Durphy Does It All!

She pressed the red button again. Another beep sounded. Then she pressed the blue button. The lights blinked faster.

Mia’s fingers froze above the dashboard. The bright buttons seemed to wiggle in front of her eyes.

“Which one is the start button?” she asked.

Durphy looked from Mia to the buttons. He gave a small, puzzled whine.

The playroom was still safe and sunny, but for some reason Mia did not feel calm anymore. The car smelled like clean plastic. The wheels rested on the soft rug. Nothing dangerous was happening, yet the dashboard felt like a puzzle with too many pieces.

“I thought I knew what to do,” Mia said.

Durphy nudged her hand with his nose.

Mia pulled her hand close. “I might press the wrong thing.”

Durphy sat up straight. His tail tapped the rug. He looked at the buttons again, then at Mia. His brown eye shone in the sunlight, and his white eye seemed bright as a little moon.

“You are not worried?” Mia asked.

Durphy tilted his head and grinned.

“You try everything,” Mia said. “Even if you do not know everything before you begin.” Mia admires Durphy’s bravery and courage.

Durphy placed one paw gently on the steering wheel. Then he lifted it and touched the seat belt sticker.

Mia looked at the sticker. It showed a child sitting still with a belt across the lap.

“Oh yeah,” she said. “We start everything with safe habits.”

She checked her belt. It was snug. Durphy’s small pretend belt was tucked around his chest. Mia checked that too.

“First, seat belts,” she said.

Durphy wagged.

“Next, we look at the buttons. We do not push all of them at once.”

Mia took a slow breath. The air smelled faintly of crayons and warm carpet. She pointed to the yellow button.

“This picture looks like a bell. Maybe it makes a sound.”

Durphy sniffed it.

Mia pressed the yellow button.

Ding!

The sound was soft this time. Durphy blinked, then wagged his tail.

“That is the bell,” Mia said. “We found one.”

She pointed to the blue button. “This one is a light.”

Durphy tapped it with one paw.

The little lights glowed. Red, green, and yellow spots shone across the dashboard.

“Pretty,” Mia said. “But not the start button.”

Mia felt a tiny bit better. The buttons were still many, but now two of them made sense.

Then she saw the green button with the arrows. She pressed it.

The car gave a buzzing sound. Its wheels turned a little, but the car did not move. Instead, the front wheels pointed toward the bookshelf.

Mia gasped and grabbed the steering wheel.

“We are going the wrong way!”

The toy car rolled a few inches and bumped softly against a cushion. The cushion tipped over with a gentle flop.

Durphy hopped out. Mia climbed out too. Her cheeks felt hot.

“I rushed,” she said.

Durphy walked to the cushion and pushed it back into place with his nose. Then he returned to the car and looked at the green button.

Mia stared at it. “The arrows must help us turn. They do not make us go.”

Durphy gave a quiet bark.

Mia sat back in the driver seat. She touched the steering wheel with both hands. The smooth plastic felt cool under her fingers.

“I wanted to do it all at once,” she said. “But you are taking your time.”

Durphy sat beside her. He did not press any buttons. He simply waited.

Mia looked at him. Durphy had big dreams, but he did not pretend that every button was easy. He watched. He tried one small thing. When it did not work, he tried again in a new way.

Mia’s shoulders loosened.

“I can do hard things too,” she said.

Durphy’s tail thumped the side of the toy car.

Mia checked the seat belt one more time. She looked at the safety stickers. Then she studied the dashboard.

The red button had a star. It might be the start button, but Mia was not sure. She placed her finger near it and paused.

“Should we try it once?” she asked.

Durphy leaned closer.

Mia pressed the red button.

This time, the car made a quiet hum. The wheels began to turn slowly. The toy car rolled across the soft rug.

Mia’s mouth opened in surprise. “It works!”

Durphy barked once, and his paper cap slipped over one ear.

Mia giggled, but she kept both hands on the wheel. Ahead of them was a path made from pillows. The first pillow was close. The next one was farther away. A stuffed blanket lay at the end like a soft road sign.

“Slowly,” Mia said.

The car moved forward. Its wheels made a gentle shushing sound on the rug. Sunlight slid across the dashboard as they passed the window.

Mia turned the wheel a little. The car headed toward the first pillow.

“Not too much,” she whispered.

She turned the wheel back. The car straightened.

Durphy watched the path. When the car came near the pillow, Mia pressed the red button again. The car stopped with a tiny hum.

They had reached the first stop.

Mia lifted both hands from the wheel. “We made it.”

Durphy’s tail swished. He looked proud, but he did not jump ahead. He waited for Mia to choose the next step.

Mia looked at the buttons. The yellow bell, the blue light, the green arrows, and the red star were still there. They had not become simple. Mia still did not know every secret of the dashboard.

But she knew one button now.

She knew how to stop.

“I thought driving meant knowing everything,” Mia said. “Maybe it means paying attention.”

Durphy rested his chin on her knee.

Mia smiled and gave him a gentle pat. “We can learn the rest one button at a time.”

She pressed the red star again. The car hummed. This time, she moved slowly toward the next pillow. Durphy kept one paw on the wheel beside her, and Mia kept her eyes on the soft path.

The pretend ride had begun, but Mia was no longer rushing to finish it. She was ready to learn step by step.

With patience and courage, anyone can begin something hard one small step at a time.

End of chapter one. 4 more chapters and about 7,158 words in the full book.