Wickel It

Saturday, December 24, 2005

(8:51am) Christmas Eve. Collette woke to a nosebleed at six o’clock in the morning, but then she fell back asleep until 7:30, and the world was gray and followed a fresh rain, but it was good. The evening of Christmas Eve Eve, the filming went well at Schroeder’s house, and lasted only about an hour total. Collette wondered what it might be like, put to music and slowed down, blurred, etc. as the other clips had been. Somehow even the poorly acted scenarios, when put to inspirational music, tended towards being rather decent in the end.

But then there was coffee, and a number of Egyptian Rat games for Collette, Rose, Molly, and Starr. Molly was Egyptian Rat champ.

“That’s because I’ve been playing since I was five,” Molly said, as her blond hair buns wobbled on top of her hair, partly food-coloring dyed blue. “Ashley-Sue taught me on our vacation to Florida. So we played like seventeen hours straight.”

Meanwhile the boys played, along with OLeif, after they urged him to join in. He and Wally took turns playing violin and mandolin. For awhile, Collette played card games with Frances and Rose. In the middle, Frances had a hankering for another drink.

“Oh, please, Collette,” he urged with his big brown eyes.

“Here,” Collette handed him her drink, “try this.”

He took a sip of her black tea.

“Hmmmm,” he said, as though sampling wine. “Not bad. I think I’ll try some.”

Collette showed him the display box on the counter of the tea flavors.

“I think I’ll take a try of the cinnamon kind,” Frances said. And after Collette handed him two dollars, he walked up to the counter and placed his order. “Thank you, sir,” he said, upon receiving the drink, and then settled back to his card game.

And Ashley-Sue had come for a spell, as had Louis Tecumseh and the grand Stan-o, along with Rapunzel and her mom and Giggles. Even Dad and Mom showed up with Carrie-Bri, Frances, and Linnea for awhile.

Outside, they were all trying to figure out what to do with Rose, as Joe and Wally were to spend the night with Curly. Joe’s arms kept flying up in the air in victory and he and Wally would “wickel it” – both being rather hyper from the coffee already. (“Wickel it” involved wiggling the first three fingers of one’s hands (making a “w”) with the other three fingers of another pal’s hand). When arrangements were finally made to get back home, Joe and Curly began bouncing up and down, side by side. Meanwhile, Wilbur began talking with the youngsters.

“Well, Joe, I thought I saw you doing donuts out there earlier.”

“I was.”

Collette had turned her back to them, and when she turned back around seconds later, she saw the whole crowd laughing at Joe spinning non-auto donuts in the grass.

“What did he have in his drink tonight?” Wilbur laughed and shook his head. “That boy had never be in a fraternity.”

Collette pretty much had zero fear of that ever happening to Joe.