A Boy Named Sevin Soap Box Cars and Surprises

By Charlene Larioz

Sevin is a five-year-old whose dad is in the marines. When Sevins dad is deployed, he is the man of the house in charge of helping his mother. This story is about his dad being home on leave and the adventures they have with friends and family.

Dads two-week leave will involve building a soapbox car to enter into a neighborhood race for the kids.

Enjoy reading the adventures of Sevin, who is reaching out to you, asking you to become part of his world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 7, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984532619

Book preview

A Peaceful Morning

Sevin opened his eyes, remembering the delightful evening he had with his mother and grandparents the night before. He laid in bed, looking out his bedroom window, watching a bluebird singing. Sevin was thinking of his father’s saying, Life is what you make of it, nothing is given to you. When Sevin thought of this saying, it put him in touch with his dad. Sevin missed his dad; however, he knew his dad would be home when he could get leave. In the meantime, Sevin had to focus on taking care of his mother until his dad did return. What a gorgeous Sunday it would be; the bluebird flew away and Sevin prepared to rise. Who knew what the day would bring; the exciting part was discovering each part of the day.

Sevin made up his bed and then went to the bathroom with his clothes for the day. He brushed his teeth, washed his face, combed his hair, then donned his clothes. He placed his pajamas into the laundry hamper. Today he would be playing with his best friends in the backyard. Sevin laughed; when it came to his friends, they never knew what excitement they would create with their combined imaginations. Sevin was thinking today they would play Indians and cowboys, the world was huge, and so was his imagination!

Sevin could hear his mother moving around downstairs and could smell breakfast cooking; he was hungry. He ran to his room and grabbed his play tennis shoes from under his bed; in a hurry, he put them on. Velcro is such a wonderful tool, he thought to himself, laughing as he ran down the hall to the kitchen.

Good morning, Mother, Sevin yelled as his mother turned from the stove to greet him and bent to give him a morning kiss and hug. His mother asked Sevin to get the milk and orange juice from the refrigerator, as she had breakfast ready. The table by the glass sliding doors was already set for the two of them to eat.

Sevin could see the hummingbirds already busy at the feeder, enjoying their breakfast. His mother brought over two plates with their breakfast. His mother had made pancakes in the shapes of dinosaurs, crispy bacon, and an egg for each of them easy over. There was warmed maple syrup to put on the pancakes, and butter was already melting, it looked like a yellow river of delight. Sevin loved to drink his cup of orange juice first and then enjoy the milk with his breakfast. It was tasty to the last bite. Sevin drank the last of his milk. His mother sat talking with him as he had finished his breakfast. Sevin helped his mother clear the table, and then they both loaded the dishwasher. Sevin informed his mother that his friends would be coming over in the late morning to play; of course, this would be after church.

Sevin ran to his room to change into his going-to-church clothes, while his mother got her purse and the car keys. Together they went out to the garage and left to go to church. Sunday school was always interesting to Sevin, the teacher Mr. Moody always had interesting stories to go with the morals to the day’s lesson that was read from the Bible, as they worked in their Sunday Bible studies book. After the reading, they put away their study books and sat in a circle to discuss the moral of the day’s reading and how it would apply to their lives day to day. At the end of class, they met their parents in front of the church doors. Sevin felt Pastor Reynolds was an extremely wise and loving man. Sevin took his mother’s hand, and the two of them walked to their car for the drive home.

Today was going to be a day of leisure, doing whatever they felt like doing. Sunday, according to his parents, was a day of rest. Sevin considered it a day of fun! Once they arrived home, Sevin told his mother he would go change, back into his play clothes. His mother stated she was going to change as well. They both met back downstairs.

Fun-Filled Sunday Afternoon

Mother told Sevin his friends would be joining them for lunch, then the boys could play in the backyard until 3:00 p.m. when their parents would come and get the boys. Sevin was so excited it sure was turning out to be a wonderful day. Sevin said, Mother, you’re the best, I love you! He reached out with his arms and his mother bent into his arms where they hugged one another and exchanged kisses on the cheek. It was only 10:15 in the morning, so Sevin went with his mother upstairs. Mother went into her sewing room, and Sevin went into his room to play, only a wall separated the two of them. He heard his mother begin with her sewing machine, and Sevin took out his paints and water jar; he was going to paint a picture of his happiness for the morning.

Sevin was happily painting away; as his mother entered the room, she walked over to his windows, opening them to allow fresh air into the room. She told Sevin she would be back as she was going to open up the windows and sliding doors to air out the house, it was a lovely day to do so. The fresh air blowing through sure was nice; the curtains were blowing gently as the winds shifted back and forth. He could hear the birds singing outside. Such a fantastic day it was turning out to be. Sevin’s mother entered the room and watched him painting. All of a sudden, she said laughingly, Sevin, this is a painting of you lying on your bed, watching that bluebird sing. Sevin put his paint brush into the water jar, ran over to his mother laughing, and said, Yes, it was. I was excited about today. Mr. Bluebird was singing outside my window.

Sevin went back to painting as his mother went back into her sewing room. As Sevin finished his third painting, he took his water jar and brushes to the sink in his mother’s sewing room, and poured out the water, got a tad of soap from the dispenser, and washed his brushes and jar so they would be clean for his next painting adventure. He tore off paper towels from the roll on the wall and dried everything, then he rinsed out the sink so it was clean. Having washed his hands, he dried them. Taking everything back to his room, he put all the painting items away and laid out his drawings on his play table to dry. Satisfied that all was clean and properly put away, he smiled, then walked into his mother’s sewing room. He walked up to her and gave her a huge smile, allowing the twinkle in his eye to shine. His mother had just finished sewing button holes in a shirt she was making for Sevin. She had him try on the shirt, then asked him to select the buttons he wanted on the shirt. The shirt was a sky blue, with silver threads blended through, so he picked out buttons that looked like silver pieces of ore. His mother approved of his selection and thanked him. She then shut down her sewing machine and, taking his hand, told him it was time to get prepared for his friends’ arrivals.

Getting Ready for Visitors

They went into the kitchen and put out plates, cups, silverware, and napkins on the table. His mother put a tray with chicken fingers and another with French fries into the oven to begin heating. Then the two of them went outside and opened the umbrella over the table on the back porch. Sevin ran to his room and brought down drawing paper, colors, pencils, and coloring books in a special bag his mother had purchased for him to tote those supplies in and out of his room as he needed them. Then he went to the garage and brought out two boxes of toys that were allowed into the backyard for play.

His mother opened the closet off the back living room and brought out his Indian and cowboy costumes, with moccasins and boots, play guns, and play bow and arrows. Those they took outside and placed on the patio swing so they could select what they wanted to wear if they chose to play that game. In a heavy-duty storage bin at the edge of the patio they kept stored a football, mitts, bat, baseball balls, soccer ball, and basketball.

Sevin was so happy that his mother thought things through and left plenty of options open for them to elect from for their playtime together. They would be busy. Truth of the matter, they would not be able to play with all of the items at their disposal, but knowing they were there made playtime so easy.

They went back indoors, and his mother was checking the fingers and fries when the doorbell rang. They went together to the door and welcomed Michael, Jack, Ted, and Steve into their home. Mr. McDonald had picked up all the boys and brought them over. He told the boys to be on their best behavior; turning to Sevin’s mother, he handed her a cake which was lemon chiffon according to Mrs. McDonald’s instructions to her husband as he was leaving the house. Mr. McDonald stated that Mr. Howard would be by at 3:00 p.m. to pick up the boys to escort them home safely. Mr. McDonald gave thanks for allowing the boys to play and that next Sunday playtime would be at their house, with the Howards being the following Sunday. It was nice how all the parents and children got along and worked with one another to provide and monitor healthy playtime with the children. This also allowed the parents some downtime on a rotational basis, and was extremely welcomed by one and all.

His mother led all the boys into the hall bathroom and advised them to wash hands and faces and then seat themselves at the table. Proceeding into the kitchen, Sevin’s mother pulled out a pitcher of homemade fruit punch then placed it on the table. She pulled the trays out of the oven, transferred the food to a serving dish, and carried it to the table where she served the boys. Sevin came in with the boys in tow, and he got the ranch dressing, mustard, and ketchup out of the refrigerator.

After the boys were seated, his mother poured out cold punch into their glasses, helped with the condiments, and left them to eat. She was preparing plates, forks, and napkins to be brought out to the patio to serve the lemon chiffon cake as a snack later on after lunch was done. They could drink ginger ale in the cans for a beverage. She took these out and placed them on the table outside. The cake with a knife was placed at the table also.

As the boys finished eating, they emptied then placed their dishes into the sink. They joined Sevin’s mother on the patio and took seats as she cut and served the cake. She opened their cans of ginger ale and took the remainder of the cake indoors. While they ate the cake outside, she rinsed and placed the lunch dishes into the dishwasher. Upon returning outdoors, the boys indicated they were done with their dessert. She collected all the plates and told them to color for a bit prior to beginning to play to give their food time to settle down. They immediately all reached for coloring books and colors. Going back indoors, Sevin’s mother rinsed the plates from the cake and loaded them into the dishwasher.

As the kids were coloring, she prepared the meal for Sevin’s dinner that night. They were having homemade meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and cheesy broccoli, with rolls. She made a fresh pitcher of iced tea, placing it into the refrigerator to chill. Then she transferred the leftover cake to cake plate and placed the cover over it. She then took the box from the cake to the garage to place into the trash can. Seeing the recycle bin reminds her that she needs to gather all the recyclables and get them into the bin. Going back into the house, she checked on the boys; they were happily coloring, while talking and laughing. She would let them play in another fifteen minutes. She went to get her basket with her embroidery work, a book, her sunglasses, and her hat.

Enjoying the Afternoon

Making sure the front door and garage doors were locked, she then made the circuit and closed all the windows, turned on the air conditioner, and went out to the backyard. Placing all her items on the hammock, she told the boys that they could now play. She gathered all the coloring books, tablets for drawing, and all the coloring instruments and placed them into a bag to make it easy for Sevin to return the items to his playroom. She then brought over her embroidery basket to the table and opened a can of ginger ale. After checking on the boys, she began working on her embroidery piece. She was making some seven-day-of-the-week dish towels for a new neighbor that would be moving into the neighborhood. The house down the block had just been sold.

Sevin and his buddies decided they would play Indians and cowboys first, that way when they were tired, they