Another Zim Hanukkah
Chapter Two: Day Two -- Searching
[A/N - Sorry, but I want to take a quick time-out and wish a happy 17th birthday to my good friend, Everett.]
On Saturday morning, Dib woke up around eight in the morning, ready and alert to greet the rest of the day that was to come. With a smile on his face, he washed up and dressed, and headed downstairs for something to eat.
"Now let's see..." Dib mumbled to himself as he poked through the shelves of his kitchen. "I'm not really in a cereal mood... I... hey, what's this?" He pulled out a box from back in the cupboard and looked it over. " 'bis-kwik'... hey, pancakes!" He gave the box a shake, but heard nothing make a sound inside. Sure enough, the box was empty.
"Oh yeah!" Gaz called from the living room, "We're outta pancake mix. Go out and get some more."
(Alright), Dib thought sarcastically to himself. (I just wake up and already I'm her slave. Sheesh.)
"And stop thinking bad of me!!"
Dib raised his eyebrows in question, wondering how the heck Gaz could read his thoughts. Shrugging it off, Dib snatched up his wallet and walked outside.
The mid-morning scene was glorious. The November sun beat down the best it could through the misty morning air. All around, dewdrops danced upon the grass. Dib sighed a blissful sigh to himself as he made his way into the city to the 24-7 store.
It was unusually quiet in that end of the city that morning. Dib stood outside the store, leaning his back against the wall. He took out his wallet and pulled out a photo of a time many years ago.
It was a picture of a lively young woman with brilliant purple hair. A younger version of Dib sat on a table next to her, while a smaller Gaz sat in her arms, tiny hands clutched to the woman's dress. Behind them was a menorah, all nine candles shining omnipotently over them. Dib sighed to himself and smiled a sad smile. What great times that picture held for him...
Shaking off the feeling of meloncholy, Dib folded his wallet and stuck it back in his pocket, not noticing the picture fall to the ground as he walked into the store.
Just at this moment, a tiny green-and-black puppy came walking around the corner, ready to make his morning run for his breakfast slushie. His already short attention span was cut even shorter when his attention was diverted from his morning snack to the candle-lit pic on the ground. "Candles..." came his first words. Gleefully, he picked up the picture with his teeth and made his way back home to keep it safe.
Dib stepped outside a few minutes later, holding a plastic bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Now that his morning adventures were done for the time being, he could go home, make and enjoy a nice breakfast, and then relax with his vanilla-flavoured coffee, which had a surprisingly delightful taste.
Once at home, the raven-haired boy wasted no time getting his batter together, mixing eggs, milk, sugar, and butter together in a spring-green bowl, along with the proper amount of mix. Once the griddle was hot, on was splashed the thick, beige, slightly lumpy liquid to fry until it reached golden brown perfection. The smell of a bakery wafted throughout the house, hanging heavy in the air, and before long even Gaz's willpower was beginning to run out. She went upstairs to her room, but surprisingly enough, the smell was stronger there, which she found rather odd since her room was on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen.
"What is WRONG with me!?" she growled. "Why do I feel guilty about taking something from Dib? It's never bothered me before..." She sighed and flopped onto her bed. "Maybe it's got something to do with... no. Of course not." She shook the thought out of her head. "Never ever will THAT be an issue."
In her mind, Gaz pictured her brother downstairs, looking all happy and...not hungry, because he had fluffly golden pancakes to drench in sticky, sweet syrup, but only after being generously coated with butter. The scene was just too much for her to stand by and imagine. Sighing in defeat, Gaz hopped up from her bed and took two dollars from her drawer. "All this over a stupid pancake...." she muttered as she walked downstairs into the kitchen.
"Hi Gaz!" Dib said rather cheerfully. "Have some pancakes."
"Uh sure..." she cleared her throat and handed him the money. "Here. I was gonna give you this to buy pancake mix, " she lied, "But you had already left before I could give it to you."
"Hey, thanks Gaz!" He took the cash and pushed the plate towards his sister.
She nodded slowly, taking in the warm food. "Hey Dib," she questioned softly, "Will we be making latkes this year?"
Dib stopped chewing. Painfully he swallowed the lump of pancake in his mouth. "Well, um.... I guess we could... I mean, it's been so long, and I don't think I could do them as good as... well, I mean, I'm not that great of a cook, but I guess we could try it..."
"Let me do it."
The young boy glanced up to meet his sister's gaze. "You will?"
"Yeah, I mean, I gotta learn eventually."
"Uh... okay..."
"Tomorrow night..." Gaz whispered, getting excited. "I'll make them tomorrow night!! Oh man, this'll be swell! We can have kinda like a little party, with you and---" she stopped talking abruptly. (Swell? What am I on!?) Gaz cleared her throat. "Yeah, it'll be a good experience for me." And with that she turned and left the room.
Dib just stared in her wake, wondering what the heck had just happened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Evening fell upon the earth, and the children of the Membrane household gathered around their beloved Menorah to partake in the second night of their yearly celebration of the freedom of their people. Steadly holding the Shamish, Dib moved the imperial candle over to the second candle that needed to be lit. After placing the Shamish back in its normal position, he stood back to admire his work. Three lovely candles lit up the room, and nothing else, creating a glow so astounding it increased the beauty of the already ethereal Menorah.
Each word, each syllable, caressed ever so perfectly through Dib's lips, he tried so hard to make it perfect, and he succeeded in his efforts. The ceremony went on that evening without fail, and for the most part, was generally calm.
Outside, it started to flurry.
"Hey Dib, it's snowing." Gaz commented. "Wanna exchange gifts outside?"
"Uh, alright," came a slightly confused reply.
Little did Dib know how much his younger sister loved the snowfall. She never cared how many extra days of skool she would have to make up; as long as she could have her moments of fun now, that's all that mattered. And sharing such quality moments in this lovely a scenerio was nothing short of pure bliss to the young girl.
Dib ran outside to see Gaz looking up at the sky wearing a blue blazer. She turned around at the sound of his footsteps and tried to look annoyed, but she felt too content to be angry. "Hey," she greeted. "Isn't this cool?"
"Not cool, but cold!" Dib laughed as his joke.
"......that wasn't funny."
Then they looked at each other and started cracking up for no reason at all. Gaz cleared her throat and her expression returned to her usual curt look. "here," she said, handing a small green box to Dib. "Happy second night."
"Uh... same to you, I guess..." he said, giving her a small box in return. Gaz found her gift to be a wooden figurine of a tree, and Dib found his to be a coupon for pancake mix.
"I'll uh... make good use of this, Gaz..."
"Yeah, me too."
The awkward silence rose between the siblings once more. Finally Dib cut the tension by announcing he was going to go back inside. Gaz nodded and said she was going to stay outside a little longer.
Alone at last, the purple-haired girl stood with her face to the sky. The moon shone through the thin clouds, which were barely producing snowfall. Gaz began to wonder what it would be like to fall asleep outside in the light snow. I mean, it wasn't sticking, but that wasn't the point. To be united with the greatest natural wonder of all...
On second thought, Gaz decided as she turned around, it was pretty darn cold outside.
Chapter Two: Day Two -- Searching
[A/N - Sorry, but I want to take a quick time-out and wish a happy 17th birthday to my good friend, Everett.]
On Saturday morning, Dib woke up around eight in the morning, ready and alert to greet the rest of the day that was to come. With a smile on his face, he washed up and dressed, and headed downstairs for something to eat.
"Now let's see..." Dib mumbled to himself as he poked through the shelves of his kitchen. "I'm not really in a cereal mood... I... hey, what's this?" He pulled out a box from back in the cupboard and looked it over. " 'bis-kwik'... hey, pancakes!" He gave the box a shake, but heard nothing make a sound inside. Sure enough, the box was empty.
"Oh yeah!" Gaz called from the living room, "We're outta pancake mix. Go out and get some more."
(Alright), Dib thought sarcastically to himself. (I just wake up and already I'm her slave. Sheesh.)
"And stop thinking bad of me!!"
Dib raised his eyebrows in question, wondering how the heck Gaz could read his thoughts. Shrugging it off, Dib snatched up his wallet and walked outside.
The mid-morning scene was glorious. The November sun beat down the best it could through the misty morning air. All around, dewdrops danced upon the grass. Dib sighed a blissful sigh to himself as he made his way into the city to the 24-7 store.
It was unusually quiet in that end of the city that morning. Dib stood outside the store, leaning his back against the wall. He took out his wallet and pulled out a photo of a time many years ago.
It was a picture of a lively young woman with brilliant purple hair. A younger version of Dib sat on a table next to her, while a smaller Gaz sat in her arms, tiny hands clutched to the woman's dress. Behind them was a menorah, all nine candles shining omnipotently over them. Dib sighed to himself and smiled a sad smile. What great times that picture held for him...
Shaking off the feeling of meloncholy, Dib folded his wallet and stuck it back in his pocket, not noticing the picture fall to the ground as he walked into the store.
Just at this moment, a tiny green-and-black puppy came walking around the corner, ready to make his morning run for his breakfast slushie. His already short attention span was cut even shorter when his attention was diverted from his morning snack to the candle-lit pic on the ground. "Candles..." came his first words. Gleefully, he picked up the picture with his teeth and made his way back home to keep it safe.
Dib stepped outside a few minutes later, holding a plastic bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. Now that his morning adventures were done for the time being, he could go home, make and enjoy a nice breakfast, and then relax with his vanilla-flavoured coffee, which had a surprisingly delightful taste.
Once at home, the raven-haired boy wasted no time getting his batter together, mixing eggs, milk, sugar, and butter together in a spring-green bowl, along with the proper amount of mix. Once the griddle was hot, on was splashed the thick, beige, slightly lumpy liquid to fry until it reached golden brown perfection. The smell of a bakery wafted throughout the house, hanging heavy in the air, and before long even Gaz's willpower was beginning to run out. She went upstairs to her room, but surprisingly enough, the smell was stronger there, which she found rather odd since her room was on the opposite side of the house from the kitchen.
"What is WRONG with me!?" she growled. "Why do I feel guilty about taking something from Dib? It's never bothered me before..." She sighed and flopped onto her bed. "Maybe it's got something to do with... no. Of course not." She shook the thought out of her head. "Never ever will THAT be an issue."
In her mind, Gaz pictured her brother downstairs, looking all happy and...not hungry, because he had fluffly golden pancakes to drench in sticky, sweet syrup, but only after being generously coated with butter. The scene was just too much for her to stand by and imagine. Sighing in defeat, Gaz hopped up from her bed and took two dollars from her drawer. "All this over a stupid pancake...." she muttered as she walked downstairs into the kitchen.
"Hi Gaz!" Dib said rather cheerfully. "Have some pancakes."
"Uh sure..." she cleared her throat and handed him the money. "Here. I was gonna give you this to buy pancake mix, " she lied, "But you had already left before I could give it to you."
"Hey, thanks Gaz!" He took the cash and pushed the plate towards his sister.
She nodded slowly, taking in the warm food. "Hey Dib," she questioned softly, "Will we be making latkes this year?"
Dib stopped chewing. Painfully he swallowed the lump of pancake in his mouth. "Well, um.... I guess we could... I mean, it's been so long, and I don't think I could do them as good as... well, I mean, I'm not that great of a cook, but I guess we could try it..."
"Let me do it."
The young boy glanced up to meet his sister's gaze. "You will?"
"Yeah, I mean, I gotta learn eventually."
"Uh... okay..."
"Tomorrow night..." Gaz whispered, getting excited. "I'll make them tomorrow night!! Oh man, this'll be swell! We can have kinda like a little party, with you and---" she stopped talking abruptly. (Swell? What am I on!?) Gaz cleared her throat. "Yeah, it'll be a good experience for me." And with that she turned and left the room.
Dib just stared in her wake, wondering what the heck had just happened.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Evening fell upon the earth, and the children of the Membrane household gathered around their beloved Menorah to partake in the second night of their yearly celebration of the freedom of their people. Steadly holding the Shamish, Dib moved the imperial candle over to the second candle that needed to be lit. After placing the Shamish back in its normal position, he stood back to admire his work. Three lovely candles lit up the room, and nothing else, creating a glow so astounding it increased the beauty of the already ethereal Menorah.
Each word, each syllable, caressed ever so perfectly through Dib's lips, he tried so hard to make it perfect, and he succeeded in his efforts. The ceremony went on that evening without fail, and for the most part, was generally calm.
Outside, it started to flurry.
"Hey Dib, it's snowing." Gaz commented. "Wanna exchange gifts outside?"
"Uh, alright," came a slightly confused reply.
Little did Dib know how much his younger sister loved the snowfall. She never cared how many extra days of skool she would have to make up; as long as she could have her moments of fun now, that's all that mattered. And sharing such quality moments in this lovely a scenerio was nothing short of pure bliss to the young girl.
Dib ran outside to see Gaz looking up at the sky wearing a blue blazer. She turned around at the sound of his footsteps and tried to look annoyed, but she felt too content to be angry. "Hey," she greeted. "Isn't this cool?"
"Not cool, but cold!" Dib laughed as his joke.
"......that wasn't funny."
Then they looked at each other and started cracking up for no reason at all. Gaz cleared her throat and her expression returned to her usual curt look. "here," she said, handing a small green box to Dib. "Happy second night."
"Uh... same to you, I guess..." he said, giving her a small box in return. Gaz found her gift to be a wooden figurine of a tree, and Dib found his to be a coupon for pancake mix.
"I'll uh... make good use of this, Gaz..."
"Yeah, me too."
The awkward silence rose between the siblings once more. Finally Dib cut the tension by announcing he was going to go back inside. Gaz nodded and said she was going to stay outside a little longer.
Alone at last, the purple-haired girl stood with her face to the sky. The moon shone through the thin clouds, which were barely producing snowfall. Gaz began to wonder what it would be like to fall asleep outside in the light snow. I mean, it wasn't sticking, but that wasn't the point. To be united with the greatest natural wonder of all...
On second thought, Gaz decided as she turned around, it was pretty darn cold outside.