Out of the mouths of babes

by Rachel Womelsduff Gough

My five-year-old daughter awoke from her nap still warm and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She climbed onto my lap as I sat at my desk, trying to muster the energy and creativity to write something. She asked if she could help, so I told her I needed to write something involving the word ‘create.’ She dictated and I typed. This is her precious, unedited offering. It was too good not to share.

CREATE

by Amelia Gough

god created us
he created the world
he created the beautiful sun and the mountains
the goats, sheep, and other animals
he saved his people
the son of god
his name was jesus

galloping horses with bad people on their backs
jesus and his people entered a walkway of water
jesus quickly closed the gates behind everybody
the bad got washed away in the water
they served jesus like his king

they found a cave and crystals gloomed and shined
when they came to the end of the path in the cave
there was a big hole at the end
then they felt trickling water flowing through their feet
they were swimming in the beginning of the waterfall

trees were nearby
everybody grabbed a leaf
they went riding down the waterfall
they were going down so fast everybody heard a song
it was almost like a song they’ve never heard
of course they haven’t heard it before

at the end of the waterfall there was a path leading to a meadow
jesus said, ‘follow me and we will go in this meadow.
cut down the grass and some of the trees
and we will gather sticks that we have cut down
and we will make houses and build a village.
it will keep us safe from evil.’

there was an ocean nearby
jesus taught them how to fish
so they could have lots of food for the winter
they started to find metal and brick
then when they had all three—brick, metal, and wood—
they started to build an even bigger village

they found yarn
moms started to knit and sew
they started to make clothes
they spoke english
soon a wonderful lady had some children
she was fine but getting a little sick

they started to grow farms
that had lots of animals on them
they still went fishing

someone who didn’t have a wife got married to a very nice woman
there was a wedding
a very special wedding

they started to grow crops
they grew carrots, tomatoes, plums, green-skinned watermelon (that’s the normal kind), cantaloupe (this was in, like, ancient times), eggplants, sunflowers (your favorite), blueberries, corn, lots of different flowers (they were very beautiful), lettuce, blackberries, peppers, onions, pumpkins, beans, Brussels sprouts, lemons, asparagus, sweet peas, snap peas, and regular peas

they started writing emails to each other about plants, bushes, and trees
they wrote two grocery shop lists
one for them, and then they emailed the other to their friend
if the friend sends the email back, that’s ‘yes’
but, if the friend doesn’t send it back, that’s a ‘no’

they also gathered shells when they were going fishing
so they could give them to the ladies and the ladies could sew them on their dresses
there were crystals on the shells to make the shells even beautifuller on the ladies’ dresses

they began a country
then they began a city
then they began the greatest place in the whole, entire world
home

the end

Rachel Womelsduff Gough is trying to slow down enough to hear when her children speak magic.