Ready or Not

“Is he coming yet, Jussin?” asked Ellie, Justin’s little sister.

Justin stood on tiptoe and peeked around the curtains at the window. “Nope, not yet.”

“When is Daddy gonna get here?” Ellie asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

“I don’t know, Ellie. He just said to be ready.”

As he gazed out the window, Justin thought about the day before when his parents decided it was time for his dad to get a new car.

As the family drove downtown in Mom’s van, Justin had asked, “Will we get to take the new car to school and stuff?”

“The van is better for Mom to use for your activities,” Dad replied, “but you’ll get to ride in my car sometimes.”

“Dad needs this new car to get to work,” explained Mom.

“Dad needs this new car to get to work,” explained Mom.

“I never rode in a new car before,” said Justin, grinning with excitement.

“Me neither,” said Ellie.

“Well, we have to find the right one first,” Dad replied as he drove into the car lot.

The family got out of the van, eager to start their search.

“Hello, folks!” A tall man in a blue suit smiled at them. “I’m Mike,” he said. “What can I help you find today?

As Dad and Mike talked, Justin and Ellie looked around. “Ooh! Dad should get that one,” Justin pointed to a bright red sports car parked nearby.

“I wike dat gween car,” said Ellie, pointing to a large car with four doors.

“Nah!” Justin countered. “That’s like Grampa’s car. Dad needs something fast so he can get to work on time.”

Finally, the grown-ups began to move. The kids followed them toward a blue car. Mike opened the doors so everyone could climb in. “This is nice,” said Dad as he fiddled with buttons on the dashboard.

“Can I sit in the driver’s seat?” asked Justin.

“Sure,” said Mike. “Hop on in there!”

Justin hopped out of the backseat and into the front. He held onto the steering wheel and made sounds for the engine—vroom, vroom! As Justin got out, he accidently hit the horn on the steering wheel—hoooonnnk! Everyone jumped at the sound and looked at Justin in surprise.

“Sorry!” he called sheepishly.

Mike continued to show the family car after car. After awhile, Justin and Ellie were exhausted.

“I wanna go home,” said Ellie, yawning.

“Soon, Sweetie,” said Mom. “Daddy’s going to take a test drive first.”

When Dad got back from his drive, he thanked Mike and drove the family home in their van.

That was yesterday. Today, Dad said he was going to pick up his new car.

“Can we ride in it?” Justin had asked.

“Yeah! If you’re ready when I get home, we can go out for lunch at the sandwich shop.”

“I love sandwiches! We’ll be ready,” Justin had promised.

Now, Justin and Ellie were peering out the window, ready to go. But Dad wasn’t here yet. “Where is he, Mom?” Justin kept asking.

“Be patient. He’ll be here,” answered Mom.

Justin pressed his face to the window and looked up and down the street. Still no Dad— and no new car. Justin sighed. “Let’s go play a game, Ellie,” he suggested.

The kids wandered into the family room and sat down to play a board game. Justin kicked off his shoes. “Ahh! That’s better,” he said.

Ellie copied her big brother and kicked her shoes off, too. “Ahh! Much betta.”

Justin was picking up the dice when he heard a noise—beeeep-beep-beep!

“Daddy’s home!” Ellie jumped up and ran back to the front window. “He got da silver car!”

Justin was about to run outside and see the car for himself. “Wait,” he said. “We forgot our shoes!”

The kids ran back as fast as they could to get their shoes.

“Dad’s waiting,” said Mom, walking into the family room. “Oh no! You were supposed to be ready.” Mom bent down to tie Ellie’s shoelaces while Justin struggled to stuff his foot into his left shoe.

“Where is everybody?” Dad asked, coming into the room. “I thought you’d want to see the new car. You were supposed to be ready.”

“We were ready,” Justin explained, “but we got tired of waiting ’cause you were taking forever.”

“Well, I’m here now; I just hope the lunch place hasn’t closed yet. Let’s go!”

The family ran out the door and piled into the new car to ride to the sandwich place. Dad pushed a button and the sunroof opened and slid back to let in fresh air and sunshine.

“This is nice! Are you sure you don’t want to trade me for the van?” Mom teased Dad.

“I like your new car, Daddy,” said Ellie, stroking the soft fabric in the backseat.

“I’ll get to test her speed on the way to the restaurant,” said Dad with a grin at Mom.

“What’s da car’s name?” asked Ellie.

“I don’t know. What do you think we should name it?”

“Silver Bullet!” “Stormy!” “Silver Fox!” everyone shouted their name ideas.

“Whoa! Those are great! We can pick one over lunch—if we make it,” said Dad.

“Sorry we weren’t ready,” Justin apologized.

“I hope you’ll trust me next time and be ready to go—even if it seems like a long wait.”

“Oh, we will!” said Justin. He raised his hands to feel the wind from the open sunroof and settled back to enjoy the ride.

Download Coloring Page