“What happens if you bury me and then I can’t stand up?”
Skyler giggles. “Then you’ll be trapped!”
I lie down and wiggle my fingers down where it’s cooler. “I guess you’ll have to come bring me food and water, then, huh?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll feed you.” She continues to scoop sand onto me. “You just tell me when you’re hungry.”
“Okay.” I smile to myself as she buries my feet in two mounds. “What kind of food can you cook?”
“I can make you sandwiches.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?”
“Yes. And banana.”
“Banana sandwiches?” I wrinkle my nose.
Skyler laughs. “No, peanut butter, jelly and banana.”
“Ew, gross.”
She laughs harder. “It’s good.”
“Really? It sounds disgusting.” I make a face and her giggles cascade over me like a waterfall.
“I’ll make you eat it. You’ll be trapped.”
I stick out my tongue and shake my head. “Blech!”
She laughs so hard I think she’s going to fall over. I love her laugh. It’s precious and so innocent. My heart grows in my chest as we play this game of me saying it’s disgusting, and her insisting that I eat it.
“What are you going to eat?” Tobias’s voice comes from up the hill, and I scan the grass until I see him appear.
“Daddy!” Skyler jumps up and runs to him. “Kiki thinks peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwiches are gross. I’m burying her in the sand, and I’m going to make her eat them!”
He raises his eyebrows. “You’re going to force feed her?”
“She’ll be trapped, Daddy.”
I wiggle my toes and the sand falls off them. Tobias laughs and plops down next to Skyler. “I think we need to get more sand on her if you’re hoping to trap her.”
“Yes! Help me, Daddy. Let’s bury Kiki.”
“Hey, wait a minute,” I say, but Tobias is already shoving large quantities onto my legs. It’s warm from the sun and feels like I’m at the spa getting some kind of beach treatment done.
“Stay still,” Tobias says. “We can’t have you wiggling all the sand off before we bury you.”
“Right.” Skyler claps her hands. “More, Daddy. More.”
I watch for a minute as Tobias gets serious about burying me. He pushes and mounds the sand over my feet and legs, getting up to my knees. He looks out of place in his dress pants and white shirt playing on the beach.
“Wait,” I say as he shoves a huge mound onto me. “Are you really going to trap me?” I pretend to be scared.
Skyler jumps and squeals. “Bury her, Daddy!”
Tobias doesn’t answer, he just continues to push more sand on me until my legs are buried. He grabs the bucket and starts scooping on my midsection. “I think we’ll have her buried in a few minutes.”
Skyler giggles and helps push more on my middle. “Get over there, Daddy.”
