Childhood amusement

When my dad showed us the back of his new truck I am sure all of us kids were excited to see where we would ride. Joni and I were under six years old; John and Kathy were ten and eleven. We peeked into the back through a small opening and peered in. The inside of the shell attached to the truck looked like a fort we would build in the house as a hide-away. There was an excitement for the adventure of taking it out for a spin. We had not had anything like a truck in all of my dad's car collections. The truck alone was a novelty but the sanctuary in the back was intriguing.

Joni might have been young enough to stand in the back but as a kindergartner I could only stand uncomfortably stooped . Any ride we took we would have to be sitting down. At some point my dad  brought home a legless bus seat to improve our camper shell luxury. I have no idea where he got such an item but the in the end, the hard metal frame with red leather seating made it even more adventurous. With the seat flat against the bottom of the truck we would sit with our legs outstretched. With each turn, which we anticipated with excitement, we would lift our legs as the unsecured bus seat would slide across the metal bed.

In unison, a long and loud, "Whoaaaaaaaa" would last as long as the turn took to complete and then laughter would ensue. Just as any kid would anticipate an amusement park ride we waited with excitement for the next turn to occur. 

I'm not sure how long we owned the truck but I remember it being cold in the back of the truck, as it was winter. The length of time we actually were lucky enough to have the truck makes little difference to me now. It is a memory that makes me recollect the simpleness of my childhood. 

Today,  I sat at a red light behind a truck with a low, hard plastic shell and imagined inside the faces of my sisters and brother sitting on a bus seat and waiting for the next turn to spin us around.