18 June 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2771: a wide ranging ambition

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“See, I don't know what all these big people are doing, because, see, they don't have real tall souls, see, because, they wouldn't be messing stuff up, see, because Grayson coulda made a blueprint and I coulda made a redprint or like counted, see, because, you need more Legos than whatever they had where that stuff got washed out, and see, ain't nobody got time for that, see, because, people with real tall souls got stuff to do, because –.”

“No matter how old you get, or how many you times you experience it,” Col. H.F. Lee said as his wife fell out laughing, “you cannot get ready for five-year-old Mr. Robert Edward Ludlow III to hit you with the word wall attack. Your brain freezes on 'how is he that small and have all those words in there and is halfway making sense?' He's Lil' Robert until he opens his mouth!”

Mr. Robert Edward Ludlow III's victim on this day was days-from-18-year-old Vanna Trent, who had made the innocent mistake of saying in the baby Ludlow grandson's hearing that “I just don't know why people are the way they are.” He, seeing that she was sad, bounced over and gave her the Lil' Robert Ludlow theory of everything...

“-- Because, see, people with real tall souls gotta look out for each other, like you take care of our popcorn stuff, and see, I'm already the company bigmouth for our soda, but, when I go to West Point and become the general of food, I gotta make sure they have the best popcorn, so, I'm going to get you the hook up, see, because, you have a real tall soul too and you would never just do stuff to be messing it up, and you gotta be with people who get it and I get it and I'm gonna find you some more people that get it because, see, there are way too many tall people with short souls and ain't nobody got time for that, see, because, stuff gotta be done right and people gotta be taken care of and have houses and food and good things and the people who don't get it need to go somewhere outta our way because, see, we got stuff to do.”

“You might want to breathe, Rob,” Vanna said, and snuggled him with a smile as he took a few moments to just catch his breath. “It really helps, if you have a wide-ranging ambition, to make sure you breathe.”

“What … is .. a wide-ranging ambition … Miss Vanna?”

“It's like when you really want to get a lot of stuff done – ambition – across a lot of things, like one end of the sky to another.”

Lil' Robert looked for a moment at the whole sky, turning his head slowly, and then stretched out his arms to try to measure it.

“Yeah, that is wide – and it works for me!” he said. “I just gotta get into the yard to see how wide it is!”

So off he went, skipping sideways across the yard to see how wide the sky was by using his arms to measure it.

“I don't know if I can do all that this week, because, see, that's really wide, but, see, next week, though! I will get to it all!”

“Next week, though,” Vanna said. “We gotta get some more popcorn into those hollow legs first.”

“Yeah!” Lil' Robert said. “I have wide-ranging ambitions and I need food!”

“And they keep feeding him, and offering him more words,” Col. Lee said as he shook his head with a big smile as Mrs. Maggie Lee fell out laughing again. “Now, the next victim will have to hear that tiny boy talking about his wide-ranging ambition like he really knows what that means, and will be even less prepared!”

“Never do know how the Lord will cheer you up, but a little boy made of sunshine with a mouth like lightning can work,” Mrs. Velma Stepforth, Vanna's maternal grandmother, said.

“Ain't it the truth, Velma, ain't it the truth,” Gladys Jubilee Trent, Vanna's paternal grandmother said. “Robert Edward Ludlow III is a special child – he has gifts that are too much bigger than him right now, but when he catches up with the height of his soul, he gon' be all right.”

“What do you reckon – another 20 years?” Mrs. Stepforth said.

“25 years,” Mrs. Jubilee Trent said. “Brain gotta get done by 25, but his is too big to be done then – even if he works hard at it, he gon' need more time, but it will be worth it in the end.”

“The boy is definitely ambitious,” Mrs. Stepforth said. “He doesn't have a problem with work – he keeps up his workouts with his grandfather and his colonel cousin, and is reading somewhere around second or third grade level, and then will be bopping over here to give Vertran and Melvin and Tom advice about their work and business that actually makes sense, so he does pay attention to such things!”

Mrs. Jubilee Trent started laughing.

“I heard – Melvin is still trying to figure out how that boy knew to 'amputate the beat,'” she said.

“Whatever you do, don't ask him – Vanna finally got him quiet with some popcorn!” Mrs. Stepforth said, and the two grandmothers laughed together before going deeper into the house.