Rebecca drew in the frosty outside scent of exhaust as cars and people sped by her in a blur. This particular scenery had so many memories, so much nostalgia.
She didn't understand why so many people loathed the stress, the constant pressure of finding the right gifts for the right people in time for Christmas night. To her, it felt nice to strive so much for the people she cared about.
Rebecca found herself spacing out, just as a middle-aged woman slammed into her shoulder. The woman turned around and gave Rebecca an ominous glare. "Watch it", she cried as she was disappearing into the mall. A lopsided smile formed on Rebecca's features.
Indeed it was Christmas time, and she wouldn't want to trade it for the world.
"Come on Carlos". Rebecca glanced over her shoulder to see Carlos Oliveira's full attention dedicated to building a snowman. His face wore a strange, affectionate smile which Rebecca thought made him look just like a little kid again. "I swear, he's just so immature sometimes", she thought to herself and felt a smile creep upon her lips. She decided to try her luck at getting Carlos' attention once again. "Carlos, we got to hurry. The others have probably been here for some time no..."
She didn't have time to finish her sentence. A huge ball of snow tore through the air, and found its way right into Rebecca's mouth. The snowball exploded and started to file down her throat causing her to choke, cough and spit for dear life.
Carlos, in turn, laughed so hard at the scene before him that he slipped on the frosty pavement and landed firmly on his butt. This, however, did not take a toll on Carlos' amusement. It only made him laugh even harder. After a good minute or so, Rebecca was finally successful at clearing her lungs of snow. She then turned to Carlos with a venomous glare, beaming with vengeance. Carlos, almost feeling the small stings of the phantom daggers, soon sensed danger. Looking up from the ground, he saw Rebecca bending down to retrieve a fistful of snow. "Oow, come on, Becky. It was all in good fun." he stuttered, clawing his way backwards.
"Oh, really?" Rebecca asked maliciously. "Then I guess you won't mind THIS!?" And just as she had uttered that last syllable, she lounged at him, using all of her weight to pin him down to the ground. Taking notice of the fact that her actions stunned Carlos for a second, she launched her ball of snow into Carlos' gasping mouth, making sure it dug deep down into his throat. As a direct result, Carlos spent the next two minutes coughing like there was no tomorrow, and Rebecca was lying flat down on the ground, kicking and screaming with genuine laughter.
When Rebecca found herself all out of breath, and her stomach hurting like a bitch, she decided it was time to pull the plug. Besides, several people had stopped and given them the weirdest looks.
So she got up, and started to brush the snow off her clothes. "Carlos, we'd better get moving."
Carlos peered up at her, his throat still a bit clogged with snow. A bit disappointed at Rebecca's statement, he reluctantly gave up on his grand masterplan of retribution of which he had just thought of, stood up and clasped his hands together to shake off the snow. "Pfft...You're such a buzzkill. Juuust when things were about to get interesting", he sulked and followed her into the mall.
"Yeah, right. I'd kick your ass any day of the week", she giggled as they entered the huge building.
"Leon, Claire", Jill yelled as she saw the pair of them, trying to drown out the buzzing noise which the huge crowd of people inside the mall was generating.
"Excuse me, excuse me", she repeated over and over as she shoved past various people, trying to make a pathway to where Leon and Claire were standing. After quite the effort, she had finally managed to close the gap between them and herself.
Claire felt someone lightly tapping at her shoulder. "Jill", she exclaimed when she turned around to identify who was trying to get her attention, and gave the person in question a hug. "You are late", she said sternly when they both let go, causing Jill to cringe. "Yeah, about that...heh...I forgot where I had put my shopping list." Claire nodded, flashing a knowing smile. "Well, it's a good thing you're engaged to my brother then. He's a lifesaver when it comes to locating missing stuff. "
Jill laughed wholeheartedly. "He certainly is quite the boyscout. It's without a doubt his best quality...His only quality", she remarked and thumped Chris in the shoulder.
Chris smirked, his eyes beaming mischievously. "That's not true Jill. I'm also a great lover and I certainly know how to find your g-spo..."
Claire cut him off at that exact moment, covering her ears with her hands and screaming frantically. "I did not just hear that", she repeated, trying to block out the much too vivid images that made themselves known inside her head. But it was to no avail, as the damage had already been done.
"Why, Chris, why?", she complained. "I'm your sister for God's sakes!"
Leon just couldn't contain himself and burst out laughing. "Serves you right for threatening me with a sex-strike". This statement immediately caught Chris' attention, and the older man's stature went from laid-back to straight and serious. "What was that?", his voice boomed as his attention shifted to Leon. Immediately sensing Chris' hostile mood, Leon went right into a defensive mode.
"No...no...nothing..", he stuttered, nervously backing up. His spider-sense was now tingling like mad. He knew all to well that Chris was extremely overprotective of his sister. And to top it off, Chris had a very bad temper. Adding all this up, Leon knew he either better start praying or run for dear life. Not really being a man of faith, he decided on the latter. He turned around so fast his neck was nearly snapped in the process, and he broke into a mad dash into the crowded mall.
"Hey, wait", Chris yelled forcefully, as he watched the young man try to flee from his impending doom. "I'm not finished with you yet, Leon."
"Men!" Jill and Claire shouted in unison as they watched Chris give chase.