A New Friend - 5.20

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The night before Snowflake Day, not a thing has been done,
instead of work, this family had nothing but fun.
The washers unused, the dishes stayed dirty,
no one sweeping leaves dust bunnies quite sturdy.
Footprints all over, show a carpet uncleaned,
things add up in a house that's not preened.
But no one cares, it is time for glee,
No one can wait, for gifts under the tree.

A wreath on the door and lights just hanging,
snow fall outside makes a night most enchanting.
Cars are covered by the gleaming white stuff,
but it keeps coming down, no sign of rebuff.
A snowman watches the house as he stands,
he holds a fake broom with sticks for his hands.
Windows fogged over and doors almost iced,
but the warmth inside makes all feel nice.

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Early on snowflake morning the household became a-buzz with motion. The triplets emerged from their small room with smiles on their faces.  Brenna and Dayna remained in their pajamas, but it seemed that Caylin had thrown on an outfit for the occasion. Or perhaps she had slept in her daytime clothes. To the girls' delight, they spotted Rylan coming out of his room as well.

Rylan, fresh into his teen years, threw them a sideways glance, "Think you girls could giggle any louder?" He rolled his eyes mockingly, he smiled in spite of himself.

"Mom and dad up yet?" Dayna asked. Caylin giggled and bounced up and down behind her sister. Brenna smiled bright and was wringing her hands together.

Just as Rylan was shrugging his shoulders in reply, the four of them heard a 'Yeees' from the other side of the wall. David pulled the bedroom door open and walked out as he buttoned his shirt, Rosetta following close behind him.

"Morning! Happy Snowflake day." Rosetta said. "Who wants breakfast?" After only a second, she laughed all the frowning faces staring back at her, including her own husband's. "Okay okay, we can do presents first."

Caylin clapped her hands and bounded toward the stairs, she placed her rump on the rail and slid all the way to the bottom. Using the actual steps, Brenna was right behind her. Then came Rylan and Rosetta, Brenna then David came down bringing the tail end of the train. 

The six of them sat in the den, having turned the couch around so it would face their tree, and exchanged gifts. Rylan finally got the guitar he'd been waiting for, and couldn't wait to play. Rosetta was promised to be shown hers later. She had a pretty good idea of what it was, David had a really hard time hiding the construction from someone who also lived in the house, but was very antsy to see the finished product. Caylin got a Panda piggy bank and a blue butterfly carpet. Brenna received a dollhouse as well as some new books to read. Dayna got a football and a few other outdoor toys. David a few new items to do tricks for his magic show and some new outfits.

For a while the whole family enjoyed each others company. It wasn't long though, before each member went on their own way to play with their new things. This was Rosetta's chance to see her gift.

A backdoor had been installed at the rear end of the den, where the Dominoes table used to be. Walking through that and turning right would lead you to the new greenhouse that would have Rosetta gardening year round. David even managed to transplant a few of his wife's dear plants into the new garden without killing them. After being in the warmth and under Rosetta's constant loving care, they'd be back to blooming before the week was over.

Rosetta loved the new addition immediately. The digital fish tank-wall set it off nicely, it made the atmosphere quite serene. Also, the moment you walked through the chilled glass door your body warmed quickly to match the perfect temperature inside. During the nicer months of the year, windows would open for a fresh breeze. In the Summer though, a cooling system would prevent the plants getting too hot. Rosetta ended up spending the majority of the morning in there with her greenery and getting used to the new digs. 

When sun came up a bit more, everyone went out to play in the snow. Most everyone anyway. David was in the front gathering up snow and packing into a ball. Two more large snowballs made a snowman and once he added an old hockey helmet and stick with some of his old gloves, it was the perfect sporty snowman. Caylin and Dayna had made a few snow angels, but after seeing their fathers handy work they decided to make their own snowman. The two of them ran off to the old garden area so they could have room. David laughed and fell face first into the snow, making a snow angel.

Rylan had been busy playing his guitar in his room and hadn't joined the others in their outdoor play. He'd barely even heard the peeling laughter because he was in the zone, trying to learn everything he could about his new instrument.

Upstairs, Brenna was playing with another present. This one didn't fit under the tree so it was set up in the den for everyone to enjoy. Taking up most of the floor space in the upper family room was a large electronic train set. As she usually does, when she plays with anything else, she set up her doll to watch and play with her. She stood and watched the train go around, stopping whenever she pushed the correct button. Brenna made sounds of people loading on the passenger cars. She was a great train engineer. Suddenly she saw sparkles around her doll and soon after, it sprung to life.

Walking over, wide eyed, Brenna asked her toy "What in the world? Are you real?"

Pam, the toy, laughed and nodded. "I am! You've loved me so much, I wanted to be big like you so we can play all day!"

Brenna smiled wide. "Awesome!" She said, then the two laughed. They started to talk, mostly about what they wanted to play and their favorite games.

Brenna was asking about Pams favorite room in the house when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Caylin come up the stairs.

"We've been looking for you!" Caylin put one hand on her hip and tapped her foot impatiently. "Are you going to come join the family?"

Brenna ignored her. To Caylin, it appeared that her sister was just staring at nothing with a smile on her face. To Brenna, she was listening to her new friends opinions about their dwelling.

"Hellooooo!" Caylin tried to get her attention but failed. After a few seconds of nothing, she turned around, sighed and trotted down the stairs saying "Guess not."

It was only a moment later that Brenna realized Caylin had left. She followed down the steps looking to see what she wanted and to as what she thought of the toy coming to life. At the bottom of the stair though, was not Caylin, but rather Dayna and Rylan both doing a small exercise.

"Dayna, Dayna check this out!" Brenna said excitedly. "Look look, My old toy is my new friend! This is awesome."

"What are you talking about Brenna? I swear sometimes you're a bit nutty." Dayna said, eyeing her sister skeptically.

"Oh come on, don't look at me like that, she's right here behind me!"

Dayna leaned to the right a little and, seeing nothing, rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Whatever. Your a nutter."

Even Rylan glanced in the way of his sisters. He was slightly confused about what was going on, but definitely saw no one behind Brenna.

"Well, that went well. Wanna go play tag outside?" Pam asked.

Brenna sighed as she watched Dayna leave the room shaking her head and muttering something about 'lunacy'. "Um. Sure, yeah let's do that."

Rylan watched Brenna talking to no one and making no sense, then leave. He shook his head a little and thought I'll never understand girls. Especially those girls. He finished his workout and joined the family for lunch, all but Brenna who had gone outside.

The holidays were over, winter was coming to an end. The sun broke through the clouds more often and the blanket of snow over Hidden Springs began to melt. Spring was approaching, and a new season of outdoor activities was beginning...



To be continued...