✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

39. Little Games

"Okay, your turn to run," Gabby grinned, and Tess couldn't help waiting for the other shoe to drop. She knew there was going to be something, but she had no idea what it was going to be.

"You won't catch me!" Tess boasted, but she wasn't quite small enough to believe that. It was the chase that was the important part.

"Oh I will. 'Cause you're four now, and you're not good at walking. Whenever you try running you forget what way you're going and go like at random until you fall down."

Tess blushed as she realised she was getting littler again. This was way more than she ever wanted, but it was still a good feeling when she couldn't fight against what her cousin said. She didn't want to be a baby, but she wanted to experiment and find out how far her brain could be pushed, so she would keep on playing for now.

She ran away again, and did her very best to keep moving faster. She stumbled a little, and looked down to watch where her feet were going. She was sure it hadn't been this hard before. But when she looked at her feet, she wasn't going to fall down again. She could get farther from Gabby, and soon she would be near the elm tree, so she could run around the back of it and come back to the other side of the garden before Gabby could turn around. It would have been a good plan, but when she looked up she was nowhere near the tree. She was outside the kitchen window, on the paved half of the garden again. And Gabby was coming towards her, really fast. Tess gasped and turned back towards the trees in the far corner, but then her feet shot out from under her, all her breath escaped. She was still trying to get to her feet, a bit unsteady, when Gabby grabbed her and pushed her onto the wooden bench seat. Less messy than the grass, but Tess knew she wasn't going to escape a lot of tickling.

* * *

Tess managed to get her breath back, and picked herself up off the ground. Gabby's hand actually reached out to help her this time, and when she looked up to see what had changed, she noticed Ffrances standing there with a couple of drinks on a tray. Tess had lost count of the number of times Gabby had caught her now, and the other way around. She kept on thinking, each time, that if she caught her cousin one more time then she would have won. But then Gabby would want a turn too, and it wouldn't have been fair to stop her.

The garden was warmer than it had been for most of the last month, but she still appreciated a glass of hot, sweet tea. It was their second refreshment break, but she found herself chugging down the drink as fast as she could so that they could get back to playing.

"Do you girls want to keep on playing out here?" Ffrances asked. "I'm going to put dinner on soon, so you can come inside and watch Shaaark! on TV if you prefer."

"It's a little bit cold," Tess mumbled. "But I want to win."

"How about one more chance for you to beat me," Gabby said with a smile, putting her drink back on Ffrances's tray. "Best out of five?" Tess nodded, and Ffrances grinned at them as she gathered up the tray again.

"Okay, you chase each other a few more times. I'll make dinner and then bring it out to you, we can eat on the deck here, and watch the sunset. Sound good?"

"Yeah," the girls both answered at once. Despite all the rivalry of the game, they were the best of friends now.

"And Tess? You're not allowed to be mean to Gabby. Remember that she's younger than you now."

"I know," Tess said, thinking about what Ffrances had said before. She saw a little scowl from her cousin, and knew that Gabby was more likely to be the one doing something mean. But all the things she'd tried so far had turned out kind of fun, so Tess didn't think she needed to stop the game yet. But the next time Gabby made her clumsier, or smaller, she would tell her that it had to be the last.