“Three is my magic number,” Bea said.
“Why do you say that?” her father asked.
“Well,” she replied, using her fingers to count things off, “you write my birthday as 3-3, March 3. There are three of us in our family — you, me, mom. Our house is number three on the street –“
He interrupted, “That’s not our house number.”
“I know that,” she replied, “but if you count the houses from the turn-off, we’re the third one.”
She continued until she ran out of fingers. “I’m in the third grade. I have three cats. There are three letters in my name. I eat lunch with two other girls – that makes three. My friends have three-letter names: Ivy and Nia.”
She found a notebook. “I’m going to collect a hundred threes today,” she announced, and in her very best third-grade scrawl, she wrote numbers down in a column.
She listed off the three-letter names first: Bea, Ivy, Nia, Mom, Dad. Then she continued: “thrid [sic] house” and kept going.
Bea worked steadily all day on this project.
“Bananas.” Won’t eat one today, thought Dad.
“White rocks.” Only three? thought Dad.
“Broken fence rails.” Need to fix those, thought Dad.
“Letters in the mail.” Bills, thought Dad.
At bedtime, Bea was discouraged. “I couldn’t do it,” she told her father. “I only got to thirty-seven.”
“I’m giving you three stars for trying,” he said.
“What?” she asked.
“Look in the fish tank,” he told her.
When she did, she squealed with delight.
This is my contribution to the Unicorn Challenge. It’s a simple challenge: write a story no more than 250 words. Base it on the photo prompt.
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
Aww, what a sweet story.
That’s just the kind of thing a child might think of. I love the way you’ve created these two characters and the little middle section where Dad has his own, adult, reactions to these items on Bea’s list. Great ending.
Thanks, Margaret! I was a stay-at-home mom for about a hundred years. If there’s one thing I know it’s kids. 🙂
Cool father-daughter tale, Sally!
Thanks CE
Delightful piece, Sally. Love the daddy/daughter back and forth. A sweet one!
This one made me smile!
That’s the magic of 3’s in a child’s mind and a fairy tale telling of something like gratitude. At least, a reminder to the father to let go cares in light of her list.
I love the gift of stars!
A delightful tale, Sally.
The child’s voice is just right, and her passion.
Dad can’t help being a grown-up and serious, but even he gets caught up n her exceitement with the gift he gives her.
A great father-daughter relationship too.
Lovely story!
Adorable, Sally! What a lovely tale 💞💞💞