Two worlds

As I pulled my car over to the side of the road,

I watched as the large orange dragline excavator

moved forward along the edge of the canal

to continue its dredging operation.

Shortly, it dropped its bucket into the water.

As the large bucket broke the surface of the water,

the huge shovel swung around

and released yards of marl

from a watery grave to a drier one.

I thought of David my classmate in third grade.

He was slightly lighter than a feather

who raised his hand in class

when the teacher asked for volunteers.

Sharing with the class anything exciting

that happened over the weekend

was a Monday ritual.

David recounted how he got the opportunity

to operate his father’s dragline excavator.

As he informed the class on

the mechanical functions of the levers,

the size of the boom and the bucket,

the tons of earth moved, and how he helped

his father make a canal. The classmates were spellbound.

We were attentive to every minute detail and

“Oohed and aahed” over

how such a big machine obeyed

the whims of a boy so small and frail.

When David took his seat

my arm was waving like a metronome

set at allegro.

Quickly, I went to the front of the class

to tell my weekend whopper. 

I proceeded to tell them

how I was in my backyard playing

and climbed up a tree with my knife.

While I was up in the tree

a tiger walked  below me,  

and I jumped on top of it

and killed it!

Wide-eyed and mouths opened,

the class seemed to be in a trance-like state

just staring a hole right through me!

The teacher interrupted the eerie silence and

stunned everyone back to reality with her question,

“Now, Michael, there never really was a tiger, 
was there?”

Looking over my right shoulder

with a disappointed look, I confessed,

“No, Mrs. D.”

I was given permission to take my seat. 

As the boom loomed over the water,

the large scooper disappeared
beneath the surface again.

So, the class got a double treat that day.

They heard a marvelous story 
of David and the Dragline

and Michael and the tiger

and watched as two worlds,

one real and the other fantasy,

collided before their very eyes.

David survived.

The large excavator repositioned itself
along the canal for another gulp of marl.

I got back on the road as well,

not wanting to dig up any more memories.