Level Three. Are we there yet?

Level Three – Are we there yet?

By Michelle Lloyd.

It was an occasional visit that had seen Little Herbert and his two friends strapped into the back seat of his dad’s vehicle.  They were off to see a superhero of sorts, a kind of much talked about but little seen member of the family and a one off person who had shocked Little Herbert out of all expectations on what a Granddad should be like.

Granddads came in all shapes and sizes…this Little Herbert knew.  He had seen many lined up at the school gates and the one thing they all had was a kind of granddad look about them.  If asked, Little Herbert could have guessed they were a granddad, even the lesser looking like a grandparent ones.  When it came to his first, proper encounter of his granddad…when the door had opened to reveal a blue haired, shirt and short surprise of a person, it had thrown all of Little Herbert’s ideas out and replaced them with an understanding that one should never assume the life of a granddad.  They could be unexpected, excitement filled people!  On having heard all about their friend’s first meeting with his long, lost family member, R V and New One had found it hilarious.  They loved the sound of this person and couldn’t wait to meet him themselves.  That was why when another occasion had arisen, Little Herbert had asked if he could invite his two friends along on the long journey to see the superhero granddad.  Both R V and New One had pleaded and Little Herbert’s dad had given in…

It was a long way to granddad’s house.  It had partly been because of this that Little Herbert had hardly seen his grandparent.  As granddads went, this one had been through a bit of difficulty in knowing how to approach the whole grandparent role, he had been extremely nervous on the first meeting and got the hair dye completely wrong.  The mistakes and misunderstanding had led to a blue haired, snazzy short clad image of someone Little Herbert had, at first, denied could be the superhero of a granddad he had thought him to be.

As they travelled along, the trio in the back played, talked and asked the question that Little Herbert’s dad loathed.  It was the are we there yet question’s hundredth appearance or so it seemed to him.  No, had been the ninety nine times reply.  The answer was again the same.  The irritated sighs were sounded by all three friends.  Little Herbert’s Dad knew how they were feeling but he tried to explain that they had made extremely reasonable time for the length of their journey.  He told them for what seemed like the hundredth time that they should learn to appreciate the journey, they were going through beautiful countryside but neither Little Herbert, R V or New One could look at the sights, all they were aiming for was the granddad destination.  Are we there yet was the question asked again and Little Herbert’s Dad pulled a face in response.  To the three, each minute felt like twenty and the wait to see the awesome, awe striking granddad was too much to accept.  They gave each other impatient looks and asked Little Herbert to tell them again all about what his first visit with the big G had been like.

After the initial shock of how his granddad had looked, Little Herbert had been disappointed about how his superhero theory about him had not been correct.  No Superhero he had read about or seen had looked like that.  It was as he got to know him that they had struck a bond, a relationship had started to form and there was hope for the superhero idea again, because Little Herbert’s granddad had been like no one else he had seen before, after a while he had been shown into the den…there had been hand built flying plane toys, robotic type machines and he had a room full of wonders that Little Herbert had to be pulled out of when it was time to go home.  Granddad had turned out to be far from ordinary and that was fine by Little Herbert because anyone who let him have seconds in sweets was definitely super in his opinion.  Granddad had taught him not to assume anything about anyone because despite an appearance one may be pleasantly surprised about them.  It had turned out that Little Herbert’s granddad had looked slightly unconventional but he was a secret superhero in his heart of hearts.

After having heard about him again, the two friends were desperate to see him.  The dreaded question was asked again and Little Herbert’s dad tried to get the three passengers to play a game of spot the sight…but no one was up for it, all they could think about was arriving at granddad’s house.

Finally the journey was all worthwhile.  They turned into granddad’s drive, all three were out and up to the door before a word could be said.  Little Herbert happily introduced his rather more conventional in appearance granddad to his two friends.  There was admittedly doubts about how super the superhero granddad really was but these were over with the minute he asked who would like to go in and see his latest invention…guaranteed to make you catch your breath!  There was excited YES Pleases all round, and even Little Herbert’s dad looked pleased.  It was with an air of superiority that Little Herbert’s dad exclaimed to the three friends that the journey had been worth it and there should not have been any need for all those are we there yet questions from them.  That was when as granddad closed the door he said “I thought you were never going to get here!”  Little Herbert’s Dad sighed and the three friends shared in a mutual excitement with the one off, interesting, inventor granddad.  It was as they saw all the treats that he had put out for them that they were sure of what would be an excitement filled visit and they loved granddad even more than they thought they ever could.