Jack stared out his window and up at the moon
It was hard to believe that spring would come soon
Six inches of snow still covered the grass
And no signs projected that winter would pass
But Jack had some hope as he slept through the night
That something would happen to make it all right
So he could at last take his scooter outside
Put on his new helmet and go for a ride
And just before Jack got into the sack
He opened his window but only a crack
Through his face and his hair he felt the cool breeze
And he whispered real softly a single word: "Please"
In the cold evening sky that please pushed on through
To a place where most hopes and dreams can come true
And fourteen small creatures with very big hearts
Jumped up on their feet and got ready to start
They raced round their garden to gather some seeds
And a few other things that they knew they would need
And when they were ready they hollered and hooted
Got onto their scooters and off they all scooted
Now these scooters were quick and in no time it seemed
They landed outside while inside Jack dreamed
They dug little holes in the cold winter snow
Sowed all of their seeds and then watched the plants grow.
From out of the stems came great orange leaves
That gobbled up snow like a band full of thieves
And then they did something that was very weird
They each took a bow and they all disappeared
The fourteen small creatures cleaned up all their things
And danced on the grass on this first day of spring
Then they got on their scooters and scooted away
Before the sun rose to announce the new day.
Jack sat up in bed and rubbed both his eyes
Looked out of his window and to his surprise
Spring had arrived could it really be true.
The please that he whispered had really come through
Jack jumped out of bed and ran down the stairs
Threw open the door to smell the fresh air
In less than three seconds Jack was outside
He got on his scooter and was off on a ride.
I wrote Jack's Scooter Ride on a cold winter evening in March, 2008 for a boy named Jack who was having his fifth birthday party. One thing his mom told me was that he couldn't wait for the springtime so that he could ride his scooter.
I was taken back to memories of my own winter birthdays and toys that I received that could only be used when the snow melted.
Fortunately, in New England the weather does change so drastically that even six inches of snow on one day doesn't mean that the next can't be 50 degrees and sunny. What fun it is to wake up in the morning and see something so dramatically different from what you saw when you went to bed.