It was going to be a dark and stormy night. Watching the clouds roll across the horizon, I anticipated a crack from the thunder that was due to come. Depending on how close the storm was, we could feel the house shake. I learnt my lesson from that one violent storm where I kept working and a lightning strike caused a blackout that wiped my computer clean.
Now, whenever I sensed a storm coming, it meant I got a paid night off. That's what made those nights the best nights. Amelia always thought I was too busy for her – except for those nights. We even began to create an impromptu ritual. She pretended to be scared, and of course, her big, strong dad would come in and save the day!
“Dad, Dad! Look! It’s going to rain.”
“Oh no Amelia! What if the power went out? I should probably get the torches and put new batteries in, huh?”
As her eyes lit up brighter than the torches ever could, she hurriedly walked to the lounge area, putting away all her toys in anticipation. As I walked around the corner, I snuck my head back. I watched her clean faster, and more productively than ever before. Just so she didn’t think I was spying, I picked up the torches, and headed back.
“Torches, check.”
“Room cleared, check!”
“Amelia, what else do we need?”
“Pillows! Blankets!”
“Haha! Of course, we need to build our castle to protect us from the storm!”
Brigid stuck her head out from the kitchen, wanting to play along too. Resigned to the fact that she could never surpass me as the cool parent, finding lesser roles to play during the daddy-daughter adventure was the only way she knew how to be included.
“I suppose I’m on S’mores duty again. You weren’t happy with my last fort!”
Amelia gasped in excitement. “Really Mum? S’mores? Am I able to eat lots this time?”
“Depends on how good you and your father build the castle.”
The first crack of the storm broke through our discussions, and I looked at Amelia with a serious look on my face.
“Oh no, the storm seems to be coming early! We need to build quick! Mum might need to work on the S’mores too – you know, so we don’t run out of energy.”
“Ok, ok, I know when I’m not wanted.”
Brigid walked back into the kitchen and began preparing the S’mores. We knew she meant business when we could hear multiple packets open, with the biscuits making a loud sound as they tumbled onto a plate, awaiting production. Knowing we had to make sure that it was built before she came back with our sugary feast, Amelia and I started collecting everything to get the build started.
“C’mon Amelia. Let’s try to get it organised before your Mum gets back with snacks.”
Using chairs to create corners, we then started stacking the lounge pillows to create a wall. Carefully, we draped the blanket in between chairs to make our doorway. I wanted to create something special - something actually suggested by Brigid, that would completely change our rainy night adventures.
“Amelia, could you go in the kitchen, and see how long mum needs before our S’mores would be ready?”
“Of course! Don’t do too much without me though daddy.”
“I won’t.”
As soon as Amelia disappeared from sight, I got to work. I grabbed some of the smaller pillows and the orange blanket I purposely left to the side. I carefully crawled into the space laying the three cushions into a circle and put the blanket in the centre to create a rough mound shape. Forgetting the torch, I figured we could bring that in when I showed Amelia the set up. I quickly got back out and pretended to work on stabilising the wall. Amelia saw me, and thought I was doing more of the build without her.
“You said you would wait!”
“I was, the wall just looked a little unstable, so I was fixing it. Was Mum able to let you know about the food?”
Brigid stuck her head out, pretending to be annoyed that I was asking too many questions. “It’s coming, it’s coming.”
“Fantastic! Amelia, if we’re careful, do you think we should eat them inside the castle?”
Her eyes widened at the thought. “Really, can we?”
“Sure. You will need to take the torch with you, so you can see where you are going of course. It’s a big castle we built.”
“Ok.”
Getting onto all fours, Amelia dragged the torch along the carpet whilst trying to enter. I followed closely and knew exactly when she saw it from her gasp. She instinctively sat on a cushion, waiting for me.
“Dad, why are there three pillows?”
“Well, if Mum is bringing in the food, it’s only fair she gets to stay.”
“Ok. MUM, ARE YOU COMING?”
“Yes, yes, but you might need to hold the blanket door open for me.”
We all got into position, and I grabbed the torch that Amelia left to the side of her. I positioned it under my chin, and then turned the light on, illuminating my face in the most unflattering way.
“With all this spppoooookkky weather, what better thing to do than tell ghost stories by the campfire…”
“Can you start Dad? I want to eat one of Mum’s S’mores first.”
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