It was sports day at school, and Ecmiss was buzzing. He kept bouncing on his toes and couldn’t stop grinning. His shoes were double-knotted, his shirt was tucked in (well, sort of), and everyone—mommy, daddy, even Rosie—was sitting on the grass with snacks, cheering already, and nothing had even started yet.
“All right kids, the race is about to start! Everyone line up!” came the teacher’s voice through that scratchy megaphone.
“On your marks…”
Ecmiss held the spoon tight. The egg sat there like it was daring him to move.
“Get set…”
He took a deep breath.
“GO!”
He shot forward like a rocket. Legs pumping, tongue peeking out the side of his mouth, egg wobbling but staying on like a champ—until, yeah… plop. It fell. Rolled right off and cracked into mush on the grass. His face dropped.
But then someone in the crowd—his dad?—shouted, “Keep going! You’ve got this!” Another voice: “Slow and steady, Ecmiss!”
He stood there for half a second, thinking maybe he should just… stop. But something inside him didn’t want to. Not today. Not with Rosie watching.
He crouched, grabbed another egg, set it in place, held the spoon like it was treasure, and walked. One careful step at a time. People were clapping. He wasn’t first. Didn’t matter.
And then, somehow—he crossed the finish line.
His friends picked him up like he’d won gold. He laughed. Big, proud, can’t-believe-I-did-it laugh.
“I did it!”
“You did amazing, Ecmiss,” said Clem.
“Not as good as you,” Ecmiss said, “you were like… zoom!”
Clem grinned. “Yeah, but you didn’t quit. That’s even cooler.”
“Thanks,” Ecmiss said. His cheeks hurt from smiling.
“Mommy! Daddy! Look what I got!” he yelled, holding up his ribbon like a trophy.
“Very good, Ecmiss,” said mommy, clapping. “We knew you could do it.”
Rosie clapped too, even though she didn’t know why. She just knew her big brother was awesome.
Afer a while
Later that day, the family went to the petting zoo. Ecmiss held Rosie’s hand as they walked past a couple of sheep that looked like walking pillows.
“It’s okay, Rosie,” he said bravely. “They’re just sheep. They don’t even have teeth… I think.”
One of them sneezed. Right in Ecmiss’s face.
“Yuck! Goat kisses!”
Everyone laughed—until Ecmiss yelped.
“What happened?” asked daddy.
“My ice cream!”
“It’s okay, buddy, we’ll get another.”
“No—it’s not that! My nose! A greedy bee stung me!”
“Ohhh,” said mommy, pulling a wipe from her bag like a magician. “Poor Ecmiss.”
“Why’d it sting me? I didn’t do anything… well, I might have swatted at it.”
“Bees don’t like being swatted,” mommy said gently.
“But it was trying to eat my ice cream!”
“And you were trying to stop it. Bees don’t know the difference.”
They followed the little bee as it buzzed away.
“Is that its house?” Ecmiss asked, pointing at the hive.
“Yep. That’s called a hive. And guess what? There’s not just one bee in there.”
“There’s not?”
“Nope. Thousands.”
Ecmiss stared, wide-eyed. “It sounds like a plane in there.”
“They’re making honey,” said mommy. “They use nectar from flowers.”
“So they do like sweet stuff.”
“Exactly. Just like ice cream.”
Ecmiss crossed his arms. “Still rude. Should’ve asked first.”
To make him feel better, they went for a donkey ride. Rosie climbed on first, then Ecmiss behind her.
“Whoa. This is high.”
“You okay?” daddy asked.
“Yeah. He must be super strong.”
“Donkeys are small but mighty,” mommy said.
“Like me!”
Next day
The next day, they were off to the botanical garden. So many colors it made Ecmiss’s eyes hurt—but in a good way.
“Come on, Rosie! Let’s find flower treasure!”
“That one’s yellow like the sun,” said mommy.
“Sunflower,” Ecmiss guessed.
“Correct!”
“And that white one?”
“Moonflower,” she answered.
Ecmiss whispered like it was a spell. “Sunflower yellow. Moonflower white.”
Then he sneezed. Twice.
“What’s that stuff?” he asked, pointing at the yellow dust.
“Pollen,” mommy said. “Makes your nose tickle.”
Rosie pointed to a red one. “Rose!”
“Roses are red, violets are blue…” Ecmiss started to sing.
“Sunflowers are yellow and buttercups too!” Rosie joined in.
Then came the maze. It was huge. Ecmiss darted ahead.
“I’ll find the fountain!”
Five minutes later: “Uh-oh…”
He was lost.
No Rosie. No mommy. Just leafy walls and silence. He stood still. Listened hard.
Trickle trickle…
There! Water.
He followed the sound, turned left, right, left again, and—boom. Fountain.
“Mommy! Daddy! I found it!”
“You got here all on your own?” daddy asked.
“Yup. I listened.”
“Well done,” mommy smiled. “See? Sometimes being lost just means you’re on an adventure.”
Then came the water park.
“Okay, Rosie,” Ecmiss said, already in teacher mode. “Kick your legs like this.”
She splashed. Giggles everywhere.
“You’re a good teacher,” mommy said.
Suddenly—pirate ship!
“They need help!”
“Captain Ecmiss to the rescue!”
“Sunscreen first!” mommy shouted.
“But the pirates!”
“Even pirates need protection.”
He stood still. Got slimed with sunscreen.
“Mommy… I look like a snowman.”
“Now you look like a protected snowman.”
Armed and ready, they stormed the pirate ship. Water sprayed everywhere. Rosie screamed with laughter. Ecmiss fell overboard, got up, laughed harder.
“Victory!”
“Now let’s relax,” daddy said. “Lazy river time.”
Ecmiss floated. “This is nice. But slow.”
“Race to that palm tree?” Rosie challenged.
“You’re on!”
She won. Again.
Then they lined up for the biggest slide.
“Why is this line forever?”
“Big slide, big wait,” said daddy.
“Can’t we do the second biggest?”
“Two slides next to each other. We’ll go together.”
At the top, Ecmiss looked down.
“Mommy… hold my hand?”
“Always.”
“Three… two… one… AHHHH!”
Splash.
“That wasn’t so bad,” he said, spitting out water.
“You were very brave.”
“That,” Ecmiss said, shaking his wet hair like a dog, “was splashtastic.”