Mirrors

Flowery Blanket

~Dedicated to my little sister, Cassie~

Chapter Twelve:

Flowery Blanket

From out of nowhere, a sheet swam on top of my head. It covered my whole body, from head to toe. I pulled it out of my head and looked at it, puzzled. It was a blanket with floral patterns interlocking with vines and leaves. The flowers ranged in different colors of the rainbow. This was the blanket that my little sister used to carry everywhere she went. She could never let this go. She never wanted it damaged. Mom had to sneak the blanket away just so that she could have enough time to wash it before she freaked.

I missed Quinn so much.

The blanket floated away from me, sucked by the mirror that suddenly appeared. I was getting more and more annoyed with that mirror. I swam towards it, and found myself in another world.

It was a rainy day: a great time for imagination to explode. Thunder boomed, and lightning struck. A display of lights crawled throughout the sky, stretching for miles under a millisecond. High velocity winds rocked trees back and forth. It began to drizzle, as if a moist misty cloud stood over the whole town. Little Irene ran around our open-spaced house, searching in every corner for Quinn—her little sister. Poor Quinn hid inside the closet in the bedroom that she and I shared. Her flowery blanket covered her from the monster that was outside. She trembled, her eyes closed and whispering a song that had been stuck in her head for days.

Little Irene opened the closet door, asking Quinn to get out.

“I don’t wanna!” Quinn argued.

Little Irene breathed heavily, shrugging her shoulders as she folded her arms. She wanted to do something with her six-year-old sister, but not at this state. She pursed her lips, pondering. What game should we play? she seemed to ask herself. Her eyes narrowed at the still trembling girl in front of her. The blanket gave her an idea. She pulled it out of Quinn’s hold; Quinn refused to let it go, but little Irene ignored her protestations.

“Look,” she began, “I have an idea for a game.” She pulled a white, plastic chair that hung out on the side of the bed they shared. She climbed onto the chair, raising the blanket over her head. Through the closet door the blanket went, pinching it in place. Little Irene did this on one side and on to the other.

“What are you doing?” Quinn asked, coming out of the closet.

Little Irene pulled the plastic chair to one side of the blanket. She then placed the blanket on top of the chair, placing a stack of books to keep it in place. On the other side, she placed a hand-woven, wooden tea table. Another stack of books settled the blanket in place. Little Irene stood back to watch her masterpiece; she had made a playhouse.

“Come on, Quinn,” she gestured her younger sister to go inside the playhouse with her. Quinn started giggling, climbing inside with a large grin on her face. She crouched down, looking above to see the floral patterns above her head. Little Irene went inside, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“Maybe we should add some blanket inside,” she suggested. The wooden floors wasn’t the best bedding for their house. She went out and dragged pillows and a comforter inside. Spreading the comforter around, little Irene patiently told Quinn to place the pillows on different spots. Suddenly, the drum roll of thunder came crashing outside, making them jump in surprise. Quinn scooted closer to her older sister, hiding herself in her sister’s arms. Little Irene tried to be the best sister she could be by consoling Quinn as much as she could.

“Do you want to sleep in our playhouse tonight?” she asked Quinn.

Quinn nodded her head in agreement. “We should play ‘mommy’ and ‘cook’!” she suggested. “I wanna play the ‘mommy’.”