Chapter 18: Nostalgic
The first day of Christmas promised to be really wonderful. In spite of the fact that the first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon earlier in the morning, which were quite cold, it was nice to look at the blood-orange sky, which formed during the sunrise. The clouds, although not big, were dark grey and heralded that sooner or later it would start snowing.
Judy didn't get up until 9a.m. when the sound of children playing on the ground floor started to come from downstairs. On Christmas Eve, when her younger siblings had already gone to their rooms to sleep, she stayed in the kitchen with some of her older siblings to talk to them a little longer. They were only supposed to talk a little at first, but they had such a pleasant and relaxed conversation that their talk ended around 1a.m. (so very late). They would have talked even longer, but Bonnie then reminded them that Judy's presents still needed to be unwrapped under the Christmas tree so that the children would already have their presents delivered the next day. When they were done sitting around the table, they all went into the small room where all the wrapped presents were kept. Everyone took a dozen or so presents and went up to the Christmas tree to lay out all the presents they had in their hands. It generally took them about half an hour to carry all the presents. Once all the packages were placed, a beautiful little island of packages, wrapped in Christmas paper, formed under the tree.
When Judy opened her eyes and saw the watch she opened her crocodile eyes wide with amazement when she saw the time.
"'I haven't slept this much in a long time' thought Judy. She sat up on the bed, stretched for stimulation, then stood on her feet looking for some outfit to show off in. From the wardrobe she pulled out a white shirt, grey trousers and a red jumper covered in Christmas patterns that were sewn onto the fabric. She walked out of her room, the sound of children playing instantly amplified. Judy giggled quietly because she knew that the kids had already opened their gift packages and were already playing with their presents. And so they did. As Judy looked out over the stairs leaning against the banister she saw a pile of torn Christmas paper resting abandoned on its side. By the fireplace, a group of children were showing each other their gifts and another group, after presenting their gift, was playing with it with their siblings. Judy, seeing this warm family sight, smiled at the sight.
She looked around for her parents, who were sitting somewhere in the crowd. Eventually, she found them sitting at a table, watching a bunch of children. She decided to go down to them to talk.
"Hi, Mom, Hi Dad!" Said Judy sitting down next to them taking a seat across from the fireplace.
"Hi Judy, how holy?" Stuu asked.
"Great! It's been so long since I've been excited about Christmas!" Replied Judy excitedly.
"Yes...it's certainly a special Christmas" replied Stuu.
"Every Christmas is special, only this time Judy won't be with us afterwards...just Judy, when are you coming back?" Bonnie asked.
"Unfortunately tomorrow," sighed Judy. Although on the one hand she was glad, she would be able to see Nick again, something she had missed all this time, but on the other hand she would be leaving her family. It had been an amazing few days that she had experienced here. She was able to feel like the kid again, which deep down inside, she is.
"Ah...come to us more often than just for Christmas".
"I seriously wish I could, but I can't. Police work obliges..." Replied Judy with a light laugh.
"We know, but can't you find more free time?"
"Ugh...seriously it's not that easy..." Replied Judy thoughtfully. Yes, sometimes she has days that she has time off, but then she's with Nick all the time, so there's no chance of her coming to this place...at least not now.
"You don't have to worry so much, you don't just have me. Look at them...isn't that a sweet sight?" Asked Judy pointing to a bunch of children playing by the fireplace.
"Yes, it is very sweet, but it's not the same without you...you know what I mean," replied Bonnie, to which Judy nodded with a motion of her head.
"I know what you mean," Judy replied agreeably. She guessed that she meant that she could talk about all sorts of things, unlike her siblings, who mostly didn't want to talk about most serious subjects because they were out having fun or fooling around. This made Judy stand out from her siblings with her seriousness and thoughtfulness.
"Well, since we don't have anything to do why don't we take a walk in the woods?" Proposed Stuu suddenly which surprised the two women.
"You want to go to the forest? You're kidding!" Threw Bonnie ironically, causing a grimace to appear on Stuu's face.
"I remember when Judy and I used to go for walks...beautiful times" sighed Stuu nostalgically. He recalled how he and Judy used to go to the nearby forest to get some fresh air and watch the wildlife up close.
"Why not, I wanted to go to the forest" said Judy after a short pause for thought.
When Judy and her parents went for a walk to take a break from the classic screaming of children at home, they asked Suzanne to look after her siblings while they were away. Although she wasn't the oldest, she was the most considerate and responsible of them all, so it fell to her to have the honour of watching over her siblings.
During this time, Judy and her parents went to the nearby forest, which was less than a mile behind the house where the Hopps family lived. In this forest Judy often spent her free time after school when there was nothing to do at home and no homework. With so many siblings, the forest was the perfect place to play hide-and-seek, tag, or something else in the summer. In winter they would make snowmen, throw snowballs or slide down white hills, which were made of white powder that fell from the sky.
The three of them walked slowly along the main road, which was slightly covered with snow, but not so much that it was difficult to walk along it. A lot of snow was shoveled by cars which came along the road from time to time, pushing it aside, but the main work was done by nearby trees which held the snow on their strong branches. The forest was quiet, a nice change from home where the moment of respite was really short and rare.
Looking around the forest, Judy recalled some random moments from the past, of her youth, when she and her siblings would play by these trees, throw snow at each other, or run between these powerful plants avoiding obstacles. This was noticed by her mother, when seeing her daughter looking around she smiled warmly.
"A mass of memories?" Bonnie asked.
"Oh And how! It's good to walk in silence like this sometimes, to remember...what used to be, it was fun to play here"
"Ah yes, it was a time when you could take a break from you" laughed Bonnie.
"haha, maybe so. Too bad I'll have to leave already...I'd love to stay a few more days"
"Maybe next time you won't come alone?" Bonnie asked which surprised Judy. Her questioning gaze indicated that she didn't quite know what she was talking about.
"Suzanne said you were talking to a friend last night, why don't you tell us something about him?" Bonnie asked.
"Shit! She had to talk..." Thought Judy clenching her teeth in irritation. She didn't want anyone in the family to know that she had a nickname for a friend. Unfortunately, that one slip-up was enough to sink Judy.
"Hm...if he wanted to...maybe, maybe I'll come along next time".
"It will be great to meet someone from your background, maybe this friend will be someone more important" Stuu replied, to which Judy laughed nervously. She didn't reply, nodding affirmatively with a motion of her head.
"'Oh, this is going to be a big surprise' thought Judy as Stuu and Bonnie started talking amongst themselves.
The walk in the forest continued at its best, but all good things must come to an end one day. After half an hour of walking, the three characters decided to return home, it was high time to do so. Although it might seem cold and frosty outside (this impression might have been due to the fact that a little snow was falling), it was actually quite warm and there was no need to put a hood over their heads. When they entered the house, they immediately encountered a bunch of children who were running around the kitchen chasing each other around the table. They stopped their fun when they noticed their parents. They immediately calmed down, and when they saw Stuu's dominating aggressive gaze, they politely went upstairs to their rooms. The rest of the children sat politely playing by the cooker, with Suzanne in the lead, who sat in the chair.
"Some people can't be calmed down, so about that alone," Suzanne said when she noticed her parents.
"We know, we know and yes you did a pretty good job" replied Bonnie.
"Come on Suzanne, you can help me prepare dinner"
"I'll go pack while you do that..." Replied Judy going upstairs to her room. At the same time she cast a suspicious look at Suzanne, who returned the look with the same expression on her face. Both of them knew that Suzanne's move wasn't the cleanest, but Judy didn't want to argue about it. She was looking forward to meeting her dear fox. As was her tradition, she locked herself in her room, took her bags out into the middle of the room, then, taking the clothes out of the wardrobe one by one, began to put them into the bags one by one, taking care to arrange them properly so that everything went in. At this time she glanced at the small alarm clock, which indicated 7.00p.m.
This saddened Judy as she would soon have to leave here and return to the city. Even though she was glad to meet Nick, she still couldn't deny one thing - life is much more comfortable in the village.
As she packed the last suitcase, a knock sounded at her door.
"Coming, coming!" Judy called out. She rose from her knees, then set her bags against the wall and Opened the door.
"Okay, I thought I was interrupting. Dinner is ready," replied Bonnie indicating with her hand for Judy to go ahead.
The whole family was already gathered around the table. Both the elderly and the youngest were seated at the table, waiting for Judy, who, like yesterday, was seated by her parents. They said a prayer together and then began to eat their supper. Judy did not have much of an appetite, she was already beginning to miss her home, even though she was still there. But she ate almost everything, so as not to upset her mother and sister. After dinner, everyone began to bid Judy farewell by embracing her and wishing her a good journey, and that she would soon return to them. The younger ones were embraced by Judy, which made the older sister laugh a little. She is going to miss these little creatures who, though they look cute, are actually little devils. When Judy said goodbye to the young kids, Judy stayed with her older siblings and parents. She talked to them about various topics one last time for a while.
"So when will Judy stop by next time?" Stuu asked at one point.
"Ugh... Dad I honestly don't know, I think most likely for the holidays. Unless something changes then maybe then..." Replied Judy thoughtfully.
"It's nice if you come over more often...it's not the same without you" Stuu replied, to which Judy smiled warmly at the comment. It was nice to hear such words from her father.
"Well, it's quite late now. Let's go to bed now, especially you Judy, you need to rest" said Bonnie, to which everyone nodded in agreement. Judy said goodbye to her older siblings and then went to her room. She took one last close look at him. It had been really good days in the house where she had grown up. She could reminisce about a few things, she could feel like a child again, which she missed a lot. In Zootopia, as a police officer, she always had to be on her guard and didn't have time to give in to her childish spirit.
"Someday I'll hang out here with Nick" thought Judy placing her phone next to the alarm on the coffee table. She went to bed and fell asleep for the last time during the holidays at home.