Lydia Takes the Leap

As Lydia sat at her computer desk, she watched the sun glimmering through the palm trees as it slowly sank out of sight. Hearing her mom greeting her father as he came through the front door, she knew he would want to relax after a long day at the store.

After spinning around in her chair seven times and tapping her fingers to the beat of a song on the radio, she decided five minutes was a good enough “rest break.”

Lydia sprinted out of her room and greeted her father with a big hug and a loudly proclaimed “Hi Dad! I have the best idea ever and I need your help!”

He put his hands up while staggering backward playfully, “Whoa! Can I at least use the restroom before you take me hostage?”

She stomped her foot and pointed to an imaginary watch on her wrist “Dad! I have been waiting hours for you, would it be ok if I sat outside the door and told you?”

He raised his eyebrows at the ludicrous suggestion leaving faint wrinkle lines on his forehead. “Really, Lydia you can’t be serious… oh, you are serious? Well, the answer to that is No! Geez, please give me a half hour to unwind from my day, and then I will give you my undivided attention. Deal?”

He extended his hand so they could shake on it while Lydia gave him the biggest puppy dog eyes she could manage, an expression which would take down most adults. He stood his ground, however, and she eventually agreed to wait patiently.

Dragging herself to the living room, she laid out on the couch and began watching the time tick by on the cable box. The minutes crawled by, with her excitement growing every second, but she tried to maintain a calm, mature voice when her father was ready to listen. Standing up, she began to pace as she pitched half of her plan to her father.

“Dad, I have decided I want to be a business owner like you and I don’t want to wait until I am 18 to do this,” she said, keeping her mission of finding a best friend a secret between her and her mom.

He gave her a skimpy smile “Oh… well… I think that’s a wonderful idea. However, it has taken many years of growth and failure to get where I am today…”

Lydia rolled her eyes slightly at the beginning of his lecture, “I have to start somewhere… why can’t I start my “many years of growth” now instead of waiting?”

Her father paused to think about this a moment and responded with a grin, “You know, I don’t see why not! When I was your age, my friend Jimmy convinced me and two other friends to start a club selling re-purposed items we found at the junk yard to earn enough money to travel to Florida to see some gators. I don’t see why you can’t do the same. How about giving yourself a little time to think about what you’d like to sell and putting up a couple flyers in your school to see if anyone else would like to join you? Once you have a few people signed up, I can give you guys a small business lesson this Saturday and you’ll be on your way to the entrepreneurial life.”

A gigantic grin spread across Lydia’s face as she clapped her hands together, “Oh Dad! Thank you!”

“Where are you going?” her dad asked in surprise as she started to run off, forgetting it was time for dinner.

“I have to get started brainstorming ideas and making flyers! This is something that cannot wait!”