Week 1 Story

58 The Nursery Rhyme Book

SIMPLE SIMON met a pieman,

Going to the fair ;

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

"Let me taste your ware."

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,

"Show me first your penny."

Says Simple Simon to the pieman,

" Indeed I have not any."

Simple Simon went a-fishing

For to catch a whale :

All the water he had got

Was in his mother's pail !

                            Golden Gate Ferry Sonoma. Photograph made by Michael C. Berch 

I was traveling one warm summer morning. The sea air off the bay was heavy with the smell of salt. I love that smell. It felt so free to be on the ferry. We have been working so hard on this bid all week, and the Project Manager wanted to see results. I’m not usually so distracted. What’s my problem? I wanted to be free again, like right now, the way this breeze forces my eyes closed. The roar of boat seemed to sooth me. I am perfectly comfortable on this boat full of strangers. I love that we rarely speak. 

I hate it when people talk to me on the Ferry. Can’t they see that I am busy loving this journey? I have been taking this trip for almost a year now but still can’t believe how beautiful it is here. I could hear the seagulls fighting over their prize as we passed under a bridge. A group of bridge workers were getting ready to go to work for the day. How do they get into that small scaffold every morning? I don’t see a boat anywhere. What if an emergency arose? The boat roared forward. The little lego buildings are starting to form on the horizon. Oh no, has that much time already passed? My ride is only 45mins. I need to try to close my eyes before the rat race starts today. I shut my eyes inside of my morning wake-up haze.

Am I dreaming? I saw the sunrise on the ocean in my mind as a man approached me on the beach. He said, “Hey!”, I looked at him. “hey, are you asleep”? I woke from my dream startled. The man sitting next to me was an odd-looking character. He was wearing a tall hat with a flat brim. One of his eyes seemed to move differently than the other. He looked clean but dressed in clothing from an ancient midlevel era. He had a big stupid grin on his face. “Names Simeon”, he shouted over the roaring motors. I smiled telling him, “hi Simeon, my name is Ryan, what’s up”? He said, “you wanna do something really cool today”? Annoyed and thinking about the beach in my dream, I grunted, “That sounds tempting, but no thank you, I’m going to work”. He asked, “ Are you sure you don’t want to go, i'm going whale fishing?” You cant catch a whale in the Bay!”, I scoffed. I pictured a pale of water in my mind for some reason. “Whacha got there now”? He pointed beneath the seat. I said."Oh this, is my favorite wine choice". “Whats your favorite flavor?”, he pushed. “Well its pie of course”, I exclaimed. He smiled saying “can I taste it”? I could now see the sun reflecting on the San Francisco high-rise skyline and bathing in the ocean like a golden path leading to the city. “No, this stuff is expensive, but you can buy it”. He scowled and said, “I don’t have a penny.”

Bibliography: “SIMPLE SIMON” from the Nursery Rhyme Book by L. Leslie Brooke. https://archive.org/stream/nurseryrhymebook01lang#page/n5/mode/2up