Safe Haven

Playground Fight

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Jay opened the fridge and groaned annoyed when he found nothing. Almost all supplies have been used up. No milk for Charlie. Nothing. Not even more juice or toast was available. Actually, it was no surprise, because he needed only a cup of coffee in the morning. He doubted, however, that the toddler would be satisfied with a cup of coffee rather than milk. Jay took a deep breath and looked to the toddler, who sat hungry at the table. Instead of juice or milk, he served a glass of water. Charlie refused to drink water. She pushed the glass away from her. As a result, it fell on the ground. The glass broke in many pieces. Jay closed his eyes for a moment. This toddler was exhausting. Sometimes she drank water and sometimes not. Sometimes she liked noodles and sometimes not. He always thought that teenagers have such mood swings. But this toddler changed her mind every hour.

He picked up the pieces, wiped the spot dry and then led the toddler to the car. He drove to the next supermarket.

On this occasion, he also brought the empties away. Charlie watched as Jay pushed the box into the reverse vending machine and the box disappeared. Charlie tried to climb afterwards, but Jay put her into the child seat from the shopping cart. So Charlie could not run away from him.

Jay wondered what he needed - salami, cheese, juice, milk, cereal, biscuits, bread...

While Jay thought at the fruit stand, whether he needed anything other than apples, Charlie was already reaching for a banana. She tried to eat the banana.

"Charlie, don't eat with the fruit skin." Jay said. But the toddler ignored him, so he took the banana from her. What followed was a crying toddler.

"Charlie, be quiet. You can eat the banana, but not with the fruit skin." Jay tried to explain, but the toddler does not talk. He removed the skin and held out the banana to the toddler, but Charlie still refused to eat it. Instead, she cried.

"Would you like an apple or a biscuit?" Jay asked, but the girl shook her head and kept crying.

"Now calm down!" Jay hissed annoyed and earned a dirty look from a strange woman.

"I can't believe it. You feed the child for free in the supermarket." She shook her head in disbelief. Jay ignored the woman and continued to study the crying toddler.

"Alright, here's the deal. You stop crying and as a reward you can choose one thing. No matter what." he said.

Charlie stopped howling. She looked at the man with her big red eyes. She stretched her arms in the air because she wanted out of the child seat. Jay sighed. Actually, he had no desire to run after the toddler. However, he went to her request. He did not want to be stared at by people anymore. He lifted the toddler out of her seat. Immediately, as Charlie's feet touched the floor, she set off on a discovery tour. She grabbed each shelf and took almost every item in her hand that was at eye level.

She turned to Jay. With a wave of her hand over her stomach, she tried to gesticulate that she was hungry. Jay squatted down on her height and handed her the banana from earlier. Fortunately, the toddler did not resist, but ate the banana. She then pointed to a shelf filled with candy. She chose a pack of gummi bears. Jay was glad that the child calmed down.

He paid his purchase and drove with Charlie back to the apartment. They had breakfast and then Jay decided to go with Charlie to the nearby playground.

He was sitting on a bench in the distance, typing on his smartphone, looking now and then at the toddler. With a shovel and a bucket she played in the sandbox. She filled the bucket full with sand and then tipped it over. She wanted to build a sandcastle like the older children. But it did not work.. Always lacked a corner or the castle crumbled. Again she filled her bucket and dumped it over. This time it worked. The castle stood. Happy Charlie built her castle on.