Daily Archives: November 10, 2008

Starving To Death

by Nancy Farrier

I leaned back, closed my eyes, and sighed in pleasure as my three-year-old daughter sat on the back of the couch behind me running her small fingers through my hair. It had been a long day. I was exhausted. I didn’t care about what was on television that held the rest of the family enthralled, I just wanted to enjoy the soothing touch of my little girl.

“Mom.” Her breath warmed my ear as she leaned down and spoke close to me.

“Hmmmm?” I could barely find the initiative to answer.

“Do you know what this is?” My daughter asked. Her fingers kneaded at the crown of my head.

“No, what?”

“It’s a brain sucker.”

One of my eyes popped open. Amusement bubbled up. Where had she come up with this? “A what?”

“A brain sucker.” I could hear the laughter in her tone. “Do you know what it’s doing?”

Of course, I knew the obvious—it was sucking out my brains, but I didn’t want to steal her moment. “What?”

She leaned closer to my ear, probably to make sure I heard. “It’s starving to death.”

I burst out laughing. The answer was so unexpected. Where did a little girl come up with something like that? Yet her bit of humor gave me a much needed pick-me-up. Only years later did I learn that her sisters would do that to her, thus giving her the idea for a trick to play on me.

As a writer, I’m never out of ideas for stories, however there are many times when I run out of energy for writing. I still find that taking the time to laugh or enjoy some small pleasure can give me the best boost of drive that I need.

When life gets you down, take the time to laugh and enjoy the people around you.