How to Build a Catapult (Part 4 of 4)
The six-year-old placed the materials on the ground and began putting together a base for the new catapult.
Mark jogged back towards the sandbox, coming from the side yard.
“She says it’s okay.” He placed a handful of pebbles on the side of the sandbox.
“Wow,” said Jacob, “that’s a lot.” His eyes lit up as he gazed over the pile of medieval missiles.
“Here,” said Mark, creating a small pile of sand with his hands. “Try hitting this.”
Jacob placed a pebble into the catapult and pulled back. He let go and the pebble soared through the air until it crashed down into the soft white pile.
“We did it!” shouted Jacob. He got up and ran to Mark, wrapping his arms around him.
Mark held onto Jacob, releasing him when Jacob reached again for the catapult.
“Now we’ll need a bigger kingdom,” said Jacob, playing with the catapult. “With this for protection the king will be looking to expand.”
“The king?”
Jacob looked around and then grabbed a stick from the ground. “Here is the king.” He stuck the king into place atop the tallest tower of the kingdom.
“What a handsome king.” Mark smirked and began construction on another pile.
Once the sandbox had been filled to the brim with carefully constructed towers Jacob fetched more sticks.
“And who are these guys?” asked Mark, watching Jacob push sticks into the sand.
“These are soldiers. These two,” he said, wrapping rubber bands around the tops of the sticks, “are the two in charge of the catapult.”
“That’s a big responsibility, do you trust them?”
“If the king trusts them then so do I,” replied Jacob, completely serious.
“How about we make a crown for the king?”
“Good idea!”
“What should we use?”
Jacob tapped his finger on the side of his mouth as he thought, a gesture he’d seen his mother do dozens of times. “We can use this,” he affixed clay to the top of the stick, “and then this,” he pushed a pebble into the clay, “what a handsome king,” he said, mimicking Mark’s previous comment.
“What about a queen? Every king needs a queen.”
“Gross,” said Jacob. He folded his arms and shook his head. “No queens allowed in this kingdom. This is a boy’s only kingdom.”
“Of course it is.” Mark laughed while he gathered more nearby twigs. “Let’s put some more soldiers around the border of the sandbox, for extra protection.”
“You’re a genie.”
“I think you mean genius.”
“Oh,” said Jacob, his cheeks turned red as he situated the soldiers around the border.
“Genies grant wishes. I don’t know if I can quite pull that off.”
“I,” Jacob looked over to Mark, “wished for a…”
He turned around and placed the last soldier.
“What is it?” asked Mark.
“On my birthday my mom tells me I’m allowed to make one wish when I blow out the candles. When I was a little kid last year I wished for a new dad. Now you’re here. Took you long enough.”
“Oh, ha-ha, that’s a great wish. I don’t think I’ll be able to ever replace your father, but I’d like to get to know you better.”
“This won’t do.”
“What do you mean?”
“This kingdom is too big, we’ll need another catapult to protect it.” Jacob stood on the edge of the sandbox observing his hard work.
“Do you remember the supplies we used last time?”
“Uh huh,” replied Jacob, nodding his head. He ran towards the house and disappeared inside.
Mark sat on the side of the sandbox, mulling over what Jacob had just told him. He’d been dating Laura for six months, struggling to connect with Jacob the entire time. He couldn’t help but smile, having finally made a breakthrough.
Jacob came running from the house, with Laura not far behind.
The six-year-old placed the materials on the ground and began putting together a base for the new catapult.
“Looks like you two have been busy,” said Laura. She knelt down beside her son. “Can you show me how to build a catapult?” she asked.
“Mmhm,” he replied. “Mark can you get us some more rocks? Mom, is it okay?”
“Of course,” she replied. Mark took his leave to the front of the house.
“How do you like Mark?” she asked.
“He’s amazing. He showed me how to, wait,” he struggled with connecting the Popsicle sticks to the base with rubber bands, “I can’t do it. We need Mark.”
“Let me try.” She wrapped the rubber bands around the ends up the Popsicle sticks and then secured them to the base. “Now what?”
“Now,” exuding confidence Jacob continued on the construction, “we attach sticks here and here. You can put one at the top, mom.” She pushed a stick into the clay. “Good job, mom.” He attached the small plastic cup to the top of the catapult as Mark returned with more pebbles.
“Looks great, Jacob,” said Mark. “Want to give it a try?”
The six-year-old loaded up the cup and pulled it back.
“Are you ready, mom?” he asked. “This is going to be a good one.” He situated the catapult until it lined up with his target, facing the other catapult and the two soldiers in charge of it. “Bam!” he shouted, letting go. The pebbles rocketed through the air and crashed down into the kingdom, pelting the other catapult and knocking one of the soldiers to the side. “You made a good catapult, mom. Here,” he pushed the catapult to her. “You use this one. Come on, Mark.” He climbed into the sandbox and plucked the other catapult from its perch. “Go on that side, mom,” he said, pointing to the far side of the sandbox. He held the catapult in one hand and pulled Mark along with the other. They situated themselves on the other side of the sandbox.
“Looks like we’ve found ourselves in a battle,” said Mark. He laughed as he looked at Laura. “Are you ready for this?”
“You two are going to get it.” She filled her catapult with a mixture of pebbles and sand.
Jacob and Mark did the same.
“Are you ready?” she asked.
Jacob looked to Mark and smiled.
“Bam!” shouted Jacob, letting go.
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