Timeless Inventions

First there were four wheels,

On the cars that picked us up and dropped us off, expanding our microcosms. 

On the cars that Crayola crayons melted into, where the windows were embellished with stickers.

There were four wheels,

And handlebars with muddy tinsel shimmering down the driveway, just waiting to be explored

And clicking training wheels that hit every pothole on that 8th of a mile stretch. 

Then there were two wheels.

The freedom of racing down that same driveway after a rainstorm,

Mud would splatter on our shins and we loved that childhood spa treatment. 

Then there were four wheels

It was disguised as a normal stroller

To make it easier, -for storage or society?
Who could be too sure.

Then there were four wheels that lit up when they rolled. 

They were showstoppers. 

"Sweet Ride!" ""Hot Wheels!"

It was the hit of elementary school. 

Next there were four wheels.

Not flashy this time. 

With handlebars that's couldn't be seen in school head shots, not like they wouldn't have been photoshopped out anyways. 

The wheels did not light up either, as if the chair became invisible, and the occupant even more so. 

But I see you.

And I remember how to disassemble each one of those chairs. 

I know which cars they can and cannot fit into and which ramps might make you tip over.

I know which hills are too steep. 

I know which outdoor games will make it tip over and make you curse me - for trying to make you fit in. 

I remember that time it fell out of the truck bed.

Or the many times your friends wanted to play in it for a few minutes, but just for a few minutes.

I remember the many times your legs dragged across the floor because insurance did not believe you had outgrown your chair again. 

The nerve of a preadolescent. 

I remember pushing that chair through sand banks, through hiking trails, down mining caves, up staircases, through a flume gorge, and so many other places inaccessible. 

It's funny how wheels are such a timeless invention.
How they make distances smaller and bring people together.
How they hold the promise of adventure, of expanding horizons.
The funniest of all is how wheels are suppose to make the world so much more accessible, yet yours makes your world smaller.