Describe in detail a float you have seen in a parade.
Pressed in on all sides from the crowd at the barricades, Zack yawned. He had been excited when Mama woke him while the sky was still purple. He had been excited to take the train into the city. He had been excited to see the skyscrapers up close instead of from across the river. They were so much bigger than he ever imagined. They just went up and up and up forever.
He rubbed his eyes with one hand, holding Mama’s tightly in the other. There were so many people. Zack figured everyone in the world must be on that street. It was a very famous parade after all. He had watched it on TV before. He wondered if he would be on TV too.
The marchers and balloons and floats all strolled past him. There had been an endless stream of them, too. He had seen Pikachu and Charlie Brown and Toothless. Olaf and SpongeBob too! He had listened to lots of bands, watched mesmerized as their feet all moved at the same time. Zack liked their hats.
When his feet hurt, Mama picked him up and put him on Papa’s shoulders. He could see better from up there, she said, and she was right. But he could only sit still for a few minutes and eventually Papa would put him back down between him and Mama. He was happy he got to see the parade, but the day had already lasted forever. It had to be almost over.
Then he heard the bells.
Zack put his hands on the barricade and stood on his toes to get a glimpse of the man he most wanted to see. Coming down the Avenue of the Americas, soaring above the crowd in a sleigh of forest green, edged in gold, was Santa Claus! And Mrs. Claus was with him! And they had all the reindeer tied to the front of the sleigh!
As they got closer, he realized the reindeer weren’t real, but Santa certainly was. His robot deer moved slowly, hovering above the roofs of several connected cabins. The workshop! On the balcony of the biggest one, and on the float and in the street surrounding him, all his elves! Zack thought they would be smaller, but he caught his fifth wind of excitement upon seeing Santa Claus just on the other side of the barricade.
“Merry Christmas!” the old man shouted. Zack could barely hear him above the din of the crowd, but he knew it was meant for him.
Notes: I could not for the life of me picture any particular parade float from the depths of my memories to write this one. I’ve seen plenty of parades in my life, you would think something would stand out to me but nope. I even walked in one with my church back in the day, but aside from the walking and handing out candy, I remember nothing of that parade. Couldn’t even tell you what it was for. I wanna say it was cold, so maybe a New Year’s parade? No idea. So, I did a bit of creative research and googled floats from the Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade and wrote about Santa’s sleigh from a child’s point of view. It was a good use of an hour of my night after all.
How about you? Any parade floats stick out in your mind? It doesn’t have to be one you’ve seen in person. Maybe you saw it on a live broadcast and it really stayed with you. Try to describe it so others can picture it as you do. I hope I at least conveyed some of the imagery of the float. Mostly I think I just got Zack’s feelings. I always write feelings, haha.
Anyway, that’s all for tonight. One more day and then a long weekend. The holiday vibes were strong already today. Can only imagine what tomorrow will be like. See you then! Have a great night!
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