LJ Idol, Prompt 8: “You are an opossum living in the trashcan of my heart"

[roina_arwen]

“Sshhh… don’t wake her.”

Dad grinned. “I haven’t woken her yet, Marla. That kid can sleep through a hail storm on a tin roof.”

Quickly, I snuck a peek towards the Christmas tree. My face was mostly hidden by the throw pillow, so they weren’t likely to notice. I had fallen asleep on the couch, waiting impatiently for Santa, and at some point mom must have draped the afghan over me.

The tree twinkled softly, and the living room was mostly dark.

Dad was trying not to jingle the ornaments as he propped a purple bicycle partially behind the tree. It was exactly what I had wanted! It had a white banana seat, purple and white streamers hung from the handlebars, and a white basket with purple butterflies on it decorated the front.

I sighed softly. It was perfect!

Dad stopped fussing with the bike and glanced my way.

I yawned, turned my face towards the back of the couch, and snored softly.

“Phew,” Dad said. When I heard him turn away, I adjusted my head slightly so I could see them out of the corner of my eye.

Mom chuckled softly as dad added the training wheels. “Hurry up, Dan. The twins will probably wake up soon.”

“Then all hell will break loose,” he stage whispered, stood, and handed her the wrench.

Dad stuck a huge, shiny bow to the seat of the bike. “Who knew three-year-olds could make more noise than a trash can full of possums?”

I heard mom giggle, and knew without looking that she was standing on her tiptoes with her arms draped around dad’s neck. He was a full foot taller than her. “You have a way with words, my dear.”

“And you,” he added as he kissed the tip of her nose, “have a way of making wonderful children. Shall we see about a quick nap before this particular possum decides to wake up?”

I peeked, and saw mom kissing Santa Claus.

“My heart,” she replied, handing him back the wrench, “what an excellent idea.”

As soon as I heard their bedroom door close, I threw off the afghan and ran upstairs to wake the twins. What an excellent Christmas this would be!

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

Ho! Ho! Ho! This was fun!

[roina_arwen]

Thanks so much!

[erulissedances]

This was really cute. Obviously a home filled with love - the best kind.

- Erulisse (one L)

[roina_arwen]

Thanks for reading!

[dsrmousey]

No child ever lets their parents sleep on Christmas! ☺ ✌P~~~Desiree

[roina_arwen]

Exactly! Thanks for reading!

[bleodswean]

So much sweetness here!

[roina_arwen]

Thank you!

[tonithegreat]

Nicely done. A vivid poignant picture with just a few strokes.

[roina_arwen]

Thank you for the kind comment!

[swirlsofpurple]

Such a sweet and adorable story

[roina_arwen]

Thank you so much!

[ofearthandstars]

This is so sweet!

[roina_arwen]

Thank you kindly!

[banana_galaxy]

hahaha what a cheeky kid.

[roina_arwen]

Based only slightly on truth - I did have a bike like that, lol! Thanks for reading!

[marlawentmad]

This was unexpectedly wholesome!

[roina_arwen]

That’s my general genre, lol! Thanks for reading!

[alycewilson]

Cute! I like how you incorporated the prompt.

[roina_arwen]

Thank you! I’ve been doing this so long now, it’s almost second nature to try and not use the prompt too literally. Thanks for reading!

[drippedonpaper]

Very creative use of the prompt (and a song title :)

I loved my bike with a banana seat. Great memories :)

[roina_arwen]

I loved mine too - thanks for reading!

[gunwithoutmusic]

This was so fun! :) I remember being a kid and waking up in the wee hours of Christmas morning to sneak down the stairs and look at all the stuff before anyone else was awake. It was always so exciting back then!

[roina_arwen]

Yeah - it’s much easier to appreciate the simple stuff now! Thanks for reading!