《Silvia-Hayni's wild ride》 A girl and her bike Silvea - Hayni''s Wild Ride Chapter One : A girl and her bike Hayni squealed joyfully as the rickety old tire touched earth. She loved the feel of the clattering of teeth as the uneven ground shook her causing her head to bobble up and down like a dolls. She threw her hands around her mother''s waist as she started the incline of the next ramp, bigger than the previous. She clutched her mother tight as before she new it they were hurrling yet again through the air. Her dark brown hair flying in all directions. The fluttering of her stomach her neck and arm hair raising with the adrenaline of the decline coming any second. Then nothing, they were back on the ground. Not good enough! Not long enough! That feeling, that wonderful feeling she was to young to put a name to it but she new she must feel it again longer this time, stronger even. Her heart was in her throat. This hadn''t been the first time mom had taken her here but it was the first time her mother trusted to be a little more reckless now that Hayni was old enough to really hang on. Just being here was enough to get them in trouble. They were far away from the city now, deep in the mountains out of ear shot and just out of view of the small clusters of houses and shops they lived among. Although, still belonging to the city. Dispite it being unused, far off, and unleveled and useless for anything but riding. But laws were laws no matter how unreasonable they could sometimes be. Good thing Tatiana wasn''t one for following them. She didn''t see any harm in riding out into the mountain ranges to have a little fun. She looked at her little girl smile spread from ear to ear. If this was illegal, they just have to fine her if they ever found out, because she didn''t see the point of it. For as far as she was concerned a ticket for riding in an non-riding zone was just another tax put on her by the goverment. However having Hayni if pulled over might change things if a cop decided to be a jerk. She could get in trouble for endangering a child. She let the thought rattle her brain for no longer than a moment then said to herself " I guess we cant risk getting caught then." She turned behind her "pick one any one." She followed Hayni''s finger to the biggest ridge she had ever seen "that one!" Tatiana smirked, sqeezing tight to her old rust bucket. She had the bike since if was first given to her at the age of fifteen. It was badly rusted, paint peeled completely off, suspension long since gone and replaced by some old iron she welded on, and no muffler. The engine, however, was hand made and supercharged. She made sure of that. She built and installed it herself with every last penny she could scrounge out of savings. Nevermind the noise violations from no muffler and a very loud, powerful engine, and nevermind the bruises to the behind from hard landings on no suspension. Yes, this jump would be a challenge for the old bike''s ability to hold the rusted frame to the functioning engine, but it was worth the test. Once again Hayni grabbed tightly to her mothers waist, and once again Tatiana slammed the gas pedal as hard as she could "were going to need a lot more power for this one. That means were going to have to go really really fast." She smirked as Hayni let out a loud "Whoo Hooo" and the speedometer went from 30 to beyond its highest possible number in seconds, still accelerating past the point of knowing the exact speed anymore. They hit the old battered bike ramp with a splintering of wood. Tatinan didn''t exactly pay attention to how big this jump really was until she was at the top of the ramp, looking down from above some very tall trees and seeing the vultures fly out of the top branch underneath her. She gulped and hoped they wouldn''t be feeding those vultures in a few moments. For the first time in her life she actaully feared for their lives. The jump was maybe 30 feet wide to the other side of the ridge, with a sheer cliff on the other side. The kind you attended shows to see jumped. The kind the movies would usually show a river at the bottom to keep the heroes alive when they fell. There was no water in this dried up riverbed, removing any hope of surviving a fall. Dardevils didn''t even do things like this without safety nets. Moms of five year old girls on marternity leave would probably prefer to keep their child as far away from this cliff as possible, not jumping over it. She offered up a quick prayer as the bike left the wood of the ramp with splintering as the top of the ramp broke and fell beneath them, leaving the bike in an awkward spiral. She quickly let go of the handles to grab her daughter, who was in mid fall from under her head as they were upside down. As she caught her child''s midsection, Hayni was caught between screaming and laughing from sheer joy, while Tatiana was too busy being terrified her child was going to die to have any enjoyment of the experience. There was a difference between risky and stupid. THIS WAS STUPID!!!! Yet the child was still beaming. She looked at the spidometer her foot still glued to the gas from fear. She gulped as she noticed the shaking of the roaring engine had torn off the speedometer from the handles, and it, along with some other hopefully nonessential parts were smashing on the cliff ahead of them. Realizing she wasn''t going to make it, she took a gamble and turned on the turbojets mid spin, giving just enough boost to make the height they needed, almost losing a tire on the cliff as the bike scraped up the top and skidded to a halt. Her heart was beating quick as she went to the edge. She could see the jump now, and looking below she saw nothing but a few parts from her bike and the now collapsing ramp falling for a good thirty seconds before erupting in a cloud of dust and debris at the bottom. They were so high. How could she have even thought she could have made that jump. Nothing but sheer dumb luck and good timing with the turbojets had saved their lives. Tatiana laid down on the grass, staring at the sky and pondering how terrible of a mother she was. Her daughter walked over and joined her, shouting and leaping for joy. " That was fun! Mommy when are we going to do it again? Can we do it again right now? Pleaaaaase?" She plopped down next to her mother and looked at the sky with the steaming, scraped up bike a good few feets away were it had rolled and half the handlebar lying opposite that. Tatiana simply mumbled "What kind of monster child did I make?" ... Tatiana''s grip was still very tightly clasped her daughter''s hand as they walked side by side. A large round building could be seen off the horizon, reflecting the sun. An eerie grayish sand onto the grass below. "Home" she mumbled under her breath as Hayni dragged her tired feet behind her. "I can''t understand why we can''t go back mama." Hayni was cranky, like most five year olds would be after a 12 mile walk. Of course Hayni didn''t feel the strain of such a walk as she spent much of the time either on her mother''s back, being drug along on the bike, or resting. She walked maybe two miles on her own, but now they were home and Tateana would receive a well deserved break. She only hoped her husband had made it home in time to get the groceries, or else the deliveryman would probably leave them sitting outside her door to spoil. This wasn''t the first time she forgot to get the groceries, but by the time she remembered they had been ordered she didn''t feel like riding the bike in its present state and risking yet another ticket this week, which would probably cost the family more than just ordering new groceries. Tatiana dragged Hayni up the stairs to the door. "I still don''t understand why we couldn''t just ride the bike home" she pouted. Tatiana ignored the complaint, which had been made for the last ten miles at least every five minutes, if not more frequently, and focused on finding out if she had made buttermilk out of the milk she ordered. Well didn''t look like there was sign of the delivery men or groceries, so either her husband had made it home or the delivery man decided to file the paperwork for returning it to the grocer and she would be left with a nonretrieval fine for not being home when they arrived. She had a good hope that it was her husband, as the local delivery man was usually too lazy to deal with the paperwork and returning everything to the shelves, instead prefering to leave the groceries outside doors to be found later. She walked up to apartment 6D, and sure enough to her dismay there was a envolope taped to the door. Great. They did take it back and leave her with a fine. Where was Jon? How much did they owe this time? Jon was going to be upset when informed no one was here for the groceries. He didn''t terribly agree with her little trips to the abandoned bike park in the mountian region. He certainly didn''t agree with spending his excess pay on bailing her out of jail or on fines for being "rebellious" Even more so, he completely disagreed with the way she was teaching their child to be an adrenaline junkie with a complete disregard for the law. He would constintly remind her they weren''t children anymore and had to think like adults, with a child to care for. Jon thought their child would like to have a new dress and shoes every now and again, or even a vacation or some fairy toys that they could never afford with the multitude of fines Tatiana accumulated. Hayni enjoyed their time in the mountains, not realizing that it cost their family anything at all. Tatiana was convinced that this one on one time in the mountains will be much more important to the child later in life than a new dress or new shoes would be now, and absolutely despised that her husband was constantly filling their child''s mind with fairy tale nonsense.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Tateana ripped off the note and walked inside. She planned on reading the bill later, after she had herself and the child showered before her husband saw them covered in dirt, scrapes, and bruises with a bike in worse shape than ever. To her surprise she found the lights on and the figure of a man dressed in lounging clothes sprawled on the couch, face covered by a newspaper. He didn''t bother to look up or speak as Tatiana snuck by and hung the bike in it''s usual place, taking the time to hang a towel over it to hope he couldn''t see the damage. She finally realized one reason Hayni was constantly crying she needed to stop when she tried to remove Hayni''s shoes. The child was missing one, and it was probably at the bottom of that cliff. Hayni''s leather jacket was sporting some new tears too, and was probably garbage now. This was going to be fun to explain. Walking through the door, Tatiana realized she was exhausted, but quickly forgot that fact as the adrenaline rushed through her veins again while her mind raced for a plausible explanation that wouldn''t involve almost killing the both of them. The child didn''t let her get a chance. "We went on the biggest jump ever today! It was so fun, I was flying until mommy pulled me back onto the bike! She says the bike needs to be fixed before we can go out again, and that we probably won''t do that one again, but it was sooooo fun!" Tateana sat down on the couch next to him as the newspaper came down from in front of his face and she looked into his big brown eyes. "You didn''t shave today. I like when you come home scruffy." She said as she ran her fingers across his stubble into the puff of mustache he normaly had. He sighed and brought the newspaper back up to read more. " And your not going to ask me about my day?" Tatiania teased. He closed his eyes and threw his newspaper back behind the couch, sitting up. "What''s there to ask? I already know the story. Hayni just told me all I need to know. Between her excitement and the mess you made of the two of you, plus the bike. Yes, I saw it before you buried it, I think you need to sell it for something safer for all of our sakes at this point. No, I don''t need to ask about your day. Let me tell you how my day went though. It should interest you. After the past couple days of putting out that wildfire that sprang up near where you like to play, we finally got rid of the last of it this morning. It wasn''t long at all before we got a call about parts of the old bike park falling onto the road below, and I recognized this as yours" handing her the speedometer. "That is about all I could salvage, since it got caught on a tree." Tatiana turned bright red as he continued. " So after that, I leave work early to hope to find you home and safe. Guess what. You weren''t, but the delivery man was in the middle of writing us up a nice hefty fine before I stopped him and took the groceries inside. Believe me, he had the paperwork finished and didn''t want to let me take the groceries inside, just because he was tired of us not being around to help him unload." He pointed to the envolope in her hands, "Yes, I noticed that as well. How much do we owe now? Or have you even checked yet?" I just left it on the door because I didn''t feel like finding any more bad news. I hoped you would have been home hours ago, but nope. Instead I had to call a few buddies on the police force to look for you. They said they should be able to recognise your loud bike quickly, but after a couple hours they called back and said they couldn''t find you and hoped you were still alive. As we speak they are still combing that cliffside for BODIES! So, how do you think my day went so far?" She smiled and kissed him, "For your information this isn''t a fine. I didn''t even get stopped today." "I know. For once I actually wish you had." She jumped up and sat on his lap, planting a big kiss on him. "lets take this to the bedroom and see where this leads." "I don''t think so. I''m too tired for you to try to distract me. I''m too tired to even be mad anymore." "Okay good. I was afraid you were." He sighed. "So what is that paper anyway?" "I have no idea. I thought it was from the groceries, but you already took care of that...." Her tone changed and he looked at her. "okay, just read it so we can get to bed early. I would like to put this day behind me." She waved the paper out of his grasp as he reached for it, opened it and began reading. To Mr. & Ms. Prescott We are pleased to remind you that on Feb. 11, your oldest child will be of age to attend an educational program of your choice designed to educate minors between five years of age to nineteen years of age in career and life skills that will enable them to grow and mature into succesful, productive adults. In order for your daughter Hayni Prescott to qualify for these manditory educational programs, she must first receive a physical by your family physician. Our records indicate that your family is filed with Dr. Marco Braysull, so he has been informed to expect you. Dr. Braysull indicated that he is available tomorrow morning, Feb. 8, between 9:00 and 11:30 for this mandatory physical. If you cannot make this appointment please notify his office immediately to reschedule. It is highly recomended that you keep this appointment, as there is very little time remaining before the deadline. This is your third and final advance notice and prescheduled appointment, as indicated by the preceding letters four and eight months ago. As stated by law, all minors are required to attend an educational program to prepare them for their future. After all, parents aren''t going to stick around to take care of them forever. Failure to allow your child to be taught to live a happy, productive life is considered child endangerment, and carries strict penalties under the law. We are glad to celebrate with you on this joyous day in your lives, and hope for the best for you and your family. Don''t forget, maternity leave ends on the child''s fifth birthday as well. It is encouraged to report to your employer several days early for refreshment training and to allow time to get back on track and reconnect with coworkers. After all, you haven''t seen them in five years, so there is probably a lot to talk about. Best Regards- Uureta Valley branch of the Federal Human Resource Department (UVHR) Jon refolded the paper, " You can always trust the goverment to say the meanest thing in the nicest way." Tateana laughed, "Its called diplomacy honey" Just as she said it Hayni came crashing back down the stairs dressed in a child sized apron and chefs hat, " Mommy mommy! look what i made you! It''s soup." She looked over at the mystery goo globbed on one of there perfectly good dishes. "Don''t you want to taste it mommy?" Jon looked at Tateana, " You want to tell her or should I?" "Tell me what? You don''t like my soup? You haven''t even tried it. Grandma always says don''t say you don''t like something until you try it." Tateana sighed removed the pillow beside her, took the paper out of her husbands hands and tapped the seat beside her as Hayni''s face went from excitement to curiousity and she sat down next to her mother, dropping the "soup" straight onto the carpet as she went. Like mother like daughter Hayni made sure to throw a temper tantrum the next morning when her mother came in to wake her. She pulled the blanket over her head and screamed and cried and flailed when her mother attempted to move it, refused to shower, brush her teeth, get dressed, or even eat breakfast, just because she didn''t want to go to school and she most CERTAINLY didn''t want to be "eaten" by the doctor. Hayni usually jumped up before the sun peeked through the trees, but not today. The child hadn''t been happy about the mention of school, stating that school was the place her cousin Angus went to disappear and never came home except on holidays. The mention of a doctor''s appointment went beyond merely "not happy" to outright uncooperative, terrified, and likely to make a mess of anything she could get her hands on in protest. It didn''t take long before Tatiana was fed up with forcibly dragging a screaming child out of bed, scrubbing her by hand, dressing her squirming body, and forcing a toothbrush over her teeth. "Could I get some help here?" Jon looked over from cooking. "Kinda busy. Soon as breakfast is ready I''ll help." "okay, just hurry up. We need.....LOOK OUT!" Jon ducked as he saw a child sized shoe flying across the room right into the pot. "Okay, looks like were just down to melons then, because I don''t exactly find leather appetizing for breakfast." He removed the shoe and washed it off, handing it back to Tatiana. "I''ll go cut up our new breakfast. And don''t say I didn''t tell you last night it was a bad idea to mention the d.o.c.t.o.r. You should have just left it at school." "I didn''t think she was going to flip out over the word doctor" "NOOOOO! I DON''T WANT TO GO TO THE DOCTOR!!!!!" "I spelled it out for a reason." Anything further to be said was drowned out by the noise of an irate child, who managed to drop a rather heavy book on her mother''s foot, preventing conversation anyway. Once the child was dressed, Jon handed Tatiana a slice of melon with mint and sugar and pointed to the couch. She took his advise and went over to rest a few moments as Jon fed the child. He had the child shushed within moments. "Keep fighting and I won''t put pixie dust and fairy clovers on your melon for you." Hayni pouted, but quietly stuck her hand out for her melon as Jon put sugar and mint on hers to reward what was hopefully the end of the temper tantrum. "I still won''t go to school. They don''t let you come home from there. Angus says you have to be really smart and maybe you can go home, but I never see him, and he''s really really smart. His mommy always says he is in school." Tatiana sighed, shook her head at the mention of the absurd fairy nonsense Jon used to control Hayni, and picked up his discarded newspaper from the night before. She gasped as she saw the front cover. "I FORGOT CURNOLEUM''S DAY!?!?!?" Jon snickered. "Now honey, I.." She cut him off "What about a gift for Angus? And my sister is going to KILL me for missing yesterday''s dinner. Why do you have to be a fireman and not something normal? I can''t believe you had to work yesterday for the first day of the holiday. NOBODY worked yesterday except YOU!!!" "Your sister" "WILL KILL ME! You have an excuse for not being there, but I DON''T!" Jon took a piece of melon and shoved it into her mouth to shut his wife up for a moment so he could speak. "I already dealt with it. I got Angus a gift last week just in case, and I took the liberty of sending a telegram to your sister yesterday when I couldn''t find you explaining there was an accident and you were missing. Just play up some scrapes and bruises and take the sympathy." Tatiana started to speak again as Jon put his hand over her mouth. "And don''t worry about what your mother will say. I already said it wasn''t your fault, and you were actually walking, not on the bike when it happened." Tatiana relaxed a little. "Now will you chew your food so you don''t choke. I need you to help me take care of the kid while I''m at work." "Come on I''m not that bad. I''m grown. You don''t n.." This was interrupted by a coughing fit as Tatiana started choking on her still unchewed food. "Told you." She hit him.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The idea of Curnoleum''s day took Hayni''s mind off her impending doctors appointment and the terrors it entailed, so she got into the carriage behind her father''s two seated bike with no complaint, being told it was time to go see family. She never noticed her father clasping her mother''s mouth shut as she almost mentioned the appointment needed to be dealt with first. The parking lot was bare at the doctor''s office. Hayni was deeply engrosed playing with a small toy she had in her pocket when her mother spoke up. "Okay, lets get this appointment over with. I''m sure the doctor wants to get this over with too. I bet we are his only appointment for the day and they forced him to take us on any available time, holiday or no." Once the word "doctor" left Tatiana''s mouth, Jon glared at her and Hayni jumped off the bike and ran for the woods screaming "NOOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOO! I WON''T!"Jon jumped off, ran after her, scooped her up mid run and handed the flailing mass to Tatiana. "Did you forget how to spell already? You get to deal with this mess until it calms down now." They walked in and the receptionist covered her ears from the ear splitting shreak that was coming from the monster Tatiana held. She knew this was trouble when the pitch rose higher and higher until a glass vase shattered. Thankful it was the only glass in the room, she ran back for the doctor. "Your only appointment is finally here. Please deal with it quickly so we can both go home for the holiday." "I can hear. And in case you haven''t forgotten, I still have a splitting hangover from last night. I am not dealing with anything that can break glass until you drug it." The receptionist reached for a syringe and vial and walked out into the waiting room. She didn''t even get the sedative into the syringe before she had a fresh syringe full of her own blood stuck in her arm walking back into the back to bandage. The doctor looked at her. "Ouch. That has to hurt. Didn''t think anything could fight that hard. Try the Knock-Out Pops." The receptionist glared at him, bandaged herself up, still bleeding from several places, and took five lolipops from a nearby jar. "I think this is going to need more than one." She quickly downed a cup of willow bark tea to dull the pain from the multiple stab wounds she now had and walked back to the waiting room. Jon got up and took a lolipop from her. "I would suggest going back where it is safe before" A flying chair hit the receptionist across the side of the face before he could finish. "that." The receptionist went back to bandage her now bleeding head as well. Twenty minutes later, the child was sound asleep from the Knock-Out Pop her father convinced her to eat. Tatiana was nursing a few bruises, and the doctor came out with a basket full of needles, predrawn with various shots for the child. "Here''s the deluxe don''t come back with this creature package. I''m going to check her out and give her every shot she needs for the next five years. When she needs to see a doctor for her boosters in five years, don''t come looking for me. I will make sure to retire before that can happen. He proceeded to take measurements, weight, blood, tissue samples, x rays, and just about every other measure a doctor can of a child''s health, genetics, and background, then every possible immunization and health reinforcement shot he could think of. The last shot came in a larger than normal needle. "What''s that?" Tatiana asked. "A discount. If she ever needs to come back to any doctor, they can do anything they need with these nanobots without having to touch her. Don''t worry about the price. Its a professional courtesy to the next doctor to deal with this terror, because it won''t be me." "Is that it?" Jon asked, looking at the clock. They needed to get to Tatiana''s family soon or else there would be a search party. Nobody informed them about the surprise doctor''s appointment, and being told about the "accident" the previous day would surely make them anxious to see the three of them. "Yes. Get out of here before she wakes up. Come on, hurry up before I decide to take blood samples from the two of you." He held up an oversized syringe and threatened them with it as they scooped up their child and ran out the door. Jon started up the bike with a smirk. "Well Tatiana, that went well. Its only the fourth pediatrician she''s scared off, but its the first that nobody had any broken bones. Just Another Family Holiday Common courtesy dictated close relations should arrive early to a celebration to help set up, so when Jon checked the time and noticed they would barely arrive on time by any normal route, Tatiana pushed him out of the driver''s seat and grabbed the handles. "I am NOT letting them yell at us for being late. Bad enough the family is going to be upset over the ''accident'' yesterday and the sleeping kid with a surprise doctor appointment." The only statement to be made beyond that came from her husband, sleeping child held in a tight grip. "SLOW DOWN!!!!" Keera''s house was, as always, tastefully decorated, with the perfect flower garden growing in front and an ornate bike rack set out for the family to place their bikes in. A career woman to the end, Tatiana''s older sister kept her home prepared for company at all times, just in case potential clients showed up randomly. Keera and her husband, Henson, owned a florist''s boutique in the nearby city, and made plenty of extra money on the side with party planning. Her backyard was set up with a decorative pool, hedge maze, and a reception area ready for the finest wedding. Small wonder the family insisted on holding holidays at her house, rather than anyone else''s. Keera had her husband and his family to thank for the needed references to get such a nice job, though it did take a great deal of work to prove herself capable after the fact. This being said, nobody her age did so well for themselves as this. When Tatiana came speeding into the lawn, she made sure to show how well she thought of her sister as she used the lawn as a set of brakes, stopping just short enough to plow over the bike rack following the furrows she left in the perfect flower garden. Jon and Tatiana were, surprisingly, among the first guests to arrive. Jon was white as a sheet from his wife''s astounding driving skill. "And THAT! is why you were almost killed yesterday!" Keera slammed the door open and stepped out onto the porch, scowling at her sister. The family resemblance was striking. Keera looked almost exactly like her sister, except for Tatiana¡¯s tangled mass of windblown hair and cut up leather jacket that she was wearing to protect her nice clothes. Both were evidence of the wild ride through the thick forest as a ¡®shortcut¡¯ to get here faster. "I love you too Keera" Keera stormed out from her front porch. "I heard about the accident you had. You better be glad Jon at least has the sense to let your worried family know there was in fact an actual reason you missed a holiday. This time. Don''t think I forgot three years ago you ''forgot'' to even send a card." "What? Jon was working and I forgot." "All three days?" "ummm. the second one.....I think......I forgot." "Of course you did. And did you ''forget'' to bring Hayni? Angus is waiting to see her, but I don''t see a child running to meet him." "She''s asleep in Jon''s arms still." "I''m supposed to believe she''s asleep with YOUR driving? We heard you shifting gears for the last few minutes. I wondered how long it would take you to STOP as fast as you had to be going. How in the world could anyone be ASLEEP?" "The doctor knocked her out." "WHAT?!?! HOW HURT IS SHE?? YOU JUST HAD TO TAKE HER WITH YOU TO GO GET THE TWO OF YOU KILLED!!!!! HOW HURT IS SHE? WE COULD HAVE JUST MET YOU AT THE HOSPITAL!!!!!" At that moment Tatiana and Keera''s mother came sprinting out the door, pushed Jon away as she stole the bundled up child, and screamed "MY BABY! You''re okay aren''t you?" The limp child made no response, still knocked out from the medicated lolipop. Noticing the limp child wasn''t moving, grandma jumped to even worse conclusions. "SHE''S DEAD!!!!! YOU KILLED MY BABY!!!!" Baby in one hand, she started hitting Tatiana with her cane in the other. Keera''s eyes widened as she heard this. "WHAT??? YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE CHECKED HER OUT OF THE HOSPITAL!" Tatiana finally had enough. "IT WAS A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT!!!! SHE''S NOT DEAD!" She yanked her mother¡¯s cane and threw it onto the porch, shattering a flower pot in the process. Silence fell as more family members, recently arrived through the screaming match, stared at her. Jon had the good sense to hold up the wrapper from the knock out pop for Keera and grandma to see. A collective "oh" could be heard from all around. Silence reigned for a few more minutes as the staring continued and more guests arrived by the minute, most confused by the awkward staring and silence, afraid to speak up and wondering if it had anything to do with Tatiana destroying the lawn, since everyone was in a circle around her passing around the sleeping bundle of joy and the wrapper from the medicated lolipop. After the evidence had been passed around, Keera finally spoke again. "Who schedules a doctor''s appointment on the second day of a holiday?" Jon put his hand over his wife''s mouth before she could speak and produced the letter that was posted on the door. Keera read it out loud for the whole audience to hear. "You didn''t ''forget'' to enroll Hayni in school did you?" "ummm no. I just didn''t want to have to take her to the doctor''s office. You know how she gets." "Right, and how many broken bones did this one get. I know you probably told her what was going on before you had her knocked out." "actually, none." The whole family started laughing. Grandma was the first to speak. "okay, really, how many?" Jon spoke up. "none. The nurse needs a few stitches, but no broken bones. Can I have my child back?" Grandma held the sleeping bundle tighter, backing away from the two. "You''ll be lucky if I let her go home with you two." She growled, walking inside to put the child in a nice, comfortable bed. Keera proceeded to pick flowers to surround the child with on the bed as a nice surprise for when she awoke, while her husband made tea to set on the table by the bed with some sweets.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Hayni awoke, not to a horrible doctor''s office with some nurse trying to stab her or a doctor seasoning her over an open flame, but to a bed of flowers, with a young girl of about twelve years old that she didn''t recognize handing her a cup of her favorite tea and a cookie. Her cousin Angus was on the other side of the bed. "YAY! You''re awake finally!" Hayni just smiled, thinking the whole doctor''s office was either a nightmare or she was dead and this was paradise. She sipped the tea and devoured the cookie, plus several more she found on the tray with it. "This is our cousin Ivy. She''s fun." "Okay, calm down a little Angus. I think Hayni needs to get to know me for herself. She just woke up you know. Run along and play outside for a minute please." "but" "Now." Angus pouted and went out the bedroom door to find some other entertainment. Ivy and Hayni quickly became friends, talking about anything they thought about, losing all track of time until Angus came back. "Grandma wants to know if you girls are coming out for dinner or staying in there all night?" "KIDS ARE YOU COMING TO EAT? Grandma yelled. As soon as they made it downstairs, Ivy went to Hayni''s great aunt, Jewl, and loudly asked "Grandma I''m twelve now. Can I sit at the grownup table with you?" Jewl smiled. "Of course you''re getting older. That''s why we need you to stay at the child table. Somebody has to take care of Hayni and Aangus. Those two will make a big mess and we need a mature grownup to help them out." Ivy pouted and stormed off to the child table, washcloth placed in her hand to go wipe the cucumber dip off Hayni''s face from forgetting to use a spoon. The way the child made a mess astonished everyone, burying her face in the dip and using her hands to push it into her mouth. Tatiana shot Jewl a quizzical look. "Grandma? Since when were you a grandma. Last I remember your son died a year ago to some maniac. Childless." "Yes, yes. Ivy was his wife''s child. Sadly, from that same maniac. Long story, but her family didn''t want her, and I couldn''t let my baby go and become some servant to the foster care system." Keera glanced up. "Aunt Jewl! Are you CRAZY! What if he comes looking for her. He''s coming out of prison in another nine years. You know they diagnosed him with Brink''s syndrome. For someone like that, prison is nothing. He can''t feel pain, doesn''t care, and can''t change his mind about ANYTHING!" "I know. I know. That''s why her family refused. I''m old already. If he comes around in nine years, what do I have to lose. At least I can protect her better than some unbriefed foster home." Within moments Ivy was suddenly happy to be at the child table. It was far easier to clean up a child than to bear the roaring argument at the adult table. Especially an argument over her parentage with so many expletives and insults that her ears were burning over words she had never even heard, much less understood. And she thought she knew every curse that existed. Even worse, the adults acted more like children than the kids did. After a few particularly bad insults towards Tatiana, the returning volley included some very runny eggs exploding on Keera¡¯s face. This was, of course, only the beginning of the mess, as Keera responded by splashing her drink at Tatiana, who ducked and allowed it to hit her own mother instead. After a minute, Hayni finished her bowl of cucumber dip, then grabbed Aangus'' hand, yelling "Lets go!" Seizing the opportunity to escape the noise, Ivy raced after them outside. Hayni practically threw Aangus into the passenger seat of her father''s bike as she grabbed the key her mom thoughtlessly left in the ignition, turned it, and proceeded to destroy her aunt''s lawn doing donuts and racing as fast as she could. Ivy saw this, turned around, and ran back inside. "GRANDMA!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!" She went unnoticed for several minutes, unable to penetrate the roar of the argument as she dodged the occasional punctuation of flying food. Eventually she stood on the table, took the main course, picked it up, and smashed it on the table as hard as she could. She was still ignored, despite the fact that she just ruined the best part of the meal, plus several of Keera''s best dishes, at least out of the few that remained intact. She then tried the obnoxiously loud doorbell Keera had installed. For her efforts, she was barely met with Keera¡¯s response of ¡°WELL HURRY ON IN AND HELP ME EXPLAIN TO MY @#*@%&*%^ STUPID *^&*%*& OF A SISTER THE BEGINNINGS OF BEING A (&^*(^&*% HUMAN BEING!!!¡± Finally Ivy decided it would be best if the two problems met. She ripped a brilliant red sheet from under the adult¡¯s table, still ignored, and raced outside. She began waving it around for Hayni to notice. She did, and immediately began chasing it around Ivy as she was led straight into the open door. As Hayni ramped over one of her uncles¡¯ heads, the adults FINALLY noticed there was a problem. Fortunately, he was ducking a pot pie at the time. It was just a little too late, however, for anyone to react as the bike was now racing along the table, making them forget the argument as Hayni smashed her way out the giant stained glass window at the end of the dining room. "THE CHILDREN!" Tatiana was up first, racing out the door when she realized the engine outside was her husband''s bike. Everyone else was right behind her, save Keera, who took one look out the window, then at her table, and ran upstairs crying. It was Jon, of course, who managed to stop the circus. "ICE CREAM!" he yelled. Hayni''s hand went right to the brakes. Jon and Tatiana jumped on, pushing tatiana in with Aangus, then sped off before the mob could burn them alive for this. "Aangus, you''re staying with us tonight. We''ll drop you off tomorrow when they calm down a bit." "Honey¡± Tatiana giggled ¡°I think we ruined their Curnoleums'' day." "ya think? I''m not showing up tomorrow." "What? We only ruined the second day?" "Tatiana, I think they are going to be spending the next month cleaning up the mess you and Hayni made." Hayni piped up. "Aangus helped too." They made a quick stop on the way home and the two children, plus Tatiana, were enjoying quadruple scoop ice cream cones for the rest of the day. Celebrations The next day, they dropped Angus off at about 2:00 A.M. with a new gong in hand, telling him to walk to the door and try to open it. If it was locked, just beat the gong until they came and got him, so he wouldn''t be outside alone. They barely tore out the driveway before the gong went off and the whole family was pouring out like a swarm of angry bees bent on murder. About 5:00am there was a knock on the door. Tatiana was hiding in the bed, under the covers. "They found us. How do we get out of here?" "Maybe the window?" "Thank you honey. It would be a great idea, but I bet they have the building surrounded." Hayni opened the door, excited. "IVY!!!! YAY!!!! DID YOU BRING ANGUS?" "No, he needs some sleep after being brought home at two in the morning. I just wanted to ask you and your parents if you wanted to come to my school play today? It¡¯s a public enough place the family shouldn''t kill anyone, and it would mean a lot if you came. Everyone else has full rows of family, but nobody but Grandma wants to come for me. Everyone else says they have too much to clean up today. They¡¯ve been up since Aangus got home and he¡¯s the only one allowed to sleep." "SURE! WELL COME. WE''D LOVE TO!" "Ok that¡¯s great" Ivy handed her three invitations, with seat numbers. Hayni quickly ran up to her parent''s room. "GUESS WHAT MOMMY? WERE INVITED TO IVY''S PLAY!" Her mom groaned and rolled over. "Great. Somewhere they can find us. It''s not safe." Her husband was, as usual, more sensible. "Now you know Hayni already accepted the invitations for us. It would be rude not to go. Besides, if you weren''t listening, everyone else is going to be too busy cleaning up. At least it is a good excuse for why we weren''t there to help." Ivy crept in a little further. ¡°Also, can I stay with you guys today? I¡¯d rather not have to go back there and help clean. Everyone is just yelling at each other and trying to make everybody else do the work for them.¡± Tatiana groaned again. ¡°Sounds about right.¡± ¡°And¡­.one more thing¡­.¡± Ivy pulled the bent, twisted remains of the battered and partially melted gong from her pocket. ¡°Aunt Keera said you can have this back, and not to come back if you don¡¯t want it to happen to you.¡± It wasn''t long after that, Jon suggested rather than standing around all day they go out and explore the Curnoleum''s day festivities. Hayni quickly ran upstairs at the idea of a day of rides, foods, and contests. The Third day of Curnoleum''s day was made for children, unlike the first to where children were expected to play quietly in a relative¡¯s house and out from under foot, the third day is when children were cast outside to enjoy themselves in the multitude of fair activities for them. The best part for the parents is that most of it is FREE! Hayni pulled a shirt over her head, slipping off her pajamas in one big swoop and threw on a comfortable pair of pants to run downstairs and onto the porch long before her parents were even out of bed. She saw all the streamers and balloons covering the lamp posts, the decorated houses, the blues and greens of Curnoleum¡¯s day colors. The shells, and gems, and the smells off all the different foods. She closed her eyes trying to picture what those smells might actually look like. Pictures of squiggly things on sticks, and colorful blobs on plates, confetti and glitter covered dishes. Sparkles and shineys all over. Her parents walked out just in time to see her Hanging over the banister eyes shut breathing in all the festivities. Jon laughed, ¡°Excited?" Hayni nodded vigorously. He picked her up and through her around his neck so she could see everything as they walked into the busy streets. Tatiana''s eyes were as big as her little girl''s, " So Hayni what do you want to do first?" Hayni looked around, a bit intimidated by all the new and exciting stuff. Tateana looked at her, ¡°Well I know what I want to do. I''m going to attack the water with my board and show those surfers how it¡¯s done, and then bring home a nice trophy. After that I''m gonna beat on down to the clam eating competition and show those overeaters how to suck clams, and after that¡¯s over I¡¯m going to spend the rest of the evening calmly judging the young mermaid competitions while I let my stomach rest. I was the winner three years running when I was a little girl you know. Once that¡¯s all that''s over I''m going to go on the scariest ride in the entire town before collapsing in my nice warm bed for the night¡­..Okay, maybe I¡¯ll go a few times. Or maybe I just won¡¯t get off until they make me." Jon laughed. ¡°okay, But what do you say we take a small walk down the stands first and find things our daughter might be interested in too" "I''d enjoy the things with Mommy" Jon grabbed tightly to Hayni''s kicking feet so she wouldn''t fall, " I bet you would, but I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re a bit too young for most of that, but..." He looked around at the stands, " how about a Pixie Peach Brittle on a stick?" He walked over and handed her a stick with brown and peach colored sticky globs covering it. ¡°Just don''t get my hair all sticky. Why don¡¯t we check out the floats before anything else? That''s always interesting. The training schools always have something to catch people off guard.¡± ¡°Remember last year''s? It actually caught fire!" Jon nodded at his wife. "Only this time Hayni will remain on my neck and not end up in any of the floats. I''m still not sure if that one was supposed to catch fire or not¡­.. The school didn''t mind since the crowd seemed to like it, but I have my suspicions.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. As always, the first floats were the never as exciting as the rest. Elementary school floats were always first, and since there were only two elementary schools in town those were right up front; flowery and bright. However it did take then a bit off guard running into Aangus. He was a bit too excited to show them a spring with a giant bobbling bee that was the main part of the float itself. Tateana didn''t say a word about the stand being decorated as if it were spring in the beginning of January, but refused to be falsely impressed either so she just nodded and shoved the bouncing bee to the side to made it wiggle for Hayni, smiled and walked passed to the middle school floats which were slightly more interesting, with older children actually ice skating on a frozen pond they made on the float decorated with a bench with a pair of ice skates hanging off, snowy hills with an empty sled on one, and a snowman made from white foam. Again, there off on the side sitting half hidden behind the table with the contribution box on it sat yet another family member. Young Ivy smiled and walked over upon seeing them. They nodded pleasantries and Hayni and Aangus caught up. Tateana, not wanting to babysit and barely wanting to deal with her own child, suggested they ran off to the bumper boats so she could start off her own list of activities for the day. Jon just rolled his eyes as the kids ran off and he followed his wife to the water. She squealed as she dove headfirst for a freezing dip in the ocean. He was very glad he had signed up as a judge this year. He had preferential seating and didn''t have to let Tateana down when he explained he would not be jumping into icy water today with her. Instead she was delighted at having the upper hand with her husband being a judge. The children followed the bumper boats with a ride on the scary squid, which hoisted them about six feet in the air before spinning and bouncing them to a rough stop, followed by another ride called twister. This one had them pinned to a wall as the floor dropped below them sending them flying down a hug slide into a padded ball pit. They then spent much of the time playing with other children in the ball pit throwing balls at each other and swimming around in it. When they returned they were unable to find the adults for lunch. Not having any money to buy something to eat, they were all getting very hungry. Fortunately, plenty of food was available to any kids willing to learn how to make it. Ivy suggested they sign up for a sushi workshop to learn to make sushi. As it turned out though, Hayni and Aangus preferred just eating sashimi to trying to roll the fish into sushi. The children were having such a great time that Ivy almost forgot about the seaweed competition she had signed up for, and, not wanting to be late, she dragged Hayni and Aangus with her. She allowed them to join her team as she quickly got to work rolling seaweed into beautiful flowers and having Hayni and Aangus scanning the shore side for more and returning to her with handfuls. They didn¡¯t win, but they did get their picture in the newspaper for being the group with the greatest age diversity. After that all that was left was grabbing a bit to eat with Hayni''s folks for dinner and heading to the intermediate school for Ivy''s big Curnoleum''s day play. Jon had even stopped off for some flowers before meeting them all there. They walked inside and took their seats as the lights went out and the curtains opened to reveal the island of Silvea and a boat full of pioneers heading toward it, screaming "Look! An island! We made it!" There was one thirty minute intermission were everyone got up to buy snacks from the sports team concession stands and to use the restroom before the second half began. Ivy was finally seen, playing the part of the judge to free the hero, the beautiful Lady Emma Genouski, and sentence the evil Christopher Wright to life in prison after a long, hilariously drawn out court battle. They even had the children sparing with one another with fake swords to exciting blood pumping music. Then it was time to go, as the curtains fell and all the children took their bows. By the time the play finished, it was dark, and everyone was ready for bed, since none of them had more than a couple of hours of sleep the night before.