Stories from a Crazy Person's diary

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I woke up the next morning because of the extreme cold on my feet, I glanced down at the foot of the small twin cot that me and my sister were sharing.

She was hogging the blankets again.

I tugged and pulled in vain. It was like she had put a death grip on those blankets.

Shivering and muttering dire threats of punishment only fit for blanket stealers, I got up and dressed and slunk downstairs with an extra blanket I had managed to release from her grip.

Sitting on the couch in the stone silent and gloomy atmosphere, I attempted to warm myself. I had finally gotten the couch to warm up and I was starting to doze. When a loud noise jerked me awake.

Thump

I groaned and pulled the blanket over my head.

THUMP

The sounds insisted that they have my immediate attention.

Thump, thump….BANG!

Alright, that’s it.

I threw off my twice stolen covers and stamped off in pursuit of the villain.

I found the person in the front hall, by the name of Cecilia Green, with a large shovel.

“What are you doing?” I croaked when I caught sight of her.

I had been attempting to give her a dramatic reveal and then go back to the couch, but my voice failed me when I most needed it and immitted a croaking squawk of a command that would not impress even the tiniest child.

“What did you say?” asked Cecilia.

I tried again now that Cecilia was staring at me.

“Um,” I said, “What are you doing?”

There was my normal voice, finally. But this did not seem to have an effect on Cecilia. She beamed and waved her shovel high in the air.

“I am going to build a snow fort! Have you seen how much snow is out there? It is incredible! I have been wanting snow like this for years. It will be huge, fantastic-“

“-Whoa, slow down,” I said, “What snow fort? Where you outside?”

Cecilia looked at me like I was a little slow in the head.

“Umm, yes?”

“What were you doing outside?” I said.

By now, all hopes of my blanket still being warm were dashed, and to say that I was slightly irritated would be an understatement.

“I was scouting out the best place for us to start digging,” said Cecilia, brandishing her shovel again.

“I love a walk in the fresh snow as the sun is rising.”

I paused to rub my eyes.

“Are your parents fine with you going outside without them knowing?”

Cecilia nodded, “Yeah, I do it all the time, but this time was fun; I almost got stuck in a five-foot snow drift; boy, I didn’t have my shovel. I would have been stuck for life!”

“Uh-huh,” I said, “fun.”

Cecilia danced around showing me with her hands just how big this snow drift was and how hard she had to dig.

Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out if I would get in trouble or if only she would get in trouble.

My analysis failed due to the nose she was making.

“Just try to be a bit more quiet,” I said, deciding that there was no way I could restrain this energetic person in my tired state.

*Cecilia nodded and set down her shovel.

“I am going to wake up Nate. He is really good at digging.”

I nodded, and then, realizing that I was freezing, I went over to the jacket pile to find mine.

Even though we all are from separate families, we still have similar weaknesses.

 All the kids dumped their jackets in little cashes around the house. The most favored dumping spot was right by the front door. This is where I believed I had last left my jacket.

After digging around and probably making a horrible mess, I went and looked in the pile by the back door and found my jacket buried under a mound of cold-weather gear like a fossil.

I put it on and relief flooded through me, then I went to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

The parents had succeeded last night in cleaning up the mess in there, and it was a relief to walk across the clean tiles without having to worry about slipping.

I got a cup out of the cupboard and went to the sink. I placed my cup under the faucet and turned the handle down.

Nothing came out.

I stared at the faucet as the truth slowly dawned on my foggy brain.

The pipes had frozen.

Casualty No.2, I thought to myself, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Cecilia raced past followed by the still pajamaed Nate. They ran to the back door and pressed their faces against the clean glass.

This was followed with shrieks of delight and upon them removing their faces, little nostril and mouth marks.

I decided to look outside and went over to the door.

What I saw took my breath away.

Over the rolling hills and beautiful pine trees, the work of snow, as if by magic, had spread.

Every fence post, tree, blade of grass, and rooftop sparkled in the rising sun. Fresh, unmarked snow looked like crushed diamonds, and the lakes were frosted with a silver sheen. The sky was a clear blue as the tip of the sun rose above the trees like a ball of fire in a world of ice.

Someone bumped into my leg as I stood there.

I looked down at my little sister Lily.

“Isn’t it beautiful?”  she said in her lisp.

“Oh yes,” I said, smiling. “It is stunning.”

Lily bounced away happily and I breathed as sigh of contentment. At least something was nice this morning.

I turned around.

Lily, Nathaniel and Cecilia were…gone.

“Oh great,” I moaned.

Edging over to the front door, I pulled it open and steeled myself against a blast of arctic wind.

“Lily?” I shouted.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see who it was.

Mrs. Wood stood behind me.

Her face looked surprisingly real this morning, and her hair was rumpled, as where her clothes. I attributed the realness to lack of makeup.

“Good morning.” I said, as pleasantly as I could manage.

I poked my head back the door. “LILY CRACY!”

Lily came bounding over the snow mounds and into the house, spewing half-melted snow and her winter clothes across the front room.

“Yes, Eve?” she said impatiently.

“How on earth did you get all your winter gear on so fast?” I demanded. “It usually takes you hours, and why did you go outside? You know mom doesn’t want you wandering around on a property containing wild buffalo!”

Lily shrugged.

I sighed heavily, “When mom wakes up, then you can ask her to let you go outside.”

Lily nodded dejectedly, and dragged herself past the wide-eyed Mrs. Wood’s and disappeared into the living room.

“Is there something I could help you with?” I asked Mrs. Wood.

She regained her composure, “Yes, my shower is not working.”

I sighed.

“I think that the pipes might be frozen.”

She nodded, not understanding at all. “Well, tell me when it is working again. I cannot style my hair without washing it first.”

Eve nodded. “I will inform Mr. Green.”

She watched Mrs. Green shuffle back to her room.

Poor Mr. Green

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