A Bad Idea Gone Good...

“It’s stupid.”
“What's stupid?!”
“Uh… a tree fort Ryan? Really?”
“What?”
“’What?’ He’s two Ryan.”
“It’s a good idea! I had one and…”
“..and how old were you?!”
“like, six er’something, but that’s beside the point babe. I’m doing this! I’m already up here… I’m like 2% done!”
“You’re nuts.”
“Maybe.”
“What’re we suppose to do then?”
“Sit on the lumber pile and watch ‘daddy’ construct!”
“’Construct’? Sounds so official.”
“Hey! This tree fort’s gonna be official dude, you just wait!”
“Look buddy, Daddy’s ‘construct’ing a tree fort for you! Yaaay! Now, I tried telling him that you’re still a little too young to play in it yet, but he’s set in his ways (you will be too some day!)”
“I can hear you!”
“Don’t fall honey!”
“Hell, you wish! Wanna hand me that small section of 2x4?”
“Sure… you’re cute honey.”
“Why?...’cause I’m ‘construct’ing?”
“Ya, and you almost lost your balance and fell a second ago… I saw you. Here.”
“Thanks, and no I didn’t…. I was strategically repositioning!”
“Ooooh. Okay then, well just be careful up there ‘Daddy’ (Daddy’s crazy buddy).”
“I heard that too. I have good Hearing.”
“Are you cold Ryan?”
“Umm, a little, but I’m moving around so I should be good in a bit. You guys cold?”
“We’re good.”
“Hey, so going back to my tree fort, I had a small one about 4x8 when I was like, six or seven… it felt like a banquet hall! It was in this big-ass ‘Y’ shaped oak tree next to my house. There was a tire swing on one of the branches too and the older I got the more daring I became. I would tie this little length of rope to the tire swing’s rope. Then with an end of it in my hand I’d climb up into my fort and reel in the tire swing…. Jesus, did you just see that…”
“Ryan, be careful. Don’t you need some sort of fall safety harness er’something?”
“Babe, it’s a tree fort… I’m like 8 feet from the ground…. Anyways, I’d reel in my swing with the lil’ piece of rope then from a little platform I’d built I’d frickin’ swing off the ledge, high as hell!”
“No tire swings Ryan.”
“Psshh. Whatever. Tire swings and tree forts are like peanut butter and jelly dude.”
“…I dunno.”
“I do: Tire swing!”
“What happened to your tree fort?”
“Umm, wait. Is this straight… this one?”
“The horizontal one?”
“Ya, is it straight?”
“Yes, but the upright one’s crooked and…”
“Never mind that one babe… Its on purpose.”
“Ooooh I see”
“Ya the fort I had stayed in the tree for years. My grandparents took over the house when my Mom and I moved out and they never tore it down. I went back when I was like 20 and it was still there… I climbed up into it and aside from it being extremely rickety I immediately took note as to how small it really was!”
“That’s funny.”
“Several years after that the old oak, which had to be at least 80 years old, started to deteriorate and the grandparents hired a guy to cut it down and remove the stump……….”
“You alright Ryan?”
“….in and around that old tree was one of THE places I think of when I consider ‘happiness,’ ‘contentment,’ ‘safety’… it’s a time and place I envision in dreams still. It was – it is – very important.”
“That’s beautiful Ryan… (Daddy’s not so crazy!)”
“Crap, is this one straight from where you’re at?”
“Yup, it’s perfect honey … it’s absolutely perfect.”