It Happened at Porpoise Bay

It was my sister, Penelope’s 4th birthday. One of her gifts was a neon-pink inflatable water mattress which she was eager to try out. So our parents took us to Porpoise Bay Provincial Park for a picnic. We had no sooner arrived, and begun to open the hotdogs, when Penelope approached Dad with her new air mattress folded up in her arms.
	“Blow iddup for me, Daddy?” she supplicated sweetly. 
	Dad smiled with an “Ok, honey I’ll do this, even though I’d rather just be relaxing” look. 
	“Did we bring a pump?” he asked Mom.
	“What?” asked Mother who was busy looking in the cool-chest for the mustard.
	“Never mind,” Dad replied. He didn’t need a pump. It wouldn’t take too long to inflate the mattress. It was only a small one. He put the seal to his lips and blew. 
	The mattress did not enlarge any. He continued puffing. Finally, the corner of the mattress expanded. 
	“This could take a while,” Dad said. 
	While my older brothers buried each other in the sand by the beach, Dad kept puffing. As my younger brother and I raced around the play set, Dad finally finished inflating the pillow of the mattress. 
	“ ‘urry up, Daddy,” ordered Penelope.
	Dad looked at the still limp, pink shape by his feet. He couldn’t stop now. He had come so far. And besides it was Penelope’s birthday.
	When we returned from our hike through the salmon spawning grounds, Dad was still blowing. As we listened to Mother’s discourse on the varied species of waterfowl, Dad continued to inflate the mattress. Even as we ate our singed hotdogs our hyperventilated father persevered.
	Finally he stood up triumphantly holding the mattress. It sagged in the middle. Dad’s triumphant expression evaporated. The mattress still wasn’t firm enough. He went back to work. 
	“Finissed yet, Daddy?” enquired Penelope a few minutes later.
	Dad put the plug into the hole and gave an “I think I’m going to pass out” smile as he handed Penelope her mattress.
	Without acknowledgment Penelope seized the mattress from Dad, and hauled it to the beach. 
	Dad watched with anticipation.
Penelope took a few hesitant steps until her toes were submerged. A few more and the water was up to her ankles. She stopped and placed the mattress onto the surface of the water. She looked at it. She prodded it. She even pressed it with her hands. But she never dared board it. Then, holding the corner of the mattress, Penelope dragged it out of the water. She put it down on the ground and strode off to play on the slides.
Dad looked at the mattress with chagrin. “What was the point of that?” he said to himself.  Why had he done this? Why else? It was Penelope’s birthday.