My daughter won’t crawl. Her legs and arms quiver to an off-beat rhythm. I invite a physical
therapist into our home. The therapist checks my daughter for milestones, but finds only crickets
in her neck. The therapist plucks the crickets with her thumbs and forefingers, plopping them
into a cereal box and closing the top. After the therapist leaves, pulls her red hatchback out of our
gravel drive, I name all the crickets Jiminy. I open the lid, allow them to dance, sing, play their
violin-like legs among the blades of grass. Neighbors gather—to listen to the Jiminys’
symphony—with folding chairs and Bud Lights hidden in neon Koozies, golden retrievers and
beagles with blue leashes. From her baby blanket on the ground, my daughter blinks and every
fairytale is real. Our neighbors watch the crickets evolve into nefarious flying monkeys and the
cereal box into a magic carpet. My daughter kicks her feet and a dust storm carries us all to
Narnia. Moments later the magic carpet becomes a giant pumpkin, her fairy godmother sprouting
with its leaves. The monkey maestro taps his music stand, and a hook-nosed witch appears,
cackling a spell and waving her knobby hand. The neighbors are still our neighbors but now
deeply asleep. Amongst the sleepers a kitten purrs and my daughter finds her feet.
Originally published by Brave Voices Magazine
Bethany Jarmul’s work has appeared in more than 50 literary magazines and been nominated for Best of the Net and Best Spiritual Literature. Her chapbook This Strange and Wonderful Existence is forthcoming from Bottlecap Press. Her chapbook Take Me Home is forthcoming from Belle Point Press. She earned first place in Women on Writing’s Q2 2022 & Q2 2023 essay contests. She lives near Pittsburgh. Connect with her at bethanyjarmul.com or on Twitter:@BethanyJarmul.