Kendall Forbes

Dad is in the kitchen. Mum is in the back garden. Michael wants to play.
“Dad, can I go to the playground?” asks Michael.
“Not just yet,” says dad. “We’ll go this afternoon. Do you want to help with lunch?”
“No thanks,” Michael says as he turns away. He goes outside to find mum pulling some weeds.
“Mum, I want to go to the playground,” he says.
“We’ll go after lunch,” mum replies with a big smile. “It should be ready soon.”
Michael spins on the spot for a moment before making a decision.
He walks back through the house, past dad in the kitchen, past the TV and a couple of his toys left lying around, and out the front door.
Michael walks up the driveway and says hello to his cat. He walks past the letterbox and peers inside.
Standing on the footpath he announces to the world: “I want to go to the playground now!”
He looks up and down the street and back down the driveway.
There is no one around.
“And so I will,” he whispers as he checks left, right, left and begins to step across the road.
Before he takes his first step though, Michael’s stomach roars! It growls! It grumbles!
“Actually…” Michael says, looking down at where the sound is coming from. “I think I want to go after lunch.”
Michael spins on the spot once, twice, and a half. He is now facing back down the driveway to where he imagines the walls disappear and he can see through to the kitchen.
He walks down the driveway, past the letterbox and past his cat (who is ignoring him).
He opens the front door and walks past the TV and his toys, which have been tidied up.
He walks past dad in the kitchen and straight to the fridge.
“Grab the juice, son,” says dad. “Lunch is served!”
“And after lunch,” adds mum, “we’ll go to the playground.”
Michael smiles.
“That sounds like an excellent idea.”