rusticate
\ RUHS-ti-keyt \ , verb;
1. to go to the country.
2. to stay or sojourn in the country.
3. to send to or domicile in the country.
4. to make rustic, as persons or manners.
5. to finish (a wall surface) so as to produce or suggestrustication.
6. British . to suspend (a student) from a university as punishment.
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“Ready
to go kids?” Dave called up to his two children.
“No.” Called down the older one, Dan.
“Same.” Replied the younger, Sally. Dave sighed at their mutual response.
“Well
why not? We want to leave pretty soon so
we get there when it’s still light out.”
“Because
we don’t want to go.” Said Dan. The teen emerged from his room and hung over
the banister.
“What? Why?
You love going to your grandparent’s house.” Dave said.
“Yeah,
when we were, like, six. And that was
only because we didn’t know how much it sucked.”
The
words of his son stung. Dave still had
fond memories of how his kids used to drag him and his wife, Lora, out of bed
whenever a trip to his parent’s house was planed.
“Yeah,
seriously, Dad.” Sally said, joining her
brother at the banister. “I mean, they
don’t even get cell service way out there.”
“Yeah,
what’re we supposed to do? No internet,
no phones, not even TV. It’s like living
in the stone ages or something.” Dan
agreed.
“Well,
you two could go and see the animals?
Remember that? Sally, you used to
love riding the horses.”
“Yeah,
used to.” She replied bluntly. “Why would I want to ride one of those big,
smelly things now? Anyway, they’re not
even grandma and grandpas. They belong
to some other guy who charges for that stuff.
That just makes it worse.”
“Why
should that matter? Anyway, the owner
takes good care of his animals, and they certainly don’t smell all that bad.” Dave said.
“So? I still don’t want to ride one.” Sally said, leaning against the wall behind
her.
“Well,
there’s still things you can do.”
“Like
what?” Dan asked.
“Well,
you can go swimming in the pond. You can
go hiking. You can even just sit around
and read.”
Looks
of horror crossed both teen’s faces at the mention of reading.
“Hold
on, you said we didn’t have to worry about doing school work there.” Dan said.
“What
does school have to do with reading?” Dave asked.
“It’s
reading.” Dan said, as if that explained
everything.
“You
know, there are books that have nothing to do with school. Those are usually read for fun.”
Dan and
Sally looked at each other. Dave sighed.
It was his failing that the concept of reading for enjoyment was so lost
on them. He wasn’t sure if he was too
late to correct that, but he could at least try.
“Why?” Sally asked.
“Yeah,
really.” Dan followed. ”Why would anyone
read a book for fun when there’s so much better stuff to do?”
“That
is what people tend to do out in the country.”
“One
more reason not to go.”
“Well,
too bad. You two are coming.”
“Hey,
Dad,” Dan said, “You know I’m almost
eighteen, right? So why not just let the
two of us stay home for the weekend? I
mean, I should be ok to keep things in line, right?”
Sally turned
from her brother to her father. Hope
shone in both their eyes. Dave just
looked at them. He only needed a moment
to come to the decision.
“No,
that’s not happening. Now get ready,
both of you. You’re coming, and that’s
final.”
Both
siblings groaned in that unique way only annoyed teenagers can do. They both slunk back to their rooms to throw
something into suitcases for the trip.
Dave was sure they’d be ok. After
all, it was only a two days in a country house.
How bad could it be?
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I'm sure there are many a parent out there who know what this feels like. And that exact sound only those in their teens can make. I'm not sure what that is, but once a person gets old enough, they seem to lose the ability to make that sound. I wonder why...
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