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Living Authentically: Work Is Child's Play

Battle Spanning Across the Generations

By Jessica C.Published 3 years ago 10 min read
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“Rini, come look at this!” a small voice called out from the other room.

Serena padded into the playroom up to the craft table, smiling at the scene before her. Terry, one of the kids she babysat over the summer, beamed up at her, proud of her latest creation. Serena could tell she had been quite busy. Colored sand, paint, glue, and paper scattered across the table’s surface, her finished products lay in the center of the chaotic mess. Terry had created several pieces of art using the different supplies. Serena enjoyed the wide array of colors, shapes, and lines. Some might write it off as “sloppy,” but Serena could see Terry had fully immersed herself in the creative process. It was obvious she put her whole heart into creating.

It warmed Serena’s own heart that Terry felt so passionately about creating. The overall education system, sometimes beneficial, still had flaws—she had witnessed many students break down into tears because their art piece wasn’t “right” or didn’t look like another’s finished piece. So many, including elders, had completely given up on creativity altogether as a result, eyes depleted of the spark of life. Sure, a dazzling final product was nice, but it wasn’t the point of the creative process. Pure and simple the goal should be learning and expression. Granted, some pieces could turn out wonky as you learned and developed your skills, but that didn’t mean that they were wasted, pointless experiences. Mistakes were often opportunities for the greatest growth. Serena found the system’s “one-right-answer” and perfectionist approach disheartening. Rules provide foundation, but creativity should be unleashed. Grateful, Serena practiced this freedom with and encouraged the kiddos she babysat.

“You worked hard, Terry,” Serena praised with a pat on the head. “I can see you had lots of fun with the colors; I love your playful use of line and shape!” She grinned.

Terry straightened, puffing her chest out with pride. “I’m going to create some more art! This time using the salad spinner, like you showed me!”

Ruffling Terry’s hair, Serena affectionately replied, “Have at it, kiddo.”

All that time volunteering at the local children museum and taking art classes sure came in handy—it’s where Serena learned neat tricks for art. Her babysitting crew’s current favorites were spin art using the salad spinner, iridescent art using clear nail polish, water, and black paper, and painting with bubbles (adding liquid watercolor to bubble solution). Serena believed anyone could create, especially when everyday items could make it easy; the possibilities were endless! Serena thrummed with excitement.

Serena heard Terry’s neighbor, Jonah, call for her from the other room. She found him seriously staring at his Nintendo 3DS, focusing intently. Without looking up from the screen, he complained with a sour twist of his lips, “Whitney’s such a pain.”

Serena laughed. She recalled facing Whitney in Pokemon Crystal growing up. Her Miltank was a beast. She sympathized with Jonah’s plight. Whitney and her Miltank were certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Exasperated, Jonah crossed his arms after placing the game on the floor and huffed in frustration, “That’s the third time she’s beat me! Her Miltank is a raging bull that sweeps my entire team! Ugh! She’s impossible! It’s not fair!”

“Well, technically Miltank is a cow—Tauros is the bull—but I get what you mean. Miltank is tricky; true to its name, it’s built like a tank. Throw in the move rollout, and that makes Miltank quite the impressive foe,” Serena conceded. “Let me see what Pokemon you’re working with. We can come up with a strategy to combat Whitney’s nasty Miltank.”

Jonah sighed, handing over his 3DS with Pokemon Heart Gold inserted. Serena scrolled through his Pokemon, appraising their usefulness against Whitney. “What you need is a decent fighting type since Miltank is normal type. Let’s see…” Noticing his brother, Billy, who was sitting on the couch, reading, Serena asked, “Hey, Billy; how was camp?”

Billy had just returned from his animal camp. Serena remembered how excited he had been to go, which made sense since he aspired to be a vet one day. Serena smiled in remembrance at how Jonah had a repulsed frown stretched across his face when remarking how bad the camp smelled when they went to pick up Billy. Billy had nonchalantly informed his brother that “you got used to it and forgot all about it.” Jonah hadn’t looked like he believed his brother.

Billy peered up from his book, replying, “It was great—there were lots of cute animals.”

Jonah retorted, “I hope there weren’t any bull-y animals there like Whitney’s Miltank. It may be a ‘cow,’ but it’s such a bull-headed pain, obliterating my team!”

Serena snickered at the puns as she continued to go through Jonah’s Pokemon options, crafting the best suited team for the mission. She adored these kids—they were witty and fun to be around. It didn’t feel like she was working at all.

Pausing his reading, Billy remarked, “No, there were no bully animals at the camp, bull, cow, or otherwise. Although, Bungy, the baby wallaby, always made the biggest, unthinkable mess, pooping everywhere. That’s why only Willow, the other baby wallaby, got the privilege of roaming the floor. She wasn’t the epitome of messiness, like Bungy; she liked to eat her food and wander around. There were also sugar gliders and porcupines. They were adorable. I adopted Izzy, the pot-bellied pig. She loved belly rubs.” Cocking his head to the side, he then added, “I guess the other pigs, Orwell and Wilbur, were kinda bullies. They tended to monopolize the enrichment toy we made for them using hay and food. They didn’t prevent Izzy from using it, though. I guess they were just hungry.” Satisfied with his answer, Billy returned to his book, causing Serena to grin.

Jonah exclaimed, “Rena, speaking of animals, what about your kitty? You named it after the anime character, right?”

Subduing her laughter, Serena replied, “Yes, I did. It was fitting, and I love Miya from SK8 the Infinity.”

Jonah became excited with the mentioning of his favorite character. “Miya’s the greatest! He’s so funny—he claimed the other two skaters were his mom and dad, even though they were both guys,” Jonah snickered.

Laughter erupting, Serena recalled all the times Jonah would replay clips of Miya and his proclaimed “family.” She always thought it was hilarious, but Jonah’s reaction made infinitely better. Serena happily got lost in discussing SK8 the Infinity and Miya with Jonah while looking at Pokemon.

Serena announced, “Okay, so you might want to train up your Machop since it’s your only fighting type. That shouldn’t be a problem, though, since you have Nidoran♂, and it knows double kick, a fighting type move. It won’t be as effective since Nidoran♂ isn’t a fighting type, but it should still help get the job done if your Machop gets taken out of action. You could always get Nidoran♀, too, since it can learn double kick. Even though your Pidgeotto is one of your higher-leveled Pokemon, as a flying type it’s weak to Miltank’s rollout—a rock type move. It’d be best to bench it for this fight. Your Quilava is still a fine addition, though. I’d take either your Geodude or Onix, or both. They’re partial rock type, meaning they take less damage from Miltank’s normal-type stomp attack. Adding your Bellsprout or Oddish wouldn’t hurt, since they can put Miltank to sleep with sleep powder. Whitney’s not too bad if you strategize for her rather than trying to simply power through. What do you think?”

Jonah considered Serena’s suggestions, agreeing that they were sound advice. He appreciated her advice; he requested pointers for the new game, Pokemon Unite, earlier. Serena was still learning the game, and sometimes the enemy team would swarm her when she was alone, utterly destroying her. Most battles were five-on-five, and three to five of the opposing team liked to mob her and steal her points. It was frustrating, and she was still working out a countermeasure to that. Combatting Whitney’s raging Miltank was a whole lot simpler. Serena smiled, glad she could help. Jonah went about training for his rematch with Whitney with the suggested lineup. Serena stretched, arms reaching high, before she strolled out of the room since the brothers were content with their leisure activities.

She paused, hearing what she thought was a muffled call come from the basement. She opened the door leading to the basement, poking her head to peer downstairs. Tilting her head, she wondered if she imagined the noise. That’s when Terry’s brother, Jason, called for her again.

“Rena, come play Pokken Tournament with me! We still need a rematch! Only this time you can’t play as Croagunk.”

Serena walked down the stairs to join him on the couch so they could play his Nintendo Switch. “That’s only because you made us play random characters. I would have never picked Croagunk on my own. I prefer to play as Gardevoir or maybe Pikachu,” she laughed.

“You just kept throwing rocks!” Jason huffed.

Smirking, Serena teased, “It was an effective strategy! It kept you away, preventing me from losing health, and, ultimately, secured my victory. Besides, the rock throwing was kind of a fluke. I hadn’t even realized that Croagunk could throw rocks until I accidently pressed the button for the move. Once I learned that Croagunk could, though, it spelled your demise. Just think, it never would have happened if you hadn’t decided we needed random-generated characters.”

“No more Croagunk for you!” Jason stuck out his tongue. “You’ve been banned from playing Croagunk!”

Serena laughed heartily, “That’s fine. I’d rather play Gardevoir, anyway. Or maybe I’ll use Mewtwo. I was getting into quite the groove with Mewtwo during those random-character battles.”

Jason shook his head, starting the battle. He played with gusto, giving it his all, and gave Serena run for her money. Serena ended up losing just about as much as she won. The huge smile never left her face, and sincere gratitude filled her heart for her babysitting job.

These kids were so much fun. It was a blast to spend the summer with them. They all loved Pokemon; that love extended her car—what anyone would dub “the sticker car.” They made a scavenger hunt out of seeing how many new stickers they could find on her car.

They adored her, and she them, even with their differences and quirks. Terry had a passion for creating, period, not just art. She loved inventing new recipes in the kitchen, usually desserts, which called out to Serena’s soul as a fellow dessert-enthusiast. Jason mainly played Pokemon games and collected Pokemon cards, yet he was quite skilled in baseball. He also had razor sharp wit; he often traded puns, jokes, and sarcastic quips when he was in a playful mood.

Jonah knew so much about various games, like the Sonic, Mario, and Pokemon franchises, as well as anything Disney and The Nightmare Before Christmas. He would list off a vast sea of detailed facts off the top of his head—his mind was like an encyclopedia. His memory was a steel trap. Billy adored animals, reading, and swimming. He was baking-enthusiast and a Terraria fanatic; as a devoted fan, he could inform you all about the different weapons, NPCs, locations, and bosses.

All of these kids were precious to her; she prayed they kept their authenticity. In a world where so many people lost their individuality, desperate to fit in, these four children were courageously themselves in their entirety. They dared to be genuine. It warmed her soul. Serena felt blessed to bond with these kids. Every day was an adventure with them. She was excited to see where their journeys took them next!

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About the Creator

Jessica C.

I've always enjoyed creating, whether it be art or stories. I've enjoyed creating art from a young age and have worked in a variety of schools. I adore anime & cats. Over the summer we adopted baby Tsuki/Tsukihime, my moon princess kitten.

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