Click the pic for the original challenge. Written for Ermilia’s Picture It & Write.
“No, I don’t want a pony tail,” four-year-old Melissa complained.
“I have to put your hair up,” her mother demanded. “You’ll have it in knots by the time you get done playing.”
“But not a pony tail,” Melissa whimpered. “Like the eyes.”
“Eyes?” Laura glanced curiously at her friend, Annie.
Annie shrugged.
“It has to be like the eyes!” Melissa insisted.
Laura was baffled. “Honey, what eyes are you talking about?”
“The ones in the back of Annie’s head!”
Laura turned to Annie again. “Eyes in the back of your head?”
Annie shrugged again. A few weeks earlier, she was babysitting Melissa. Sitting out in the patio with Eric, she’d caught Melissa in the reflection of the big sliding glass door. She replayed the moment in her head.
“Missy, keep your fingers out of the flower box. The neighbor’s cat poops in there.”
Melissa had stared at the back of her head for the longest time, before turning around and starting to disobey.
“I said keep your fingers out of there!” Annie snapped.
Melissa spun around. “How did you see me?”
“I have eyes in the back of my head.”
Melissa walked up closer for an inspection. “I don’t see any eyes,” she said.
“Well they can see you.”
“What am I doing now?”
“Waving your hand at me.”
“What did I…?”
“It’s not polite to stick your tongue out.”
Melissa’s eyes had gone wide as saucers. She’d come up and touched the back of Annie’s hair in awe.
Suddenly, Annie burst out laughing. “Oh my God, Laura, she wants a French braid. I had my hair up in a French braid that day.”
“What?”
“Just braid her hair up. I’ll explain later.”
Melissa sat happily as Laura brushed out her hair and then weaved it carefully into a classic French braid. When she was all finished, she banded the end.
“There you go. Are you happy now?” she asked her daughter.
“You did it wrong,” Melissa pouted.
“What are you talking about? You look beautiful. It’s beautiful. Annie?”
“You look adorable, Sweetie,” Annie agreed.
“But the eyes don’t work,” Melissa complained. “I can’t see anything behind me.”
© 2013 Anne Schilde
Anne Schilde 
Haha. How cute. This makes me miss my students.
Hehe! I’m glad. It’s pretty hard to compete with the real things kids say!
This is great! Love it, Anne
Thanks, Lee-Anne. I’m glad.
Wonderful story Anne. I love the innocent naivety of children. You so have to be careful what you say to them.
Sometimes, I feel like they’re the wise ones and we’re naive.
True! That can very much the case. They can see things we’ve come to ignore.
How mums would relate to this…and perhaps the fathers too. Didn’t all our parents have eyes in the back of their heads…and how many children were gullible to believe.:-)
Haha, I’ve sure been the victim of those eyes!
I chuckled as I finished reading, this really is cute. Kids, they believe anything, it’s a good thing and bad too.
The story that inspired this is pretty funny too.
cute story… Randy
Thank you, Randy.
Super cute! I love the way kids think. I don’t always understand it, but it’s always funny.
I bet your parents have some cute stories about you. 🙂
Oh lord yes. That’d be a great author interview. Save that for when you review book two 😉
this was very sweet. Wonder how Annie is going to pacify her now..This made a very interesting read
Haha, no one ever ever accused me of being a saint. Next time I’m babysitting, I’m French braiding her hair and telling her it just takes practice!
lol. That’s a good one:)
Ah, this was so funny to read!! The countless things that children say that are so cute and funny to us, but serious to them. Wonderful post!!!
I would love to write a novel where the protagonist is a five year old girl. It would be so much fun, but probably doomed to failure.
Uh oh! That kid probably knows the words to “Is That All There Is”
And now I do! Let’s break out the booze and have a ball!