Czech's Ahoy!

Seeing the little blonde girl on the bus with her mommy and her littler baby brother pulled out a nearly-forgotten memory of my weekend in Prague.

While sitting, hunched over, on a bench in a Prague subway station, I lifted my gaze off the ground and was met with a pair of beautiful eyes looking back at me. Timid yet curious. Shy but sparkling. A cute little blonde head, peeking around her daddy's leg.

"..." she mumbles. I raise a brow at her.

Then, as if making up her mind, she steps out from behind her daddy and says, loud and clear, "Ahoy~"

Caught a little off-guard and not sure what to make of it, I smile and reply, "Hello~"

She persists, "Ahoy~"

I grin a little wider and keep pace, "Hello~"

Back and forth it goes. Now, normally, if a cute blonde "Ahoy~"s me in public, I'd probably be a) blushing all the way to my ears, b) looking away pretending nothing's happening, or c) running for the nearest exit. Of course, normally, cute blondes don't "Ahoy~" me in public. And, of course, in this case, the cute blonde is no more than three years old. I can handle three-year-olds, no matter how cute or blonde they are. But I'm sure I still looked pretty ridiculous, more like I was talking to a kitten than a three-year-old.

She's not giving up, "Ahoy~"

Well, I suppose if you were talking to a kitten, and she wouldn't stop meowing you, eventually you have to try something she might understand. For example, meowing back at her.

So I look her right in the eyes, and go, "Ahoy~"

She seems pleased and looks up at her daddy. He says something to her, then looks over at me. I smile back, sheepishly.

What's the point of this story? I don't know. Maybe there isn't one. Maybe it's just one of the many fragments of memories that slosh around in the puddle that is my mind. Or maybe I just really, really want to have a little cute baby girl of my own someday.