More of the Same
Puck was beginning to enjoy the novelty of playing in his own room with his books and stuffed animals. He would also occasionally lift the corners of his rug, looking for treasures underneath. Occasionally he found a crumb.
“Don’t eat nasty crumbs!” Carrie would command him.
Puck would just grin and occasionally wail if a particularly juicy-looking crumb was retrieved from his chubby paws.
In Snicketts Land, Carrie had whipped out Myst to show Frances and Linnea for the first time. Frances was trying to look interested, but it was obvious that he was not entirely enthusiastic about a very dated computer program. Graphics had changed a bit since Collette and Carrie were kids. Collette remembered the first time she had seen Myst, when Mr. English was working on it piece by piece with the kids at the English’s second house, solving the riddle of the constellations. Good old days.
Meanwhile, Collette spent most of her morning with the mathematics.
Rose returned later from class with a big hug for Puck.
“So squishy!” she told him, as he grinned and hugged her back.
It was about snack time.
“That’s right, Puck,” Rose encouraged the beaming baby, “smash those puffs. You’re a great member of The Trouble-Makers Club.”
Puck grinned, and later returned to his toy box in the living room with Rose to supervise.
“Collette, there’s been an escape!” Rose cried shortly later.
Baby on the loose. Rose screeched out a Nazi prisoner-camp alarm blare. The Puck had learned how to use his limbs to reach baby speeds of incredible proportion. Fortunately, his aunt could get there faster, and he was quickly returned to the living room.
There was more catch in the yard for Carrie, Frances, and Linnea that afternoon. Trooper was tempted to join them, but the game would have quickly come to an end with his sure-confiscation of the ball.
Collette and Puck left the house just as Mom and Rose were shoving off to open up a checking account for Rose. There was time for block towers back home. Puck still enjoyed gnawing on an occasional block, but mostly, he appreciated the crash when he swiped his hand through the colored tower. He was learning how things worked, trying to figure out why things did what they did.
OLeif returned from work, gung-ho to rearrange the living room so that his rather large computer desk could be added. He realized, however, that after he had switched around a couch, book cabinet, clock stand, and end table, that the room would be too cramped, and he put everything back from where it came.
The whole skies were silver and cold.