Light

13. Fun

Winter had finally arrived, the strong gusts of winds continued to blow with no signs of stopping. In the fire pit, John was busy making a fire with Georgie, his self declared assistant. Annabel was in the kitchen, busy making hot chocolate for them all. Mary Poppins was upstairs doing some cleaning. Popping into the living room where the boys were, Annabel handed them a mug each.

"Mary Poppins upstairs?" She asked in a slight whisper

"Yes?" John nodded

"Now... you remember what Jack told us."

Just before Jack had left for the train station, he gave the siblings a task. He asked them to not give Mary Poppins a hard time but also to remind her to have fun too.

"It won't be difficult because she does know how to have fun" Annabel said "but we have to initiate it! Not just her"

"We can make soon cookies!" Georgie suggested "and if it snows, we can make a snowman"

"Wonderful idea! Just keep them coming" Annabel laughed

"She's coming...!" John hissed as he heard Mary Poppins walk down the steps.

Appearing downstairs, Mary Poppins raised an eyebrow at the siblings who were sitting on the floor suspiciously.

"Now what on earth are you three up to?" She asked

"Nothing!" They said, quickly drinking up their hot chocolate

"Can we play something?" Georgie asked "I'm a little bored"

"Bored are we?" Mary Poppins sat down on the floor beside them "what would you like to do?"

"I wanted to go and play outside but..." Georgie looked out the window and jumped in shock as the gust of wind brushed past loudly

"Want to play hide and seek?" John asked

"Oh I like that idea!" Annabel agreed

"Splendid." Mary Poppins smiled

"Play with us!" Georgie pleaded

Rolling her eyes, she ruffled his hair "you have thirty seconds to hide"

Squealing in delight, the siblings dashed around the house trying to find a place to hide. Closing her eyes, Mary Poppins slowly began to count.

"1... 2... 3..."

Squabbling up the stairs, Annabel and Georgie pushes each other trying to find a good hiding place. With no inspiration, Georgie dived under the bed and Annabel ran into the bathroom and hopped into the bath. Meanwhile, John lingered downstairs and hid behind the door.

"-28... 29... and 30! Ready or not, here I come" Quickly glancing around, Mary Poppins smiled to see nobody around her.

Shrugging her shoulders, she walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water. Taking a sip, she turned around and grinned when she saw John's shoes poking out.

"They're doing an awfully good job at hiding" she teased while slowly making her way to John who was stifling his laughter.

With every step, Mary Poppins edged closer and closer to the door. Quickly, she opened it up and found a red-faced John who instantly burst into laughter.

"Ah." She grinned

"How'd you find me?"

"It was definitely not your shoes. Come on then, let's see if we can find your brother and sister."

Following behind her, even John didn't know where they hid. Stepping up the stairs, she quickly made eye contact with Georgie as she reached the top step who was under the bed looking right at her.

"Oh Georgie" she laughed

"That was fast!" Georgie complained but instantly giggled

"Where could Annabel be...?" Mary Poppins thought

Walking into their bedroom, the spare bedroom and even her own, Annabel was nowhere to be seen. The brothers looked at each other and giggled for they too, had no idea.

"She's a brilliant hider" Mary Poppins eyes suddenly looked at the bathroom where the light was switched on.

Realising, Mary Poppins headed towards the bathroom.

"This was on this whole time? How terrible." Switching it off, Mary Poppins pretended to close the door.

Inside, Annabel had closed her eyes in fear of getting caught and also in fear that she was in the dark. With the sudden silence, Annabel opened her eyes only to see Georgie smiling at her creepily.

"Agh!" She screamed in fright "Georgie!"

Dragging the shower curtain open, Mary Poppins switched the lights back on and laughed.

"Found you"

"I won though" Annabel giggled before standing up "but my bottoms are wet now"

"Serves you right for winning" John pouted

"What a sore loser" Annabel stuck out her tongue

The rest of the day, they continued to play games. From more rounds of hide and seek, "I spy" and a couple of board games, they were soon all exhausted and laying on the floor.

"I am ready for bed" Annabel yawned

"Me too" Georgie nodded, his head leaning on Mary Poppins lap

"Did you have fun today, Mary Poppins?" Annabel asked sleepily

"Me...?" Pausing, she smiled "yes, yes I did. Now off to bed."

Helping them up, she guided them to their bedrooms. Helping them get dressed into pyjamas and brushing their teeth. Softly tucking them into bed, they were all soon out in a flash.

Standing at the door, a soft piano piece began to play in the background to rock them to sleep. Gently closing the door behind her, Mary Poppins made her way to her bedroom. Lying in bed, she closed her eyes. She knew Jack had asked them to let her have some fun and couldn't have been happier. She knew she could sleep peacefully that night.