“Whatcha doin’?” she asked. I sighed. “It’s a surprise,” I replied. “Now, do you want to help Daddy finish up the Christmas lights?” Sarah grinned. “Yay!” she exclaimed. “I’m going to help Daddy!”
She ran away to put her winter stuff on, singing Jingle Bells while pulling her boots on. I looked at Dasher, who was curled beside my chair. Did the little dachshund have anything to do with Mom’s strange behavior?
My suspicions grew the more I thought about that moment. Why had Mom baked cookies? I finished wrapping the final present and went outside to check on Dad.
All of a sudden, a snowball flew at my face just as I stepped outside the door. Then another. And another. I rolled my eyes. “Sarah!” Her head popped out from under a fort.
I smiled as Sarah bunched up another ball of snow. I picked up some snow, shaped it into a ball, then pelted it at my little sister. “Hey!” she giggled.
Soon we were in a pretty deep snowball fight, forts and all. I barely dodged an incoming snowball, and it narrowly missed my face.
“Ha!” I exclaimed. “No fair!” Sarah yelled, bunching up some more snow. I grinned as she missed again. I picked up a snowball and threw it at my sister, and it got her in the leg.
I ducked beneath my fort’s wall and took out a cookie from my pocket. My mouth watered at the sight of it and I quickly shoved it in my mouth. I gained a burst of energy and sent a big snowball at Sarah.
It landed squarely on her face, and she started laughing. She sent a few over to my side, and I started laughing.
Just then, my dad walked into the battlefield. “Attack!” my sister screamed. Dad was immediately overtaken by a flurry of snowballs, Sarah screaming victory every five seconds.
I expected Dad to pick up a handful of snow and fire back, but he just shrugged and walked away.
Dad hauled some Christmas lights out of a box. “Hey, Siena?” he asked. “Could you put these up?” I sighed. “Fine.”
Sarah put on a pouty face and whined. ‘Why can’t you play with us?” Instead of responding, he just went inside. What was going on here?
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I strung up the final Christmas lights up and felt some more snow crash against my back. “Sarah!” I yelled. My little sister put on an innocent face. “What?” she asked.
“I told you, not until I finished!” I exclaimed. I scooped up some snow, then threw it at Sarah. “Hey!” she exclaimed. “I never said I wasn’t done.” I picked up more snow and packed it into a ball as I approached Sarah’s fort.
Instead of throwing it at her, I gave it to her. “See if you can make a snowman out of this.” I said. With that, she smiled, and immediately got to work.
Thoughts danced around in my head. Why hadn’t Dad joined the fight?
Both Mom and Dad are acting up lately… I looked at Dasher, who looked away and started licking his paws.
Something was going on, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Chapter 1
It all started when I was walking my dog on a chilly winter day.
I was taking my dog, Dasher, on a walk. It was a normal day, with tons of people flooding in and out of shops; the usual Christmas shopping. Walks usually went normally, with Dasher occasionally stopping now and then to sniff something.
He was usually obedient, but not today.
We were passing by the candy shop when he saw a squirrel. He sped away and I had had to sprint to keep up. Who knew Dasher was so fast?
Thankfully, the squirrel scurried up a nearby tree, causing Dasher to stop running and start barking. I immediately scooped the tiny dog up. “No more running, Dasher.” I said.
He barked and licked my face, giving the squirrel a chance to run away to, I don’t know, the other side of the world?
Me and Dasher continued our walk silently. Finally, we reached home, and my little sister Sarah came running up to us. “Siena, you forgot to make your Christmas wish list!” she exclaimed. “Don’t worry, Sarah,” I said. “We still have a few days!” Sarah smiled. “Good, because I forgot too.” she giggled.
When me, Dasher and Sarah entered our warm house, a sweet scent drifted into my nose. Me and Sarah looked at each other, thinking the same thing. “Cookies!” we exclaimed.
My mom smiled at us as we entered the kitchen. “Yes, I made you gingerbread cookies,” she grinned. This was really unusual. Mom doesn’t make cookies! But she just had a normal expression on her face as my little sister started to take cookies from the plate.
I grabbed a cookie and sat down at the table with Sarah. I got some paper and crayons and set them down.
“So, what do you want for Christmas?” I asked as my little sister grabbed some paper. ‘Well, I want this, and I want this, and this… “ I sighed as she droned on and on about what she wanted.
I looked down at my empty sheet. What did I want for Christmas? Maybe a new laptop, some headphones, and that new book… I grabbed a crayon and got to work.
After I finished the first two on my list, I noticed Sarah standing behind me. “Are you gonna eat that?” she asks, pointing to my cookie. “Mom has some extras.” I said, waving her off.
I looked at my uneaten cookie, mouth watering. Suddenly, I heard whining. Dasher looked up at me, as if asking me for something. Can I have that cookie? his eyes seemed to ask. I rolled my eyes. “Sorry, buddy.”
I decided to eat my cookie before anyone else asked for it. As it entered my mouth, my eyes widened. It was so good! The warm fresh baked feel, that sweet taste...
Just then, Mom stopped by. “Do you like it?” she asked. I nodded vigorously. “It’s amazing!” She passed me a few others, which I quickly finished. But something wasn’t right. Mom was not the type of person who baked cookies, and it makes no sense why she all of a sudden started to do it …
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