"These smell so good!" Madeline pressed the satchel to her nose and inhaled deeply.
"I love making satchels!" Nancy finished tying her penultimate one and set it in a pile with its mates.
"Yeah, they're great." Marceline Anne tied her final one. "Put yours in a Ziploc bag so they'll stay fresh until you put them where you want them."
"You have so many." Madeline set her pile in a baggie before finishing her last three.
"Yeah, they'll have to go over the whole house."
"Really?" Madeline's eyes widened.
"Yep." Marceline Anne stood up and began throwing satchels behind furniture close to the walls and in corners.
"Can we help?" Nancy finished with her last one.
"Sure. We're only putting two in the kitchen. On either side of the table by the window."
Nancy picked up two of Marceline Anne's satchels and ran to the kitchen. She went to the nook and dropped a satchel each on either side of the long, oblong table.
Marceline Anne came back to the coffee table and scooped up a small pile. When Nancy ran back, she gave the ten year old the pile. "Put these in the front room."
Nancy ran out.
"What about me?" Madeline finished putting her finished satchels in her baggie.
Marceline Anne gave her a pile. "Put these in the dining room."
Madeline ran out.
Marceline Anne divided the rest of her satchels up. Four would go in every main room of the bedrooms and two in every closet period, except the master, which would have more. The theater would have six, the gym would have ten and the playroom would have four while the office would have five.
The girls came back laughing.
Marceline Anne doled out as many satchels as they could carry and remember. When they left, she went about cleaning up.
They'd had many cookies and much milk with soda chasers. The popcorn ran out quickly so she'd made more. Now she had plenty of dishes to clean.
She went to the kitchen with the dishes and unloaded the dishwasher. She put those dishes away and put the soiled ones in.
She ran the machine then took a sponge to clean the coffee table of spills. They'd made charm bracelets, yarn dresses for dolls, paintings and the satchels.
The floor would have to wait until they got a vacuum (they gave Mrs. Gonzales her vacuum back prematurely) so the ground had crushed glitter in the rugs.
She turned the lights off and plumped back up the pillows before sitting down.
The girls came back. "Everything's gone?"
"Aren't you sleepy?" She propped her head up on her fist.
"No!" They sat on either side of her.
She groaned lightly. "Okay, we'll watch two old cartoons then it's time for bed. It's already one in the morning."
"How old?" Nancy wanted to know.
"Old old."
Nancy beamed. "Okay. Deal."
"Deal?" Marceline Anne looked at Madeline.
Madeline had never seen an old cartoon. Just from 2000 on. "Deal."
Marceline Anne got up and put on one of her Golden Age cartoon VHSes. She went back to sit down and the girls cuddled up to her.
The very first cartoon was Wacky Wabbit. She sang Elmer Fudd's rendition of Oh, Susanna, making the girls giggle. By the time the next cartoon came on (Betty Boop as Cinderella), the ten year olds were asleep.
YOU ARE READING
Morphine
Romance"I can feel you; just like a drug..." Marceline Anne Taylor-Jones is what one would call a bad girl. She does what she wants when she wants because she wants. Malcolm Chang is what one would call a good boy. He follows the rules and does what's requ...
