She is looking forward to the museum visit and keeps asking which one we are going to. Is it this one?, she asks, pointing to every official-looking building we pass. Or this one?
When we are just a few steps from the entrance an older lady approaches us and asks if we are going in. I nod, curiously.
Can I come with you?, she asks. It’s Family Day today and I’m alone. They won’t let me in without a group, but I really want to see the exhibition. If we could just be a family for a couple of minutes… would that be okay?
I don’t really have a problem with it, so I look down at little N. Bundled up in her winter jacket, she looks at the lady and takes a very strong stance.
No, she says.
But why not?, the lady pleads. It will only be for a short while. We’ll split up as soon as we get in and you’ll never see me again. I came all this way… I would be so disappointed to go home without seeing it.
N seems to be thinking a little longer.
Okay, she finally relents. I ask her again just to be sure, and she nods.
So, we go in. I walk straight to the desk and ask for a family ticket.
Sure? Let me see: two adults and a child, right? The clerk stretches her neck a bit to look at little N behind the counter. Coming right up.
She prints the tickets. And, as she lifts her hand to give them to us and starts offering instructions for the visit, little N shouts:
She is not with us!
Tickets in hand, just one step away from being let in, everybody freezes. I can hear the older lady muttering, trying to save face in a funny way.
Kids… You can count on them to tell the truth when you least expect it!
The ticket clerk stares at us. She is hesitating for a couple of seconds and then she just smiles as if nothing happened and hands over the tickets.
Have a nice visit!
