*January 1st, 2021* (New Year's Day)
Time slowly starts to pick itself back up as the moment of climax, being the transition to 2021, comes to pass. Dashie and I cheer harmoniously as we tap our drinks together, making a nice *klink* sound before we finally get to enjoy the sparkling cider.
After taking a few mere sips of my beverage, I notice that Dashie has already finished chugging hers like the refined mare that she is. She starts to speak, albeit between smacking lips.
"Boy, did that hit the spot! I'm gonna go get some more!"
Before I can even add my own input, she dashes over to the kitchen, hastily opening the fridge in search of what her tastebuds so obviously desire. I start speed-walking after her, not particularly wanting an overhyped pegasus flying around my house deep into the early morning.
"Hey, hey, hey, easy now! Don't you think you've had enough sugar for tonight? You said you wanted to wake up at a decent time in the morning so that we could go to the park before lunch, right? How do you expect to do that if you don't go to bed in the first place, silly?"
I always do my best to have a good reason whenever I'm trying to control her. She is getting older, after all, but she's still my daughter. Either way, no matter how silly of a matter it might seem, it's important that she remembers that just because she can do something and wants to doesn't mean that she should.
"Oh, don't be a party-pooper, Pops! You're the one who said that I'm not far from being a full-grown mare at this point. Isn't it time that you start treating me like one?"
I suppose that she does have a point. We probably need to add 4 or 5 years to her age sooner or later, as she was definitely not a foal when I found her. That would put her at 13 or so, in actual years. I've never really been sure about pony anatomy, but whenever I think back to the Rainbow Dash on the show, I have a hard time pointing out any real differences between them. If she hasn't stopped growing by now, then she must be close...
I take a deep sigh before responding. "You're growing up too fast for me, Dashie... Where's the time gone? It feels like just yesterday that we were running around the house playing imaginary and building cardboard box fortresses."
Dashie pauses for a moment before giggling in response. After a few seconds of this, she responds.
"Sometimes I wonder what it must have been like for your parents when they were going through the same sort of thing. I mean, you are my dad, I can't imagine that you acted much differently when you were my age. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right?"
I'm somewhat taken aback by my daughter's words. It's not every day that she reveals a thought like that. I always knew that she was capable of critical thinking, she's a smart mare after all, however, it's a rarity to see her express those thoughts very often if ever at all.
"I guess not... I wasn't expecting that from you. Maybe you're secretly the egghead in the family with that kind of argument!"
I try my best to lighten the mood, not being one for awkwardness. Any arguments that Dashie and I have had over the years never go any further than this. I got pretty lucky with that, I must say. I can only hope that the same sort of luck continues to come my way in the future.
"Hey, we talked about this! You're too old and wise and stuff for me to be the egghead. Agh, you're gonna make my brain hurt like last time!"
I burst out laughing. I can't help recall all the other times I've attempted to hand over the title of 'Egghead' to my daughter. Just like in the show, she really doesn't like the term. Oh well... maybe I can just make her honorary.
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By the time we head to bed, it's nearly 2 am. I used to stay up this late pretty often back when I was younger, but that didn't fly so well once Dashie came into my life. I can only think of a few nights out of the year at this point where you'd find me up past midnight. It's not something that I particularly mind, per se. There's something about the sunrise that really helps kickstart my morning that you just don't get from waking up in the middle of the day.
Dashie sure seems to share the same sort of ideology. I'm never around to see it, but I know for a fact that she loves to take naps in the middle of the day while I'm at work to make up for it, though.
With that thought, I decide that it's time to get some rest, myself. It's a big day tomorrow, a big year, for that matter. I'll grow a pair of wings just like Dashie and learn to fly before you'll catch me starting it off in a bad way.
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*April 5th, 2021*
I made my way past all of the signs pointing me in the right direction as I got closer to where I was trying to go. I had to request today off from work, as it probably won't be too smart to do so after I get my shot.
You heard me right. After a whole year of being worried about my wellbeing, and more importantly, the wellbeing of my daughter, I'm finally getting my first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In comparison to other vaccines, the ones that have come out so far have done so in record time. Even so, it feels like it's been ages since the pandemic first started. Regardless, I couldn't be more thankful to be where I am right now.
After I made my way to the front of the mass clinic, a man greeted me with a mask adorned just like everyone else.
"Hello, there. Do you have an appointment today?"
I smile before responding. "Yeah, I do. For 10:30 am."
"Great! Have you filled out the necessary paperwork, yet?"
"Fortunately, yes. I did it online last night. Did you guys need a paper copy?"
"No need, sir. It should be in our system. You can walk on through to the people with the laptops over by that building and they'll get you all sorted."
I say my thanks to the kind man and start making my way to the building. It isn't very often that I get to talk to people outside of work. It's almost a strange feeling. Almost...
I'm glad that I did the paperwork last night. It was the first time all year that I had been on the internet aside from making the appointment itself, but it would've been a hassle to do it here with all of the wind blowing around. It had my basic information on it, with some unique things added in as well. Occupation, employer, do you qualify to get the vaccine early, etc. Since I work at a grocery store, I'm eligible to jump ahead of most regular people. And boy, am I thankful for that.
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I found myself amongst many other people in this big warehouse. The kind lady at the laptop had me join them. We all walked along a path and were directed to sit down in these socially-distanced chairs where we'd get our shot. Thankfully, I was spared even more walking by being placed in the front row.
A few moments passed before a man in army attire turned on a megaphone that they were holding and spoke into it. He basically went over basic information like what we were there for, which vaccine we were going to be getting, and what to expect from the nurses coming around with their little carts. He did also take some time towards the end to mention potential side effects of the vaccine and told anyone that didn't consent to taking the vaccine to raise their hand.
To no surprise, everyone kept their hands down. I'm not sure why else they'd be here if they didn't...
More moments passed before another lady dressed in nurse attire rolled her cart up to my seat.
"Which arm are we going to be doing, today?" She asked this question as nicely as she could considering this was probably her thousandth time asking it today, let alone since these mass vaccinations started taking place.
"Left, please. I don't feel like having to pick up things with my non-dominant arm." I said that semi-humorously, but it was no lie.
She smiled at me before motioning me to roll up my sleeve so that she could rub alcohol on the area that the needle would be inserted. After I comply and this is done, she pulled out a small bottle labeled "Pfizer Covid Vaccine". It took a bit of research to decide which of the two vaccines I would get. In the end, Pfizer was the first one to be approved in the US, and it apparently has fewer and less severe side effects than the other vaccine, Moderna.
After sticking one side of a bandaid near where she'd insert the needle, she proceeded to pull the contents of the vaccine into the vile. Following this, she told me to relax and let her do her thing. I abided, having just remembered that I hadn't gotten a shot in a good ten years or so and I didn't even really remember what it felt like.
It all came rushing back once the needle penetrated my arm. It certainly wasn't comfortable, but I had experienced far worse pain in my life.
I looked away as the vaccine pushed its way into my body. It was weird to think that some random fluids were then traveling through my bloodstream, but the benefits of that made it well worth it.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the needle was pulled out of my arm and the bandaid was fully applied. Ahead of me, I could see the army man write down my chair number on a whiteboard along with all the other chair numbers before me and wrote a time down. I had to wait fifteen minutes to make sure that there weren't any adverse side effects going on in my body before I left. It's too bad that I've grown to be impatient over the years thanks to a certain Rainbow Dash living in my house...
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I finally make it back home, with a vaccination card in hand. It had my name, date of birth, date of the first shot, as well as an appointment time for my next shot three weeks from now. As much as I'd love to get both shots out of the way as fast as possible, it's probably best that I get some time away from that needle...
By now, it's well past lunchtime and my stomach had something to say about that. I approach the door and get out my keys. Upon unlocking the DeadBolt, the Masterlock, and finally, the doorknob, I open the door to what I can only describe as a symphony to my stomach.
I look to Dashie, who was wearing an apron that I got for her some years ago when we first started cooking together.
"Hey, Pops. How'd it go? I went ahead and made lunch for us while you were out. You're lucky you got here just now, I was about to start eating without you. I'm starving!"
I can only smile at Dashie in response. She had never cooked or made any sort of food for me in the past. And the fact that she was able to pull all of this off on her own is doubly impressive. I walk up to her and pull her into a warm embrace, much to her confusion. This was going to be a good day...
THE END