"Heather, come on, you have to see this!" Donny, aged seven, pulled his nine year old sister away. Andrea, age five, followed along.

"Kids! Stay around. We're leaving right after -"

Too late. They were gone. Zack, 35, father of the brood, watched them disappear from the front register.

"That'll be $17.84 with tax." Tom was a salesman who liked to show off his dental work. He smiled as he placed the pump and rubber horn in a plastic bag with Lynbook Bicycle Shop's logo on it. He continued to smile after he voided the sale and redid it because Faye, wife and mother, with no age offered, replaced the rubber horn with a handlebar bell.

"Kids! We're leaving now!" Zack shouted.

"Heather! Danny! Andrea!" Faye chimed in.

No kids reported for duty.

Faye headed to the back, Zack followed, Tom trailed close behind. Zack was anxious to get back to their Sunday ride. He needed to pedal off some of the extra pounds he put on. He looked at Faye's figure and wondered how she managed to avoid the excess baggage that clung so easily to him.

The adults arrived at the object of the children's fascination : a two-seater go-kart.

Donny sat on the driver's side, playing with the steering wheel. His blue eyes were lit up and dancing over the freckles on his clear cheeks. Heather sat next to him, the little mother, with Andrea in her lap. Heather had her long brown hair tied back in a pony tail, her brown eyes trained ahead, while her pug nose crinkled. Andrea was a replica of Heather when she was four years younger. Both looked like clones of their mother.

"Kids, we're going." Faye tapped Donny on the back.

Donny was oblivious, making engine noises, steering around imaginary curves. Heather and Andrea were passengers in the same fantasy. When Donny leaned into a turn, they leaned along with him.

"Girls!" Faye tapped Heather's back.

It was like she wasn't there.

"KIDS!" That snapped them out of their daydream. "We're leaving."

"OH MOM!" A sullen chorus. Little Andrea climbed out, followed by Heather, and then Donny. They moped and whined toward the front door. Faye got halfway down the aisle before she made an about-face and marched back.

"Zack!?"

He looked up, startled, from the go-kart seat. "Hi, honey." Tom jerked his head around in mid-pitch.

Donny climbed into the go kart and sat next to his father. Father looked over at son, son looked over at Father, and they smiled at each other. Zack put his arm around Donny.

"Zack, you're not thinking of buying one of those dangerous things, are you?"

Zacks smile evaporated, along with Donny's, Heather's and Andrea's.

"Actually, it's very safe." Tom flashed his incredibly white teeth again. "It has a low center of gravity, special all terrain extra-grip tires, and a wide and stable turning radius. It's practically impossible to turn over."

"Yeah, well, just out of curiosity, how much is this very safe toy?"

"It's on sale. 50% off."

"50% off what?"

"A thousand dollars." Tom mumbled for the first time.

"Case closed!" Faye helped Donny out of the go-kart, then Zack.

That night, after he kissed Faye and turned the lights off, Zack couldn't fall asleep.

"Honey?" Zack touched her shoulder.

"I'm sleeping."

"I need to talk."

"Can't it wait until morning? I'm really tired, Zack."

"No, it can't wait."

"Okay, as long as it isn't about the go-kart. I heard enough about that thing today to last me a lifetime."

"It's about Sammy Barkas

"Who's Sammy Barkas?"

"One of the kids in my neighborhood when I was growing up."

"What was so special about Sammy Barkas?"

"His Dad. Sammy had the greatest Dad. All the kids in the neighborhood envied Sammy because he and his Dad had so much fun together."

"What about your Dad?"

"My Dad? Nah, all he did was work."

"So how did Sammy and his Dad have fun?".

"They had a go-kart."

"No, Zack." Faye turned over on her side.

"You couldn't buy a go-kart back then, you had to make one. Sammy's Dad welded the frame in the garage, found some tires, attached the engine, and rigged up brakes, a throttle, and a steering wheel. When it was done, they took it to a vacant parking lot."

"Good night, Zack."

"They drove around the lot, making S turns, spinning out -"

"Zack, I'm going back to sleep."

"Faye, you have to listen to me. This is important." Zack turned on the light. "It's not just the go-kart. It's more than that. I want to share some fun with my kids. My father never did that. I can't point to anything he ever did that was spontaneous, other than walk around the block in the pouring rain, without an umbrella, after he had a big fight with my Mom."

Faye started giggling.

"I'm being serious."

"I'm sorry, honey." She touched his cheek. "I just had this mental picture of your father walking back into the house, dripping wet, after he cooled off."

"Faye, I'm the same age as Sammy's Dad when they made their go-kart. I can't point to anything, not one thing, I ever did with the kids that was spontaneous and fun. I'm not going to be like my father, not in that respect."

"Zack, people get hurt in those things."

"Sammy never got hurt, and neither will we."

"Can't you find something else to have fun with."

"Like what? Name something that is as much fun as a go-kart?"

"Monopoly? Leggos? Lincoln Logs?"

"Okay, now think like a kid and answer the question."

Silence.

"Zack, promise me you'll be careful."

The following day when Zack got home after work, he opened the car trunk and called the kids. The kids came running out, and the looks on their faces was worth everything to him. Faye shook her head, but kept silent.

"Let's go for a ride!" Donny suggested after Zack lifted the go-kart out.

"After supper." Faye said.

"OH MOM!" No one said on the count of three. It happened naturally.

"Come on, honey. We'll just go down the street and back." They lived on a cul-de-sac with almost no traffic.

Faye looked down at the three hopeful faces looking up at her. "Okay."

Zack got the lawn mower gas can from the garage, and filled up the go-kart's tank. He bent over, adjusted the choke, grabbed the pull cord, and yanked. Nothing happened. He yanked again. Still nothing. A third time yielded the same results.

"What wrong, Dad?" Donny looked worried.

"I don't know." Zack examined the carburetor, the gas line, the spark plug, but couldn't find anything wrong. Disappointment was thick.

"What's this?" Little Andrea pointed to a button on the steering column.

"That's the emergency kill switch. Don't play - " Zack saw a tape on it, holding the button down. On the tape was printed 'Remove before starting'. Zack removed it, went back to the pull cord, and yanked again.

The engine sprang to life and started chugging. The kids cheered while Zack adjusted the choke. The engine warmed up and began running smoother.

Zack squeezed himself into the driver's seat. "All right, who's first?"

"ME!" Again, no one said on the count of three.

Zack looked up at Faye. "Honey?"

Faye opened her mouth to say something, and then stopped. She took off her apron, climbed in next to her husband, and away they went.

"Not so fast!" Faye shouted, her hair streaming. Zack kept it at half throttle, and Faye relaxed. They went to the end of the street and back three times, then pulled up to the kids.

"I'm next!" The children pushed and shoved one another.

"Go in age order," Faye decided. Heather climbed in.

"Don't go fast, honey."

"Yes, dear."

Zack went up and back the allotted three times with Heather, at half throttle. She loved it. When Zack headed back to his group of spectators, he almost hit Donny who ran up to the go-kart, too excited to wait for it to stop. Heather climbed out, Donny climbed in, and away they went.

"Faster Dad!" Donny shouted after the first turn.

"No, your mother doesn't want us to."

"Come on, Dad."

Zack didn't need much encouragement. At half throttle, they went about 20 miles per hour. It was a fun at that speed, but not thrilling. He pushed the gas pedal to three-quarters throttle, and they both smiled a little wider. Zack jerked the steering wheel one way, then another, to see the look on Donny's face. Each jerk, and the accompanying pull of centrifugal force, was thrilling.

"Faster!" Donny shouted.

"Your wish is my command."

Zack put petal to the metal, 35 miles per hour. He turned in, and then out, and then in again sharply, and they got thrown one way, then the other, like a roller coaster.

"Again!" shouted Donny.

Zack angled in and out little sharper, and the wheels came off the ground a little.

"Again!"

Zack wanted to see how far he could push the machine. At the opposite end of the street, he turned as sharp as the go kart could turn. The passenger side came completely off the ground, and the go kart tipped over and laid on Zack's side, with Donny's side pointing straight up in the air. Zack pushed the kill switch, and the engine turned off.

Father and son were pinned there. Zack, still sitting in the go-kart, his side against the ground. Donny was laying on top of Zack.

Donny looked down at his Father. His Father looked up at Donny, and they started laughing. They were still laughing when Faye, Heather and Andrea ran up in a panic. Faye and the girls pushed the go-kart back over, righting it.

"Are you hurt?" Faye checked Donny's arms and legs. He was okay. "Honey?"

"Just a scratch on my arm." Zack, still laughing, pointed to his torn shirt.

Donny and Zack took a long time to stop laughing.

It is now many years later. Donny is a grown man, married, with kids of his own. Zack is my next-door neighbor, and a fishing buddy.

My son lives a few miles from our home, yet we only see him two or three times a year. When he comes over, we have a difficult time communicating. Donny lives three hours away, yet he and his family visit Zack and Faye at least once a month. When they get together, I hear the unmistakable sounds of people enjoying each other's company.

One day, when we were fishing, I asked Zack what he remembers most about his son growing up. Without a moment's hesitation, he told me this story about the go-kart crash.

You know, it's funny, the things you remember.

THE END