The Adventures of Virginia Dance & The Flying Pearl Pink Pallet
ILLUSTRATED BY MAYA WYNN BOYD
Virginia Dance is having a great morning! She woke up feeling excited.
Today is when her dad arrives home from a long work trip. Virginia’s dad, Walter Dance, is a U.S. Merchant Marine officer and has been sailing in China for six weeks. As a mariner, Daddy’s job is to operate big, huge ships owned by the United States that carry important materials. These ships travel all around the world. Working as a merchant marine is the perfect job for Virginia’s dad, Daddy, because he loves to travel and speaks many different languages.
Daddy loves his job but does not like spending time away from his family.
Sometimes, he misses out on important events with his family because of work. But some exciting advantages come with Daddy’s international travels. Each time he arrives home from traveling, he brings beautiful gifts from the different places he visits. This always creates a lot of excitement leading up to his return home.
Today, Virginia is excited because she cannot wait to see her dad, and she is looking forward to finding out what he brought her back from his most recent trip.
Virginia spent the entire morning waiting for Daddy to enter the front door of their home. As she gazed through the window near the kitchen table, her mother, Evelyn Dance, cooked breakfast. Virginia and Mommy always prioritize having breakfast together each morning because Mommy works late nights and does not always make it home to eat dinner with Virginia. Mornings are Virginia and Evelyn’s special time together.
Mommy works as an evening news anchor for one of the local television stations in New Orleans. Most evenings, Virginia has dinner with her granny, Lillian. On rare occasions, Mommy sneaks away from work to eat dinner with Virginia. However, most times, Mommy is away for dinner. She typically arrives home just in time to read Virginia a bedtime story and to tuck her in for bed.
While breakfast is a special time for Virginia and her mom, Virginia was preoccupied this morning. Even the smell of Virginia and Evelyn’s favorite breakfast item, lost bread (New Orleans-style French toast or pain perdu), could not stop Virginia’s eyes from gazing at the front porch as she awaited the arrival of her dad.
While gazing at the porch, Virginia fell deep into a daydream abruptly interrupted by something sweeping her in the air from the sofa. It was her dad, Daddy. Daddy snuck in through the garage and surprised Virginia. She screamed with excitement, “Daddy, you’re finally home!”
Virginia’s heart was filled with joy.
Virginia’s mom brought out the lost bread, and they ate breakfast.
After breakfast, Virginia and her family decided to spend the entire day together, doing fun activities all over New Orleans.
Virginia’s older brother Harold flew home to New Orleans from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA., to spend time with Daddy.
Virginia cherished the time she could spend with her family when her dad wasn’t at work, and her brother wasn’t at school.
She and her family went to Audubon Zoo and had a picnic in Audubon Park.
Virginia loved animals, and she loved Audubon Zoo. Family time continued into the late hours.
Later that night, Virginia and her family went to Café Du Monde, in the French Quarters, to eat beignets and drink Café au Lait for a latenight snack. Virginia felt so happy spending time with her family that she forgot to ask Daddy about the gift he promised to bring her back from his visit to China.
After several weeks of being home, Virginia’s dad woke up early to check his e-mail and receive his assignment for the next six weeks. He walked away from the computer, and the mood of the entire house shifted. Virginia and Mommy became very sad. It felt like the assignment zapped all the happy energy out of the room.
Whenever Daddy got a new assignment, Virginia would feel a flutter in the pit of her stomach. Virginia’s mom explained to Virginia that this feeling is called anxiety. Virginia worried that the six weeks that Daddy was gone would feel like forever. She feared that she would feel sad and lonely for the entire six weeks that Daddy was gone. She also worried that something would cause Daddy to be gone for longer than six weeks.
Mommy reminded Virginia to say her “I Am” affirmations to take in more positive feelings and let go of negative emotions. The “I Am” affirmations help Virginia to boldly state how she would like to feel. Virginia went into her room and began reading her affirmations from her pinboard.
“I am powerful. I am loved. I am brave. I am worthy. I am special. I am kind.”
Virginia took a deep breath and felt calm. She accepted that, once again, it was time for Daddy to leave.
Virginia decided that instead of focusing on her dad’s leaving, which made her feel sad, she would focus on enjoying the remaining time she spent with him. Daddy reminded Virginia that he still needed to give her the gift he had brought her back from China. Daddy presented her with a beautiful pink pallet made of pearls.
“At night, before you go to sleep, lay this pink pearl pallet next to your bed and keep this globe on your nightstand, said Daddy. He explained that you will feel a puff of wind when you lay in bed. The globe will spin to wherever I am, and the pallet will bring you to me in your dreams,” said Daddy.
Daddy then pulled out a beautiful golden globe made of porcelain and marble that he had gotten while working in China. The pallet and globe were her gifts from his last work assignment.
That night, Virginia followed her dad’s instructions. She placed the pearl pink pallet next to her bed and the globe on her nightstand. After doing so, Virginia climbed into her bed to go to sleep. Suddenly, she felt a puff of wind. The globe spun to Egypt. Then, the pallet floated off the floor and onto Virginia’s bed. She hopped on the pallet and flew out of the window.
The pallet flew so high into the sky that Virginia was surrounded by beautiful fluffy white clouds. They felt like cotton, and she played with them as she flew in the air.
Slowly, the flying pallet began to descend lower and lower. Virginia began to see a huge ship in the distance. As she approached the ship, she noticed a tall man waving. It was her dad. Joy filled the air as the pallet began to slow down just enough to scoop up her dad.
Together, they flew into the air as Daddy said, “I told you I would meet you in your dreams.”
“I have a lot of places to show you, so let’s get started because we don’t have much time,” he said.
As they flew off together, Virginia began to feel very cold. She looked at her dad and said, “Daddy, I’m freezing.”
“Well, look down, my dear. We’re flying over the Sinai Peninsula, and it’s very mountainous, so it gets very cold,” he said. Let’s drop-down, and you can experience a camel ride across the Sinai mountains, said Daddy.”
Virginia loved animals, so she was ecstatic about the camel ride.
Virginia enjoyed the camel ride, and they were off to their next Egyptian adventure.
“Daddy, look, I think I see a girl that looks like me!”
Virginia was correct. The young Egyptian girl appeared to be the same age as Virginia. “Yes, she does look a lot like you; let’s go meet her,” said Virginia’s dad.”
“Yayyyyyyy!!” Virginia exclaimed.
Virginia introduced herself to the young Egyptian girl. “Hi, I’m Virginia Dance, and I’m six years old. What’s your name?”
The girl began to talk, but Virginia could not understand her because she spoke a different language.
Virginia looked at the girl with confusion. “Daddy, what is she saying?” “She speaks Arabic, and we speak English. That is why the two of you don’t understand one another.
People from different places speak different languages. I understand what she is saying because I speak both English and Arabic. Let me help the two of you.”
Virginia’s dad began talking to the young Egyptian girl in Arabic and translating to Virginia in English. “Her name is Sami, and she is also six years old,” Virginia’s dad explained. She says that she is happy to meet you.”Sami extended her arms, and Virginia and Sami hugged. Sami invited Virginia to attend a yoga class with her in Cairo.
They shared a yoga practice, and then Virginia and her dad hopped on the pallet and flew off to their next stop. They waved goodbye to their new friend Sami as they traveled on to their next adventure.
“Daddy, look at that statue!” exclaimed Virginia.
“That is the Great Sphinx of Giza. We are in Giza, and this is one of the most famous statues in the world. It is thousands of years old.”
“Daddy, look, it looks like the French Market in New Orleans?” Where are we now?”
“That is a great observation. We are back in Cairo. We are at a local street market where vendors sell all kinds of items back home, similar to the French Market. This market is a famous bazaar where your mother and I met. I worked in Egypt then, doing an international exchange through a Fulbright Specialist program. Your mom was a student at Spelman College doing a summer study abroad program. We fell in love in Egypt and married one year after your mother graduated from college.”
“You and Mommy met in Egypt, asked Virginia?
“Yes, we did. said Daddy.”
“Wow! So, why don’t we live in Egypt, asked Virginia?”
“We wanted to raise a family in the city where we grew up. So we decided to move to New Orleans, explained Daddy.”
“Aren’t you glad you live in the same city as Granny? Asked Daddy?”
“Yes, if I didn’t live in the same city as granny, I wouldn’t have anyone to eat dinner with, said Virginia.
“This is true, Daddy laughed.”
“Let’s stop at a crystal shop in the bazaar so that you can pick out some crystals to add to your crystal collection at home, said Daddy.”
“Wow, Daddy, where are all these colors coming from?”
“We’re flying through a rainbow. We’re in Alexandria, and it just stopped raining, so the rainbow has formed. Have you ever heard of ROY G. BIV?”
“No, who’s that?”
“Well, each letter of that name represents all the colors in the rainbow. R is for red. O is for orange. Y is for yellow. G is for green. B is for blue. It is for indigo. V is for violet.”
Alexandria is a special place. It’s a port city like New Orleans, and because of its rising sea levels, it has some of the same kinds of flooding issues as New Orleans. It’s situated very low in elevation to the Nile Delta.
“Daddy, the sun is coming back up again.”
“Yes, dear, we are approaching northeast of Cairo, Egypt, and the sun is rising here,” said Daddy. “Daytime is beginning in Cairo,” said Daddy.
“Dad, it’s so green. What are all these trees?” asked Virginia.
“They’re called citrus orchards or citrus farms. Let’s drop down and pick up some oranges to snack on,” said Daddy.
“Daddy, what are all these pictures I keep seeing,” asked Virginia?
“The pictures that you keep seeing are the Ancient Egyptian form of writing known as hieroglyphics,” said Daddy.
“We use letters to form words for our written language, and the ancient Egyptian language uses pictures that symbolize sounds,” said Daddy.
“We are in a place called Luxor. We will stop here so you can tour Queen Hatshepsut’s Temple. She was the most successful pharaoh to rule Egypt, and men tried to erase her from history for hundreds of years. Very little was known about her until Egyptian scholars decoded hieroglyphics on the walls of the temples. This is her temple, known as the Valley of the Queen.”
“Look, Daddy, the sun is falling down.”
“No, dear, the sun is not exactly falling down; it is actually setting. When the sun sets, it becomes nighttime and gets dark because the sun is no longer providing us with light.”
We are in Sharm El Sheikh. It’s known for its beaches and resorts.
“Daddy, look, I see the beach. Can we stop and play,” asked Virginia?
“Yes, but only for a while because I must return to work. Let’s do a hot air balloon ride over the beach.
After the hot air balloon ride, Virginia and her Daddy made a sand castle together.
After making the sand castle, they flew off and headed towards Daddy’s ship. It was time for Daddy to get back to work. Daddy hopped off the pallet, and Virginia flew off into the clouds.
Virginia played with the clouds all the way home. Once she arrived, she flew into her window, placed the pallet under the bed, climbed back into bed, and fell asleep.
Virginia woke up the following day to Mommy calling her name and the smell of their favorite breakfast, lost bread.
“Virginia, pick up the telephone; it’s your dad,” said Evelyn. Virginia ran to the phone.
“Hey, Daddy,” Virginia said, picking up the phone.
“Hey Virginia, did you have fun last night?” “Yes, Daddy, she said, laughing.”
“Okay, I’m glad you like Egypt. I’ll meet you again in your dreams. Get ready for our next adventure…we’re headed to Italy.”
“Okay, Dad, I’ll see you in Italy…I mean, in my dreams,” she laughed.