It’s cold in my room this morning, so I snuggle under the covers. I can hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I look at my clock—it says 8:00. Mommy comes into my room to wake me up.
“Good morning, angel,” says Mommy, and kisses my cheek. “Here are your clothes. You can put them on under the covers to stay warm. I’ll go and turn up the heat. I’ll see you down in the kitchen!”
I tug on my clothes, under the covers, all except for my shoes. Mommy’s right. It is warmer to put on your clothes that way. Then I hop out of bed, put on my sneakers, and run down to the kitchen.
Surprise! Mommy is there, and Mama, too! “How come you’re not at work, Mama?” I ask. She usually leaves so early that I don’t see her until dinner time. I’m worried. “Are you sick?”
Mommy and Mama laugh, and look at each other. They smile like they have a secret. “No, sweetie, I’m not sick,” Mama says, and I’m not worried anymore. “I just decided to take today off and not go to work.”
“Oh,” I say, and I try not to feel sorry for myself. I have to go to school while Mommy and Mama have a nice day together. “Well, I hope you enjoy your day off.” They smile that little secret smile again.
“How would you like to take the day off, too?” asks Mommy.
“Me?” I don’t feel sorry for myself anymore. “Can we all take the day off together?”
“Mama and I don’t think there is anything very important that needs to be done today. We think it would be a fine day to spend together, for a special treat,” Mommy tells me. “Would you like that?”
“Oh, yes, yes, yes!” I jump up and down and clap my hands. “What are we going to do?”
“Let’s all decide together,” Mama says. She sits down at the table with a big cup of coffee.
Mommy brings us three bowls of oatmeal. Mommy and Mama start to talk about our day together. I’m so excited I can hardly even eat my oatmeal. It seems so strange to be having fun together on a Tuesday morning!
“We could go into the city, or we can drive for a while and go up into the country.” Mommy is thinking. “If we go into the city, we could ride the cable cars down to Fisherman’s Wharf and spend some time in Chinatown. That might be fun.”
Our house is across the bay from San Francisco. We haven’t gone to the city for a long time, even though it isn’t very far away. I like that plan a lot.
Mama talks about the country idea. “Well, if we drive up north to the country, it will be very pretty. But it will be kind of cold. And what would we do when we got there?”
“You’re right,” Mommy agrees. “I think we would have more fun in the city.” She turns to me. “What do you think, angel?”
“Let’s go have fun in the city!” I yell, and wave my arms in the air like I’m cheering, and Mommy and Mama laugh at me.
“Okay!” we all agree. “Let’s go have fun in the city!”
Mama gets up from the table. She gives Mommy a kiss, and I get one, too.
Pretty soon, we have our coats and everything we need for the day. We all go down to the sidewalk where our truck is parked, and we pile in. We can all sit in the front seat of our truck. It’s big! I feel so happy, all warm and snuggly cuddling between Mommy and Mama. I can hardly wait to get to the city. Mommy starts the engine, and off we go.
We drive across the Bay Bridge and into San Francisco. Wow! There are so many cars and people there! But Mommy doesn’t mind, and she knows a good place to park the truck for the day. We hop out and walk down the street, all holding hands, heading for the cable car stop.
All of a sudden, Mommy and Mama start running, and they swing me monkey style. I feel like I’m flying! Ding, ding, ding. It’s the cable car bell. We all hop on and give the driver some money. It’s easy to get on a cable car on a Tuesday morning. On the weekends, they’re always really crowded. This is great!
Up the hills and down the hills and up the hills and down the hills we go. Ding, ding, ding. More and more people get on the cable car.
“Let’s get off in Chinatown,” shouts Mama. She has to yell, because it’s loud on that car. There are noisy cars, noisy cable cars, and noisy people. But it’s all happy noise.
We pull down hard on the cord to let the cable car driver know we want to get off. Mommy jumps down and lifts me off the car. Mama’s right behind us, and we’re all on our way to Chinatown. We walk for a few blocks, and then we’re there. The colors are so bright!
I love the way the Chinese letters look. I know they mean something, but I can’t read them. They look like pretty pictures to me. We stop in some shops and look at all the interesting things for sale.
“How do you like this?” Mama asks Mommy, as she holds a bright purple silk shirt up to her chest.
“You look beautiful!” says Mommy, and Mama buys it right away.
After shopping in Chinatown, it’s back on the cable car. This time, we’re off to Fisherman’s Wharf. Up the hills and down the hills and up the hills and down the hills. Before we know it, we’re walking along the waterfront. We hear barking, but it’s not dogs. It’s big California sea lions, which are like huge fat seals!
We all stop and laugh so hard. Sea lions make a LOT of different sounds, all at the same time. One sounds like it’s saying, “Or, or, or,” and one sounds like “Aaaagghhhh,” which is a really long and goofy sound. They also slap their flippers together, hoping people will throw them some little fish.
“I’m getting hungry,” says Mommy.
“Me, too!” Mama and I agree. Luckily, it’s not hard to find food at Fisherman’s Wharf.
We buy big bowls of clam chowder. Then we buy special California sourdough bread. When you dip a chunk of sourdough into a bowl of clam chowder and then eat it, you feel like you’re in heaven. The soup is warm and creamy and salty. A bite of the crusty bread mixes with the creamy soup so you get both tastes at the same time.
The best surprise of the day is when Mommy and Mama take me to a special place on Fisherman’s Wharf where there is a merry-go-round and people with popcorn and cotton candy machines. Oh boy! One man holds a really big bunch of balloons, and other people have places where we can play games and win prizes. A man with a white face pretends to do many funny things without saying a word. Mama tells me he is a mime. We all stand and watch. He looks down at me and hands me some red flowers that appear out of nowhere. It’s magic!
After we finish riding the merry-go-round and play some games, Mommy and Mama buy all of us pink cotton candy. Cotton candy is my favorite! I always end up sticky all over my face, but it’s worth it. It melts just as soon as it’s in your mouth, and it’s so sweet. It’s like eating a pink cloud made out of sugar.
It gets later in the afternoon, and the wind is blowing across the water. It’s cold! We could walk a lot and get back on the cable car, but Mommy has a much better idea. “Let’s catch a cab! I’m cold!” she says. Mama and I think it’s a wonderful plan.
Mommy stands a little way out in the street and puts her fingers in her mouth. She whistles through her fingers very loud! She uses that same whistle to get my attention at the park or when I’m playing out front too late. When I hear it, I come running. When the taxi driver hears it, she pulls over right away.
We all get into the back seat of the bright yellow cab and cuddle together while Mama tells the driver where we need to go. Nobody’s cold any more. I feel cozy, and warm, and ready to go home. Mommy and Mama hug me tight and put their arms around each other, too. I love my family so much.
It’s getting dark when we get back to where our truck is parked. Mama pays the cab driver, while Mommy scoops me up in her arms. She carries me to the truck. We get into the front seat, and Mama starts the engine. In no time at all, it’s warm in the truck, and I start feeling sleepy.
Mommy cuddles me, and we drive home as the sun gets lower in the sky. The colors of the sunset are beautiful. Pink, like the cotton candy, and blue, like the water at Fisherman’s Wharf. On the way back across the long Bay Bridge, we talk softly about our special day. Mama loves the beautiful new silk shirt that she bought in Chinatown. Mommy says the best part was either the sea lions or the clam chowder—she can’t decide. I don’t even have to think about it. It’s cotton candy for me!
Mama parks the truck at the sidewalk, in front of our house. We gather up our coats and purses. Then Mommy and Mama take my hands again, and we walk up the steps. I’ll have so many things to dream about tonight. The bright colors in Chinatown, the cable cars and all those hills, and my magic flowers from the mime, tucked inside my coat.
I go upstairs and brush my teeth. Then I yawn. I put on my PJs and yawn some more. I slide into bed. I can hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I look at my clock—it says 8:00. Mommy and Mama come into my room. They kiss me goodnight and tuck me in tight. Right before they turn off the light, they give each other a kiss goodnight, too, and then we all have one more big hug together. Now I’m falling asleep and already dreaming about our wonderful day.
Leanne Franson lives in Montréal, Québec, Canada, where she draws in her home studio with her two cats and a Saint Bernard. She writes and draws comics when she is not illustrating the words of other authors. You can see her illustrations for children at http://leannefranson.com. She had lots of hamsters when she was small, and loves to take time off and travel to exciting new places.
