Some teenagers dream of going to the prom or getting a great job. His dreams were of riding up a mountain with the breeze blowing in his face. He watched Lance Armstrong and followed the news about him in the papers. He watched people riding bikes through the park.
It was like a mantra in his head, buying mountain bike, buying mountain bike. Where did he want to be? Riding a bike. What did he want to be doing? Buying a green mountain bike. He’d even wear a helmet although he hated the idea. He’d wear a green helmet to match his dream bike.
Some kids dream of riding skateboards and others want to roller skate. Some want to ski down mountains or cross country. He wanted that bike and could envision himself on that fast bike. He would save up his earnings from the lawn care business and his job at the grocery store. Soon he’d follow his own recreational desires.
He came down the stairs and there was his mom at the kitchen table. She smiled at him and her eyes returned to the stack of cake decorating books lying in front of her. She got up and offered to scramble some eggs for him. As they chatted, she mentioned a friend who bought a diamondback bike last week. Her friend said it was a dream ride.
He said those were the first ones he’d check out when the time came for him to buy a bike. They talked about the neighbors who might hire him to cut their grass. His mom said Mrs. Johannson wanted a flowerbed planted and then weeded every week. He said he’d call her later in the day. She lived down the block so it would be conveniently close for him to do the weeding every week.
His mom was going to bake and decorate three different cakes this week for lawn parties. Spring was a busy season and she was dreaming up ideas for them. One was going to have a palm tree, sand and water all done in different colors of frosting. The blues and greens would look good on a pale yellow background. The other two were a chocolate for the kids at the same reunion and a refreshing lemon cake. The first would be decorated with beach balls and the second with sand dunes and ocean waves.
They talked about the day she could buy the new car she wanted. She was saving for it and had almost enough for the down payment. He would enjoy going with her to look at cars. She, in turn, would go out shopping with him on the day he was ready to look at diamondback bikes.