Statue Man, Statue Man,
Does whatever a statue can,
Turns to stone, on his own,
If danger's near, he'll be here,
Look out! Here comes the Statue Man...
Diane Drinker arrives at the swim club with a pool chair and her three children.
Emily, 4, models her brand new bathing suit which has an inner tube built in. She struts along the side of the pool as the family reaches their usual patch of grass.
Dan, 9, sets up his towel next to his brother Will, 8, who tests the water with his toe.
Diane sees Patty sunbathing.
Diane: Hey Patty.
Patty: Hey, Di, how are ya?
Dan takes his first real notice of Emily's odd looking swim suit.
Dan: Will, her suit weird. Why?
Will: That’s an inner tube so she can stay afloat.
Dan holds up his inner tube, which he’s just finished inflating.
Dan: Mine bigger.
Emily: Yeah, well I’m smaller.
Dan: Mine bigger. Yours not. Mine better.
Will: No it’s not, Dan. It’s just different.
Dan: I special.
Emily: So am I!
Diane: Okay, lunchtime. Who wants to go to the snack bar?
Will: Me!
Emily: Me!
Dan: Not me, I stay here.
Diane: Dan, we’re all going, you have to come with us.
Dan: I fine.
Diane: Come on, we agreed: food first, pool second. I need your big strong arms to help carry the food back here.
Daniel Drinker has transformed into… STATUE MAN!
Will: Come on, dude. You love the snack bar.
No response
Diane: Danny Boy, don’t you want some chicken fingers?
No response
Will: Lets just go mom, he’ll still be frozen when we get back.
Diane: Patty, can you keep an eye on these two? I'll be right back.
Patty: No problem.
Diane: Thanks. Emily, you stay with Dan. Will, you come help with the food. Okay, stay right here. No pool until after we eat. Got it?
All this time, Dan’s eyes have remained fixed on a distant lifeguard stand. He has remained motionless.
Diane leads Will to the snack bar.
Dan and Emily are alone by the pool.
Patty's eyes are closed under her sunglasses.
Emily gets up and begins to wander the edge of the pool.
Dan turns his focus to her but remains still.
Emily pauses to watch an older girl dive in head first through her inner tube.
Emily looks back at Dan, who quickly averts his eyes back to the lifeguard stand.
Emily turns back to the pool and dives in, head first.
Because her inner tube is part of her bathing suit, Emily finds herself stuck, upside down. Her head under water, her legs up in the air.
Dan returns his gaze to the pool and sees Emily.
Emily's legs begin to flail.
Dan looks and sees an unaware Patty continuing to sunbathe.
ZAP! He shoots up. With a running dive, he's in the pool.
He reaches his sister and flips her over.
Emily coughs up some water.
Dan looks and sees an unaware Patty continuing to sunbathe.
ZAP! He shoots up. With a running dive, he's in the pool.
He reaches his sister and flips her over.
Emily coughs up some water.
Dan: Em, I sorry.
Emily: For what?
Dan: My tube better.
Diane: I thought I said, “No Pool”?
Dan and Emily turn to see Diane and Will standing on the pool’s edge with the food.
Emily: For what?
Dan: My tube better.
Diane: I thought I said, “No Pool”?
Dan and Emily turn to see Diane and Will standing on the pool’s edge with the food.
Statue Man, Statue Man,
Friendly neighborhood Statue Man,
He's a rock when he's in shock,
He'll hold still, against your will,
Watch out! Metamorphic Statue Man!
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7 comments:
Great story! We have Ice Girl here. She freezes up in a split second. Melting occurs accompanied by complaining or tears. Haven't figured out how to stop it. The Ice Girl Cometh.
"Gabriel, Gabriel, you're so awesome, you're so swell!" Since Gabe's been born, I've been singing the Spiderman theme song to him...there is a variety of verses after that one depending on diaper mode.
I love your stories! LOVE 'EM!
We have a statue man at our house....gotta love them. Dan, it sounds like you were a real hero.
My brother George also would become a “statue” when he was little. We used a headless Barbie (used as you would a crucifix against a vampire) to move the “statue” in moments of desperation. It was mean but it worked when movement was absolutely necessary.
Love the story. And I am guessing there was no 'Stellar babysitter' award going to Patty!!
Hi! What you are doing by sharing your stories is so import...as important I think as many of the advocacy organizations' work.
Our son's story (Gabriel's Story) is at www.DownSyndromeLife.com
...just wonderful...how you are sharing your life with your brother.
Hey did you ever see "Lessons of John" or "Lessons from John". Also very powerful.
Dan you have always been a hero!
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