The Adventures of Lilah and Coco
It was late summer. Aunty Stella hadn’t seen her sister Nora in a long while so she decided to take a trip to Boulder. Since Uncle Kelly works and there was no one to take care of her puppy dogs, she booked a flight for all of them to go. Once they landed in Denver, she hired a car. They all piled into the car. Picasso and Ebony sat in the back. While Aunty Stella drove them to her sister Nora’s home, the pups each took a window seat and with their tails wagging excitedly they looked out at the road, impatiently looking forward to see Aunty Nora and her family. Every once in a while they asked, “Woof! Woof! Are we almost there?” But Aunty Stella shook her head to say “No.”
Finally they arrived. They all piled out of the car and went to the door. They knocked at the door and waited. Soon Grandma Nora opened the door. She was so surprised to see Aunty Stella and her two puppy dogs, Picasso and Ebony. With a big smile Aunty Stella said, “We have come all the way from New York to visit you and these two beautiful little girls and their parents.
“Why Stella, what a pleasant surprise! And you brought Picasso and Ebony. How very nice,” she said.
Grandma Nora turned to Auntie Stella and said, “Girls, this is my sister Stella, she is your great aunt. These two pups are Picasso and Ebony. They all live in New York.” With a proud smile she turned to the two girls hanging on to her skirt and proudly said, “And these are my granddaughters Lilah and Coco.”
“How adorable they are,” Auntie Stella said as she bent down to kiss her two great nieces. The two girls and the two dogs smiled at each other slowly approached each other. The dogs sniffed the girls and the girls patted the dogs’ heads. They were all being very shy. Picasso and Ebony politely said, “Woof! Woof! How very nice to meet you,” in his very best manner. Before you knew it they began happily playing. They ran outside in the garden laughing and playing with each other.
Grandma Nora and Auntie Stella went into the kitchen to prepare some snacks. The children and the grownups had scones and cookies and the pups had their bones and doggy biscuits. They all sat under the trees enjoying their teas. There were squeals of laughter and happy barks ringing through the air. All too soon, the sun began to set. It was time to say goodbye. Auntie Stella and her puppies got into their rental car and drove to the hotel. Lilah and Coco yawned. Grandma Nora hugged them and said, “Bedtime time girls! You had a long day. Tonight you are staying here with me. Mummy and Daddy will pick you up tomorrow. Today was nice, wasn’t it?”
Autumn arrived. The weather turned cold. The leaves on the trees began to change color. Instead of being green they turned to gold and orange and rust. They began to fall to the ground. They looked beautiful! The girls picked them up and took them the kitchen to show Mummy and Daddy.
“Look! Look!” they said. “How pretty they are!” Mummy put them in a jar on the kitchen table to admire until they dried up and crumbled. On weekends the girls went on bicycles rides with their parents. They played with their friends. Sometimes they helped Mommy bake cookies. They made all shapes of cookies. It was such fun to make them! Afterwards they dunked them in warm apple cider. Yum! That was so delicious! Their friends were invited for their homemade cookies and warm apple cider. The kitchen felt so very warm and welcoming.
One morning the girls woke up and looked out of their window. They saw big huge snowflakes gently falling from the sky and the ground was covered all in white! Their eyes grew wide. “Mummy, Daddy!” they cried as they ran to their parents bedroom. “It’s snowing! It’s snowing!”
Mummy and Daddy were sound asleep. Lilah climbed up beside her father and pushed an eyelid open. “It’s snowing,” she said once more. “Look, look!” There was no choice but to wake up. The girls then rushed to the front door to bring some of the snow to show their Mummy and Daddy. As they picked the snow, they shivered. Brrr! It sure was cold! By that time their parents had gotten out of bed and rushed after them. They each picked up a child and firmly closed the door against the frigid snow. The children’s hands were icy cold and red. They quickly dried their hands and brought the girls back to bed with them. It was too early to get up just yet. Besides, it was the weekend and the world was hushed and covered with snow. They hugged their two little girls close to them. “Shhh,” they whispered to their little girls, as they gathered them to themselves. Soon they all fell back to sleep once more.
When they woke up much later, it was still snowing, the world was just waking up. Since it was the weekend they all wore warm dressing gowns, over their night clothes. They wore socks and bedroom slippers and headed to the kitchen. Mummy and Daddy set the breakfast table. Lilah and Coco had chocolate milk, Mummy and Daddy had their coffee and they all had pancakes with fruit for breakfast.
The girls looked out of the window at the snow which seemed to be dancing its way to the ground. It covered the whole outdoors. Later on when the snow stopped, they all went out to shovel the snow and make snowmen. All the children in the neighborhood made snowmen. The snowmen came in all shapes and sizes. The children borrowed hats and scarves for their snowmen. One snowman had a broom under his arm, another child borrowed his mother’s sun hat. One had a pipe in his mouth. One even had beads around her neck and a feather on her head. All in all they were having a jolly good time. In the afternoon they all went home to an early dinner. Mommy had made a nice hot tomato soup, a leg of lamb, roast potatoes and roast Brussels sprouts. The smell of all that good food made them hungry. They took off their galoshes and wriggled their toes. It was good to come into a warm house and a good meal. They sat at the table and ate with a great appetite.
The next day they all went skiing! Coco had just learned to ski and was doing very well! One could hear her parents and the neighbors calling out, “Good job, Coco!” “Well done, Coco!” Coco was so proud of herself. She smiled a big smile. I just know that this little girl is going to be a very good skier by the end of winter, just like her sister Lilah.
The sun was beginning to set. The girls were beginning to tire. They have had a wonderful weekend. That night, as they crept into bed, their eyelids quickly grew heavy. Mummy and Daddy had told them that next week they were going to choose a Christmas tree! With that thought in mind the two little girls happily closed their eyes and quickly went to sleep. They dreamed about Santa Claus and little fairies, of baubles and glittering pine cones and allowed the wonderful things that happen around Christmas time. Since they were such good little girls, they knew that Santa would be good to them! The next day they all went to a Christmas tree farm to choose the perfect tree. They walked and walked, they looked and walked. The trees were either too tall or too short, leaned too much to one side or to the other. They were either too fat or too skinny. The girls were beginning to get tired.
“I am tired,” moaned Lilah. “How much longer do we have to look for the perfect Christmas tree?” she asked. “Soon, soon,” her mother said.
Coco demanded that Daddy pick her up. Just at that moment Mummy pointed to a tree. “Jeph! I found our Christmas tree.” They all stopped and looked at the tree she was pointing at. It was the perfect Christmas tree. Very quickly Daddy had the Christmas tree owner tie up to the top of the car. The children were so excited when they got home. Daddy had already put the tree stand out before they left. He and Mummy had brought out the boxes of the Christmas tree decorations from the storage space, underneath the stairs. Mummy played some Christmas carols on the radio. Daddy brought out some eggnog from the fridge. Christmas was almost here! It was so very thrilling! The girls run around and around in excitement. They giggled and they squealed in joy. Boxes were opened and Christmas decorations were hung. Each year they added some new objects. This year Mummy found some beautiful white butterflies in a store. She loved them so she bought them. They looked like butterfly angels. They were so pretty! It took them two to three days to finish decorating the tree. For the time being it was getting late. The girls were tired and so were Mummy and Daddy. That night they all slept early.
In school they were having a Christmas pageant. Lilah was chosen to become an angel and Coco was to become a Sugarplum fairy. Grandma Nora knew how to sew very well. She wanted her granddaughters to become the most beautiful angel and Sugarplum Fairy ever. She happily hummed to herself as she went to the fabric store to buy the fabrics and the patterns. For days on end she cut and sewed. She made the dresses, then she made the wings, then she made the halos. At last the costumes were ready. The girls tried them on. They looked beautiful! The day of the pageant finally came. Mummy put some lipstick on their lips and rouge on their cheeks. They smiled happily for they knew how precious they were. Daddy proudly led them from the car and into the school auditorium. Their grandparents came to see them in the pageant. Aunt Jessica came. They were all so proud and excited to see them on stage. Afterwards they all went out to eat. All the people in the restaurant smiled at them and told them that they were beautiful. They felt very special indeed.