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Family Vacation – Friday Fictioneers

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Good morning, my peeps!  Welcome to this week’s Friday Fictioneers, hosted by the always lovely Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, who also supplied this week’s photo prompt.

I’m short on time so shall spare you my usual long-winded preamble!

Click on the blue frog if you wish to read other submissions or, gasp!, add your own!

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Word Count:  100

Family Vacation

The three families walked along the ancient streets in little groups; each one talking about what they were seeing.

It was a fabulous day and all were so happy to be there together.

Suddenly, they realised a little one was missing.  Frantically they split up calling Tyler’s name.  Dad tried to remember what Tyler was wearing that morning should he have to give a description.  Mom was imagining all the worst possible scenarios.

Grinning ear-to-ear, little Tyler suddenly appeared.  “I went to the bathroom all by myself, Mommy!”

Undecided whether to smack him or hug him, Mom chose the latter.

100 thoughts on “Family Vacation – Friday Fictioneers”

  2. That’s such a lovely tale, Dale. I have found myself in a similar situation, once . I don’t think I hugged her though . The mom in your story is extremely patient- an awesome mom👏

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  4. This reminds me of when my daughter disappeared (aged 3 at the time). I just turned my back for a moment to move my picnic rug up the beach, away from the incoming tide, and she was nowhere in sight. I rushed about, thinking that she’d been snatched by someone from the nearby funfair, but then saw her queuing for an ice cream. The same as in your story, I didn’t know whether to berate her or hug her, but chose the latter while also asking her to check with me first before doing such a thing again.

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  5. It would be great if they would give us a warning when they decide to hit another milestone. You would actually know where they went AND you have time to get the camera ready! :o) Great story, Dale.

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  6. Definitely yelling then hugging, in that order! Same happened to us – there one minute, gone the next. You start imagining you’ll be the family featured on the evening news, the one being asked for a recent photograph. Horrific. Nicely written, Dale

    Liked by 2 people

  15. I too love the innocence in this piece. I can picture that proud little boy totally unaware of the commotion he had cause. Well done.

    Liked by 2 people

  19. We lived in the country and Jesse learned to pee outdoors. One day Connie took him with her to a garage sale. He didn’t realize “watering the plants” was not proper protocol in town.

    Liked by 2 people

  22. I think that you have touched a memory here. When visiting a large rather posh department store in London [viewing only] my oldest son then aged four, decided the time was right to play his favourite game of hide and seek, using all the lovely long coats and dress to hide in. Thanks for the memory. Great Writing.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ah yes. My first thought was to write a hide and seek story. My eldest pulled a hide in the clothes rack too…
      Thank you, Michael

      Like

  23. I laughed out loud, mostly from relief as any mom and dad would. I always gave my folks a heart attack!

    Reminded me of a time in Puebla, Mexico, my friends and I were in the marketplace and this toddler boy was crying and screaming for his mom and dad and it was SO CROWDED nobody could be found! Scary, scary! It was about 2008 or ’09 when cell phones weren’t as prevalent.

    Terrific story, Dale-ishus. Keep bringing them! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    • Thanks, Kent. It is the scariest thing about being a parent in a crowded space – and they’re not confined to a stroller!

      Like

  25. Wonderful hug at the end. My four year son disappeared in a department store when I was shopping. I looked and looked and finally found him standing by a square column displaying wall clocks. He was holding up a clock he had removed from the wall and couldn’t figure out how to put back up. I was so relieved I just laughed.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. I can just see the little boy beaming and proud while the mother’s heaving a great sigh of relief.
    Your story makes me think of an upbeat clothing store in a Winnipeg mall back in the 70s. Really trendy space with a decor of tubes and water pipes — even a few toilets scattered about to complete the “plumbing” look.
    Then one day everyone in the store heard a little boys calling, “Mommy! These things don’t flush!” I believe the management removed some of their fancy decor after that episode. 😉

    Liked by 2 people

  28. Good one… I foresaw a retelling of an ancient story… a lost lamb sought most desperately for… or maybe Christ when he stayed in temple teaching and his parents began the journey home only to realize he was missing…. good story!

    Liked by 2 people

  31. This was very sweet. My wife and I usually keep watching our little one like a pair of possessive Hawks when we go out, but there have been a couple of instances where he managed to give us the slip. So I could totally related to what you have written. Cheers, Varad.

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  33. It seems like many of us have been in a similar situation! The feeling when you realise they have gone is abject fear. You have described the relief and fleeting anger when you find them unharmed perfectly.

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    • Thank you, Clare. I think rare is the parent who has not experienced a smidge of this at least once!

      Like

  38. One of many ways can a child freak out a parent! … and I didn’t see that ending coming.

    BTW …. I will be posting a writing challenge in a matter of minutes. Hope you participate – and I will also appreciate whatever publicity you can do among the flock of fictioneers. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  40. Great story, Dale. There aren’t many public toilets in Pune. On a visit when our son was little my husband finally took him down a nearby alley in the city. No one was shocked as it’s often done by adults here. Our son used to pick unhandy times to answer the call of nature and it was always, “Right now”.

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  41. Anyone who is a parent can relate to this story! Mine have slipped out of eyesight on occasion. They can disappear in a blink and it is amazing what can run through a parent’s mind in the short time before they reappear. Great story!

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