Master List

This is a work of fiction. No real people, places or events were used. Copyright ã 2011 Plot Roach.

Master List

By Plot Roach

I’m a list maker. I make them as far in advance of the event that they are helping me to plan as I can. One of my favorite lists to make is planning for vacations. Sometimes I think that I enjoy the planning of a vacation far more than I do the actual vacation itself. There is something to be said for neat little words lined up across a paper like soldiers ready for battle. But like all battles, no matter how much you plan, it can fall apart within minutes of the first move.

So I was busily arranging the pack of some last minute supplies when my husband interrupted me. “Honey?” he asked. “Did you remember to pack Jason’s asthma medication?”

“If it’s on the list, then it will be in the bag.” I said.

“Which bag?” he asked.

“My purple carry-on.”

“The roller bag?”

“No, honey, my carry-on backpack.” I explained. “That way if they decide that the plane’s overhead compartment is too full and ask to check our bags, I still have it with me just in case.”

“Would they really do that?” he asked.

“Did you forget the mess that happened with your sister’s kid?” I asked. Poor little Donovan had an allergic reaction and they could not get him any children’s antihistamine until the plane landed because it was packed away in the belly of the plane.

“Well,” he said. “If you have it all worked out on your master list…”

He likes to tease me about my list making fetish. But let me tell you that it has saved us many times when we are out and about. He put his hands up in the air and rolled his eyes, but it did not save him from my lecture.

“My carry-on backpack contains the tickets, directions, medical information and medications needed by each member of this household. Your carry-on backpack has all the electrical things we need like the laptop, digital camera and extra batteries. The kids’ backpacks have things that they will need on the trip there, like snacks, books and toys to keep their minds occupied so that they don’t kill one another or annoy strangers on the plane. Each of our roller bags contains what we need for clothes, what we will use for daily grooming, what we might need in the way of fixing things that might break, things we might need in an emergency and with all the liquid items held in a separate plastic baggie for airport security to inspect.”

By the time that my lecture finally ended, all three of the boys were in the living room, their rolling bags and backpacks already in the car. It was my turn to roll my eyes at my husband as I grabbed the bag of food off of the counter and rolled our bags out to the car. Once everything was packed I told the kids to make one last visit to the bathroom. We would be getting to the airport early enough, but sometimes the place was packed and the lines were long, both for boarding the plane and using the restroom.

A few minutes later the boys piled back into the car and we were on the road. The noise from the backseat quieted down as the boys dug into their backpacks for travel goodies that I had packed earlier in the week.

“I have this feeling that I’ve forgotten something.” I said. I dug through the bag of food and started to distribute sandwiches and drinks to everyone so that we would not arrive at the plane hungry.

“And it wasn’t on your master list?” my husband joked.

I gave him THE LOOK and glanced over my list once again. There was something I had forgotten, I just knew it. And then I realized that the car was too quiet, I turned around and saw Jacob and Oliver. But not Jason.

“David?” I asked. “Where’s our youngest son?”

Suddenly it became apparent that there was another thing to add to the master list.