Another Zim Hanukkah
Chapter Six: Day Six - Effort
As hard as Dib was trying to be nicer to Gaz, his efforts seemed unappreciated and unreturned, for she was still as icy to him as ever. Perhaps she needed some more prodding, Dib was thinking, but Hanukkah was already half over, and that left him little time to get Gaz to warm up. Dib was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could get his dad to play a part in this.
On the other hand, the outcome of that didn't seem too favorable. Prof. Membrane wasn't Jewish; his wife was, and he therefore didn't celebrate the Festival of Lights. He did celebrate Christmas for a few minutes when his schedule allowed it, and Gaz always seemed to take a part in that.
But Dib needed to disregard the different holidays; that wasn't the reason his family was falling apart. A great deal of spirit and cheer had come from Lillian Membrane, but her spirit had long departed, on a fateful night five years ago.
Gaz was only three at the time, but gosh, was she ever in love with her Mommy. Of course, she wasn't any less vile to Dib, but that was to be expected between a brother and his little sister, a little sibling rivalry. It wasn't a big deal, until...
It was a cold, snowy winter night. Lillian had just finished the candle lighting with her children, and was now heading home from a short trip to the store immediatly after. But the traveling was slow due to the high winds and poor visibility from the blowing snow. Gaz and Dib were beginning to grow impatient.
"Mommy, I'm hungwy..." little Gazy whimpered from her seat behind Lillian.
"Oh, be quiet," Dib ordered from across the vehicle, "I'm hungry, too."
Lillian sighed. "That's what you get for not eating your supper. You'll have to wait until we get home before you can have anything else."
"Oh kay..." came a dissapointed sigh from Dib.
But Gaz refused to let up. "No no, I want my num nums!"
"Gaz, I told you to wait!" Lillian said sternly.
"I want my foooooo---"
Dib clamped a hand onver his sister's mouth. "I said be quiet!"
-CHOMP-
"AHHH!!! MOM, GAZ BIT ME!"
"Oh bee kwyet," Gaz grinned, mocking her brother's earlier comment.
"Both of you, SHUT UP!!" Lillian screamed as she slowed the car to stop.
She exhaled sharply, then unbuckled her belt to get a better look at her kids, who were wide-eyed with enchantment.
"I'm not going to tell you one more time to be quiet. You wanted to come for the ride, and you knew it was going to take a while to get home. One more peep out of EITHER of you, and the most you'll be getting until breakfast is a pack of crackers. Understood?"
Both children nodded in unison.
Lillian sighed a sigh of relief. "Good. Then let's listen to some music, shall we?" She clicked on the car radio and setteld on some light contemporary. "Finally, a station without Christmas music.... I mean, it's pleasant and all, but two weeks in a row is enough for now..."
Lillian pulled to a stop sign, humming the radio's tunes to herself, and began to slowly make her way across the barren intersection.
Gaz, who had been intently chewing on her necklace charm, suddenly had her attention turned to the pair of bright white lights that were coming up fast. "Mama..." she started. "Car..."
"What did I tell you, Gaz?"
"No, really, a car! Look outside!"
"There are plenty of cars..." Lillian glanced to her left, then did a double take at the vehicle speeding towards her. She screamed and tried to swerve the car around; this guy clearly wasn't going to stop, so Lillian tried to turn the car so that the impact would slam the brunt of the force in the front passernger seat, where no one was seated.
But the drunken idiot was going too fast. In the blink of an eye, it slammed into the driver's door, metal against metal, creating a screeching so horrible the sound could've broken glass. Oh yes, and the windows shattering and the glass flying everywhere...
Lillian had died instantly.
Dib snapped back to reality, realizing that he had been lost in his memory again. Staring at the Menorah... it was the first time that Menorah was used since the year of Lillian's death. Then Dib realized something...
"Shamish, one two three... oh my..."
Lillian had died on the 7th night of Hanukkah. Today was already the sixth day... one more night, using her own candles and Menorah and lighter... it gave Dib the chills, as if he were being haunted.
"I know of the Ghost of Christmas past, but of Hanukkah past?" He shook his head. "I'm just getting carried away, I think... I mean, this is a rather depressing time of year for me..."
He sighed.
"Aw heck, who am I kidding? We're all shaken up..." He sent a melancholy glance up the stairs towards Gaz's room. "If only she could let me a little closer. Then.... maybe we wouldn't be so torn apart." He winced when he realized what he said, "Boy, THAT was redundant."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that afternoon, Gaz walked inside the house carrying a small bag of parcels. Waiting until Dib wasn't looking, she took a shoe-box out and shoved it underneath the cabinet that the Menorah was sitting on, and casually whistled as she walked into the kitchen.
"What'cha got, Gaz?" Dib asked, channel surfing.
"Oh, some things from the store."
"Gaz, I said I would run out to get those things."
"Well, you took too long getting off your butt." She unpacked the brown paper bag. Bread, jelly, milk... all the necessities for a nice dinner of PB&J sandiwches, which was probably what they were going to be stuck with, seeing as all the latkes had been eaten.
"Make it quick," Dib called, noting the clock. "It's time for the lighting."
Gaz tore off her coat, took her yarmulkah from it's shelf in the cabinet, and knelt quietly as Dib recited the sacred prayer. Once he was through, she bounded up and reached for the Shamish before Dib could, and lit the sixth candle on the Menorah.
"Beat'cha."
Dib shook his head and walked to the couch. Reaching behind, he pulled up a plastic shopping bag and pawed through it, pulling out a small China doll. It wasn't a real China doll, but it looked like one, and Dib through it kinda looked like her, with purple-tinted hair, dark eyelashes and a rich black dress and shoes.
Gaz dropped the box she held in her hands. Slowly she reached for the doll as if it were magical. She cradled it gently, as if she were 4 years old again, holding a cherished toy. "She's beautiful, Dib... er, I mean, thanks how nice here you go." And she shoved the box under Dib's nose.
Dib opened the show box to find a brand new, freshly painted dreidel and a bag of chocolate coins. He looked at his sister. "Does that mean you want---"
"Not tonight," she cut off. "But... we'll see. Maybe tomorrow." And, as usual, she walked upstairs to her room.
Suddenly, Dib felt unusually tired. He clambered back to the sofa and sat staring straight at the Menorah. It was so relaxing to him...
The world went black as Dib yawned, and grew blurry as he exhaled. It wasn't even fice o'clock, and yet a nap seemsed like such a marvel. He watched the Menorah's candles blur as he drifted off into sleep, wondering how the Menorah made him feel so calm inside.
He wondered if Zim felt the same way.
Chapter Six: Day Six - Effort
As hard as Dib was trying to be nicer to Gaz, his efforts seemed unappreciated and unreturned, for she was still as icy to him as ever. Perhaps she needed some more prodding, Dib was thinking, but Hanukkah was already half over, and that left him little time to get Gaz to warm up. Dib was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could get his dad to play a part in this.
On the other hand, the outcome of that didn't seem too favorable. Prof. Membrane wasn't Jewish; his wife was, and he therefore didn't celebrate the Festival of Lights. He did celebrate Christmas for a few minutes when his schedule allowed it, and Gaz always seemed to take a part in that.
But Dib needed to disregard the different holidays; that wasn't the reason his family was falling apart. A great deal of spirit and cheer had come from Lillian Membrane, but her spirit had long departed, on a fateful night five years ago.
Gaz was only three at the time, but gosh, was she ever in love with her Mommy. Of course, she wasn't any less vile to Dib, but that was to be expected between a brother and his little sister, a little sibling rivalry. It wasn't a big deal, until...
It was a cold, snowy winter night. Lillian had just finished the candle lighting with her children, and was now heading home from a short trip to the store immediatly after. But the traveling was slow due to the high winds and poor visibility from the blowing snow. Gaz and Dib were beginning to grow impatient.
"Mommy, I'm hungwy..." little Gazy whimpered from her seat behind Lillian.
"Oh, be quiet," Dib ordered from across the vehicle, "I'm hungry, too."
Lillian sighed. "That's what you get for not eating your supper. You'll have to wait until we get home before you can have anything else."
"Oh kay..." came a dissapointed sigh from Dib.
But Gaz refused to let up. "No no, I want my num nums!"
"Gaz, I told you to wait!" Lillian said sternly.
"I want my foooooo---"
Dib clamped a hand onver his sister's mouth. "I said be quiet!"
-CHOMP-
"AHHH!!! MOM, GAZ BIT ME!"
"Oh bee kwyet," Gaz grinned, mocking her brother's earlier comment.
"Both of you, SHUT UP!!" Lillian screamed as she slowed the car to stop.
She exhaled sharply, then unbuckled her belt to get a better look at her kids, who were wide-eyed with enchantment.
"I'm not going to tell you one more time to be quiet. You wanted to come for the ride, and you knew it was going to take a while to get home. One more peep out of EITHER of you, and the most you'll be getting until breakfast is a pack of crackers. Understood?"
Both children nodded in unison.
Lillian sighed a sigh of relief. "Good. Then let's listen to some music, shall we?" She clicked on the car radio and setteld on some light contemporary. "Finally, a station without Christmas music.... I mean, it's pleasant and all, but two weeks in a row is enough for now..."
Lillian pulled to a stop sign, humming the radio's tunes to herself, and began to slowly make her way across the barren intersection.
Gaz, who had been intently chewing on her necklace charm, suddenly had her attention turned to the pair of bright white lights that were coming up fast. "Mama..." she started. "Car..."
"What did I tell you, Gaz?"
"No, really, a car! Look outside!"
"There are plenty of cars..." Lillian glanced to her left, then did a double take at the vehicle speeding towards her. She screamed and tried to swerve the car around; this guy clearly wasn't going to stop, so Lillian tried to turn the car so that the impact would slam the brunt of the force in the front passernger seat, where no one was seated.
But the drunken idiot was going too fast. In the blink of an eye, it slammed into the driver's door, metal against metal, creating a screeching so horrible the sound could've broken glass. Oh yes, and the windows shattering and the glass flying everywhere...
Lillian had died instantly.
Dib snapped back to reality, realizing that he had been lost in his memory again. Staring at the Menorah... it was the first time that Menorah was used since the year of Lillian's death. Then Dib realized something...
"Shamish, one two three... oh my..."
Lillian had died on the 7th night of Hanukkah. Today was already the sixth day... one more night, using her own candles and Menorah and lighter... it gave Dib the chills, as if he were being haunted.
"I know of the Ghost of Christmas past, but of Hanukkah past?" He shook his head. "I'm just getting carried away, I think... I mean, this is a rather depressing time of year for me..."
He sighed.
"Aw heck, who am I kidding? We're all shaken up..." He sent a melancholy glance up the stairs towards Gaz's room. "If only she could let me a little closer. Then.... maybe we wouldn't be so torn apart." He winced when he realized what he said, "Boy, THAT was redundant."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that afternoon, Gaz walked inside the house carrying a small bag of parcels. Waiting until Dib wasn't looking, she took a shoe-box out and shoved it underneath the cabinet that the Menorah was sitting on, and casually whistled as she walked into the kitchen.
"What'cha got, Gaz?" Dib asked, channel surfing.
"Oh, some things from the store."
"Gaz, I said I would run out to get those things."
"Well, you took too long getting off your butt." She unpacked the brown paper bag. Bread, jelly, milk... all the necessities for a nice dinner of PB&J sandiwches, which was probably what they were going to be stuck with, seeing as all the latkes had been eaten.
"Make it quick," Dib called, noting the clock. "It's time for the lighting."
Gaz tore off her coat, took her yarmulkah from it's shelf in the cabinet, and knelt quietly as Dib recited the sacred prayer. Once he was through, she bounded up and reached for the Shamish before Dib could, and lit the sixth candle on the Menorah.
"Beat'cha."
Dib shook his head and walked to the couch. Reaching behind, he pulled up a plastic shopping bag and pawed through it, pulling out a small China doll. It wasn't a real China doll, but it looked like one, and Dib through it kinda looked like her, with purple-tinted hair, dark eyelashes and a rich black dress and shoes.
Gaz dropped the box she held in her hands. Slowly she reached for the doll as if it were magical. She cradled it gently, as if she were 4 years old again, holding a cherished toy. "She's beautiful, Dib... er, I mean, thanks how nice here you go." And she shoved the box under Dib's nose.
Dib opened the show box to find a brand new, freshly painted dreidel and a bag of chocolate coins. He looked at his sister. "Does that mean you want---"
"Not tonight," she cut off. "But... we'll see. Maybe tomorrow." And, as usual, she walked upstairs to her room.
Suddenly, Dib felt unusually tired. He clambered back to the sofa and sat staring straight at the Menorah. It was so relaxing to him...
The world went black as Dib yawned, and grew blurry as he exhaled. It wasn't even fice o'clock, and yet a nap seemsed like such a marvel. He watched the Menorah's candles blur as he drifted off into sleep, wondering how the Menorah made him feel so calm inside.
He wondered if Zim felt the same way.