all over her face, looking just like the girl with the scooter.

Her scooter looked just like that!

I approached them, eyeballing the scooter. “Nice scooter you have,” I ventured. Josefa came up from behind me and nodded.

The younger girl smiled, and the older one stared at us. I got brave. “Can I go for a ride on it?”

The younger girl didn’t let go of the handle. “Don’t you have one?”

Josefa and I shook our heads in unison.

“Maybe we’ll get one soon,” Josefa said.

The younger girl pushed the scooter toward me, but the older girl grabbed her arm, still looking at me. “I could sell you mine. I’m too old for such a silly toy.”

Josefa frowned. “We have no money. Maybe your sister could let us ride hers for a while?”

I glanced at Vati, who was putting up another picture on the outside frame of the merry-go-round. “We could give you some carnival tickets. If that’s okay, I mean.”

The tall girl nodded. “Sounds good. You can have it for ten tickets.”

“Let me ask my Vati,” I said and ran off.

More about the scooter tomorrow!