Yikes!! I dip my head behind a huge fallen tree log. I am hiding from a big green dinosaur that is stalking me in the jungle. Through the moss, leaves, vines and mushrooms growing on top of the tree log I can spot the massive dinosaur. What am I doing here?
As I am about to take aim at the massive dinosaur sniffing for me, looking for me, I hear the strangest jingling noise. Cling-cling-cling. It sounds like something that will come from a kitchen or a kindergarten classroom. But I am in the middle of a tropical jungle, covered in mud, hiding from a dinosaur. I only have a hunting knife, a broken torch and a laser rifle. Yet I am being stalked by a prehistoric animal that seems to be smart enough to use a GPS device to track me. The GPS is locked in on me. How is this possible?
The dinosaur looks down at the GPS device but cannot see it, for his arms are too short to get the screen in front of his eyes. Sadly, for me he can still hear the beeping, tracking noise that grows louder and faster every time it steps closer to me. I can hear when it sniffs the air again. It is an ugly noise that makes my skin crawl. Like chunks of green gooey snot is stuck in its nose.
Cling-cling-cling. That noise again. I look around to see if I cannot find where this misplaced noise is coming from. For a moment I am expecting an ice-cream truck to appear from out of the jungle. But only the annoying sound that mocks me again. Cling-cling-cling.
I get so mad that I forget my fear for the tech-savvy dinosaur and put down my laser rifle. I walk out from my hiding spot into a small clearing. Turning in a circle on the spot I inspects every inch of the jungle around me, my ears intently focusing to catch the clinging noise again.
Suddenly I hear the cling-cling behind me. When I turn around, I see the dinosaur, his body well camouflaged within the trees. But his big green head is sticking out from the treetops. He has spotted me and when he opens his mouth to roar a brutal battle cry. It only goes CLING-CLING-CLING.
My surprise has frozen my body and all I can do is stare, jaw dropped to its lowest position. The green monster turns its big body towards me and slowly starts to run. It leans forward towards me so I can clearly see its sparkling white teeth. Those teeth are too white, as if we are in a toothpaste commercial. But then madness again – I can see the dinosaur opening its mouth, roaring again. Only the CLING-CLING-CLING noise comes from the dinosaur’s throat, louder and closer.
It is at this moment that I wake up and realise the cling-cling-cling noise is my mother’s cruel method of raising the house in the morning, to call us to the breakfast table. This horrid little bell is even despised by the neighbours on both sides of our yard as well as Mr Trinkleweener across the street.
The breakfast nook in the MacWilliams kitchen is packed with food, always delicious and good. My mother may have quirky methods to govern the house, but she can cook like a MasterChef. She loves to make a variety of little things. Poached and scrambled eggs, pork and lamb sausages, bacon, toast and puffy croissants, muesli and berry yogurt and for grandpa a pot of honey and butter oats. For his stomach cannot move without a pot of oats.
The MacWilliams family come stomping down the stairs, with haste and hungry tummies. They need to fill up their tanks with food for fuel, for each has a job to do, yes an important mission. I appear last and after greeting the family slide in next to Grandpa.
It is clear, that my family is on a mission.
Dad with his major moustache is a doctor. With his big, but always toasty hands he heals people by looking in ears and listening to hearts. He gives horrible medicine that cures all kinds of aches and pains. He is reading the newspaper while forking scrambled egg into his mouth.
Mom with her round glasses is an engineer at the aeroplane company. She designs and tests new ways to make planes as light as small heaps of feathers. She is the smartest person I know, and it sometimes feels like you need a master’s degree to understand her care. But I know her love is constant.
Ben, my older brother, is at big school to become an engineer like mom. Rectangle glasses are supported by his speckled nose. He needs to study the most complicated maths and science, all the methods and ways to solve difficult problems.
Grandma is a dear old plump lady that helps make food for the homeless at the shelter. She has a heart of gold and just loves to love everybody. I have never ever even seen her angry or cussing. Every time I walk past her, her love magnetizes my arms and it just wraps around her – supernatural.
Grandpa is a retired soldier that has been to war a long time ago. He is neat, straight and does not allow any weeds to grow in our garden. Grandpa takes care of me after school and weekends. Nothing is too difficult or lofty for him to try. Even playing console games has become our special thing. He beats me from time to time, which is ‘mucho’ humiliating, but he never boasts about it and only wink at me.
We all sit around the table and chew our food, filling our tummy tanks and preparing to go out on our missions. Mom gives a few orders and arrangements for the day while she is away. Dad, now reads a patient file, probably preparing for somebody he will heal today. Ben is making notes in a mathematical or alien language unknown to the average Joe. Grandma and grandpa are having a conversation about somebody at church, somebody they can help.
But wait a mighty minute. What is my mission?
I tap Grandpa on his arm, he always sits next to me at the breakfast table. When he looks down at me, I ask him: “Grandpa, what is my mission?”
He smiles warmly and looks around the table seeing everybody busy with something. He puts his arm around my shoulder.
“You have to look for your mission my child. You need to keep searching for it. It could be big; it could be small.”
My frown crumples my brow – ‘It could be small??’
“Ah caramba!! It could be small!” I shout out loud, jump from my chair and run to my room. For a silly second my family stop and stare with surprise at each other before they continue to chew again, getting ready for their missions.
I can remember the weird words Grandpa told me the day he gave me my precious possession. It was a year or so ago when he said: “How can it be that something small as a ladybug can grow to be as big as a baby elephant’s belly? One uses a grow glass.” He sincerely handed the grow glass to me. It was in a wrapped box. I later learned that it was his own grow glass he used to “grow” small things while he was growing up. Since that day I have used it in a few adventures and frowned-upon experiments.
Grandpa calls it a grow glass and I love that term even though I know it is called a magnifying glass.
So maybe when searching for my mission I need to find it with the grow glass for it could be small. Grandpa said it could be big as well, but I will start with the small things and work my way up to the big things. “If it is not in the small things it should not be too hard to find it in the big things”, my logic tells me. Mom calls my brain my logic. I must have a special brain for it to be called by such a fancy name.
My grow glass is found on my nightstand next to my bed with my other prized possessions – a catapult, five marbles and my Bible. I take it carefully and walk to our back garden, for it is in our gorgeous garden that I have found the most amazing schemes and plans before.
Oh my! What is the chance, the first thing I find in our garden is a red ladybug? It sits so still it must be sleeping. Looking through the grow glass the tiny ladybug grows and grows until it is so big, I can see its head and I can count the dots on its back.
“One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven black dots on its red back”.
This ladybug does not tell me what my mission is. Clearly, I need to continue searching…
So, I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot a pretty butterfly, that flutter by. It is yellow and black. Even though the wind is not blowing it looks like a big kite, carelessly hovering around. I follow it from giant flower to giant flower. Grandpa told me they spread the life of flowers wherever they land. For a little offer of food, the butterfly will carry flower dust to the next flower. They spread flowers all over the world. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot a big blue whale in our swimming pool. “How can that be?” my brow is crumpled like an oldish passion fruit. I have never even seen a real whale before. I am very sure that our pool cannot hold a whale, they are as big as three double decker buses. Yes, grandpa told me.
I see if I can spot the whale again with my own eye, but without my growing glass the whale is only a little picture at the bottom of the pool. Grandpa told me whales sing soothing songs for the worried and forgetful fish in the ocean. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot a big black bowling ball with only two holes. My brow is getting tired of all the frowning. This is too strange because I know a bowling ball has three holes. I have been to the bowling alley with the family a few times before. I have even beaten Ben with him using maths and other trickery to topple the pins. When I drop the grow glass, a pink, sloppy tongue slap me on my cheek. Rolling over on my back I start to giggle from my gut.
The bowling ball, with two holes, is actually our dog Bruno’s wet, shiny nose. Grandpa told me that dogs use their nose to find hidden things. They are good at finding things that are lost or covered. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot a soldier shouting important messages at his troops, “TAKE COVERRRR!”. Like a leopard I dive behind a plant with big leaves and cover my ears. But no guns go “bang” or bombs explode. This is strange. Where is the war?
Slowly I peek out from behind one of the big leaves, I see my toy soldier standing strong in the green grass. With relief I step out from my hiding place and pick up my toy soldier. Grandpa told me that soldiers keep our country safe. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot hundreds of small black beads in a circle. Around the beads are pretty, purple petals spreading out like the rays of the sun. What delicate artwork am I seeing in my grow glass?
I lay down my grow glass and behold the most marvellous daisy that grows in our garden. Grandpa told me that flowers feed the birds, the bees and that beautiful butterfly I saw. Flowers also provide food for us, for after they die some of them become the most delicious fruit and vegetables. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot something that looks like a floating curtain, orange in colour. It is moving slowly, like the calm, cool breeze that enters my bedroom window on a lazy, summer afternoon.
What could it be? A fin of a koi fish in our fishpond, as it swims by. It swims so slowly in the water, bright orange in the sunshine. The fish looks so happy and I wonder if these koi fish can hear the calming songs of the whales in the ocean. I start to sing “whale” to our koi fish. Mhhheeeuiiiaaa!! Euuuuiiiiiweeeeeee!! The fish start to swim faster, and Bruno runs for his doghouse. They must not appreciate my whale song. I stand and stare at them. Their slow, elegant movements are hypnotizing, and I remember Grandpa telling me that the koi fish teach us how to be calm and to faithfully trust. These fish depend on me to feed them every day. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot a lightning bolt, yellow on a red background, as I stand up from the fishpond. It flashes like one of my favourite comic characters just as the sun glints on the water of our pond. There are no thunder clouds about, only blue skies and heaps of sunshine. Where did this single and silent bolt come from?
I take away the grow glass and realise that I am looking at my own reflection in the pond. Today I have my Flash t-shirt on, flashing a lightning bolt on the front. Grandpa told me that I am Bruno’s biggest hero. He also told me I have a special power and with Bruno on my side I can make great things happen. Is this my mission?
I sweep my grow glass around the garden, making all the little things grow.
I spot something looking like a deep, dark cave, covered with hairy vines. An eerie light brown crescent moon hangs above the cave. This is strange for it is day not night and I have not found any caves in our back garden before.
But when I take my grow glass away it shrinks to be grandpa’s ear and his hearing aid. Grandpa has sneaked closer and is standing next to me. Lately I have realised that most of grandpa’s movements are sneaking and he has caught me a few times busy with my own sneaky activities. We look at our reflection in the pond. Grandpa put his arm around my shoulder and there we stand together pondering and reflecting.
“Have you found your mission, Mike?”, Grandpa asks me while looking at my reflection in the pond. The sun glints on the pond as I look up at my grandpa.
“Not yet Grandpa. But I know I have one. Everything that I spotted with the grow glass has a special mission. It is not always plain to see, you have to search for it.”
Grandpa slowly turns toward me and takes my face with his open hand while leaning closer on his cane with the other hand. For a while he looks deep into my eyes, checking to see that he has my full attention. When he sees my mind is clear and my focus is only with him, he says, “That is true, Mike. All the animals and plants have their missions. But when God created you, He planted your special mission in the middle of your soul. If you water it with God’s living Word it will grow out and bear beautiful fruit”
Grandpa takes my hand, and we walk slowly back to the house, Bruno following close behind. In my room I put my grow glass down and take my Bible to read before I tuck in.
