One ADJECTIVE day, Leila thought to herself, “I need to get out of this house.” She had been home for months and felt the walls closing in.
She looked out the window: The grass was COLOR, the sky was COLOR, and a picnic in the park was just the thing. Leila packed a basket full of SNACKS, a soft blanket, and of course Rami and her daughter and told Nabil, “.”
On the VERB to the park, Leila watched her children as they took in the neighborhood. “,” said Rami excitedly as he pointed to a store sign. “That’s right,” said Leila. She was proud of her multilingual son and wondered if her daughter’s first word would be in English, Arabic, or French.
When they got to the park, Leila spied a flat space near a garden. She spread the blanket on the ADJECTIVE grass and Rami helped with the food.
“Slow down,” said Leila, reminding Rami to pace himself with the DRINK.
Leila was happy to be outside. Happy to be with her children. Happy for the time.
While Rami sipped from his Summer Sessions cup, Leila’s daughter was focused on the flower garden. She was attracted to the COLOR butterflies dancing about.
And then a tiny red ladybug landed on her arm. She reacted with EMOTION and surprise.
And the little girl uttered her first word: “Bibitte!”
While that might sound like gibberish, bibitte is actually French-Canadian slang for bug. Lucky for us, Frederic Lemieux was walking by and heard the tiny squeak. Looking down, he said, “That is for sure a bibitte. But do not worry, it is not a threat.” And he left to ponder his next master’s program in TECHNOLOGY FIELD.
The family spent the rest of the day watching the clouds float by. “,” said Rami, pointing up. “.” “.”
“Bibitte,” chirped the young one.
As the sun began to set, Leila packed up the things and headed home. Rami couldn’t wait to tell his father all the things he saw. And Leila was so proud of her little ladybug’s first word: bibitte.
Fin.
