Chapter 6: Playing With Lego

 When Dovic woke up, he trotted over to the table and sat down next to the laptop, waiting for Hibiscus. He enjoyed watching the children learn and seeing them all on zoom. The other day one of the boys had shown Hibiscus his Lego collection that was in the garage and told her, he was sorting it all into colours and sizes. His collection was impressive. Another boy had sorted his Lego collection into buildings, figures, vehicles and miscellaneous and he’d kept a space for where he did his school work. Dovic wondered how the boy concentrated on his work because if it was him, he’d want to be playing with Lego all day even though he’d never ever played with Lego before.

Dovic watched the hands on the clock going round and wondered where everyone was. It was getting late and if Hibiscus didn’t get up soon, all her class would miss out on their lessons. He looked around the desk and saw the calculator, the ruler, the highlighters, the pencils and lots of paper. He was just about to sort them all out when he saw The Old Wise One coming towards him.

He was a bit scared of The Old Wise One who was very quiet and when he spoke, you had to listen carefully because his voice was so soft. Dovic waited for him and wondered if he should say something first. The Old Wise One sat still, looked at the clock, looked at Dovic and said, “Why are you here?” Dovic blinked and replied, “I’m waiting for Hibiscus…. If she doesn’t get here soon, she’s going to be late for her class.” There was silence for a few moments until TOWO whispered, “It’s Saturday. No school today.” “Ooh!” he said with a sigh. He was disappointed and didn’t know what to say or do, because he’d never been here on a Saturday before.

The Old Wise One tilted his head and gently said, “Come on. We have a surprise for you.” Dovic looked at TOWO and saw his smile and he responded eagerly. “What’s the surprise? Will I like it? What is it?” but The Old Wise One said nothing and just padded back to the room while Dovic followed.

“Wow!” Dovic exclaimed when he saw the surprise. “Wow!” There, on the circular mat on the floor, a few of the Hibiscus clan had gathered around and were playing with Lego. There was so much Lego! “Where did all of this come from?” he asked, and just at that moment, he heard a crash as Ronnie lost his balance and fell into one of the tubs of Lego. “Donna, a friend who has six sons, said Hibiscus could borrow the Lego for a while,” replied Bruiser and handed him a white, rectangular piece so he could get started. Dovic turned the piece over in his hand and pondered what to do with it. He imagined motorbikes, islands, amusement parks, bridges, fairy tales and machines; all the things he’d seen on Lego Masters. As this was his first time with Lego, he put the white piece back, picked up a few smaller pieces and began working on his idea.

Meanwhile, Harley had hopped into the white tub looking for the right piece. He shuffled amongst the pieces and found an orange wheel, a green tree-top, pink pieces, yellow bits, and pieces that he didn’t even recognise. He found a blue piece, stood up and looked at the others. “Does anyone want this one?” he called out and when they didn’t answer, he put it back in the box and shuffled it all around.

Tumbarumba and Ellie got the tray full of people and wanted to make some people for the village that Bruiser and Ronnie were working on, while Dovic and The Old Wise One worked on making motorbikes and other vehicles. At one stage Dovic looked up and saw Richo watching him. “Do you want to come and play footy with me?” he pleaded but Dovic was busy making, “Um… sorry” he mumbled and kept working on the Lego.

For the next hour or so, they were all busy playing with the Lego and making things such as motorbikes, a house, and Dovic built a mini, Master-Building Emmet from the movie. He was very proud of his accomplishment. Finally, it was time to pack up for a bit. The Old Wise One reminded everyone to pick up all the pieces and put them in the correct boxes. Tumba added, “Don’t leave any out. We don’t want Milly to come and chew it up or even worse, we don’t want Hibiscus to step on one. That can be very painful!” Everyone pitched in and in no time at all, it was all put away and time for another game.