Big Wheels, Small Truck

Once again, Toby had seemed thrilled to play with his new RC toy, this time a Laegendary Legend 4x4 Offroad RC Monster Truck. He’d taken it, gathered up some action figures, and rushed outside.

But just like last time, he’d been out there for a while, and the truck had barely driven around. Toby’s dad watched him through the window for a little longer before going outside to see what was going on.

“Everything okay with the new truck, son?” his dad said, as he approached the corner of the yard where Toby had set up his toys.

“There was an incident,” Toby said.

“I think you mean ‘accident,’” his dad replied. “What happened? Did you crash it into something? While I wouldn’t recommend doing that on purpose, it is supposed to hold up to more than a little punishment. It’s built for all-terrain driving, after all.”

Toby rolled his eyes. “No, dad. When I said incident, I meant incident. See, this monster truck belongs to this Little People chef. She’s a celebrity. She beat Bobby Flay. Anyway, she was driving her monster truck through the neighborhood, and it was pretty loud, so this Spider-Man here lodged a complaint. Well, nothing came of it, so he took matters into his own hands. And honestly, his actions were pretty reckless and dangerous to Chef and her children. But of course, when this Bluey figure over here took a video of the incident on her phone and posted it to social media, all she got was Chef swinging her spatula at a defenseless Spider-Man.”

“Huh,” Toby’s dad said.

“Chef released footage from her dash cam,” Toby went on, “footage that should exonerate her. But you know how it is. Once the court of public opinion has made its decree, it’s hard to overturn it.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Toby’s dad. “But, Toby, what if you played by just, like, driving the truck around?”

Toby looked at his dad aghast. “You think I should ‘just drive around’? In a guzzler like this? Seriously, dad, have you seen gas prices these days?”

“But it doesn’t run on–” But Toby’s dad caught himself. “You know, however you want to play, Tobe. Have fun, bud.”

Maybe we don’t talk about the news over dinner anymore, he thought as he walked back to the house.