The Toaster Incident

'Twas the morning of Thanksgiving, when all through the house not creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The fridge was stuffed full of food with care, in wait of the hungry family that would soon leave it bare—

Amy's alarm clock screeched to life and the sleeping girl woke up from her odd dream of old Christmas poems and Thanksgiving dinner. She sat up a little and looked around, eyes falling on the remote on the pillow next to her. She picked it up and pointed it at the small TV in her room. The screen blipped when she hit the power button with her thumb, turning the Christmas movie currently playing into a black screen of nothing. With the TV off she moved on to her alarm clock. She punched it hard with a tight fist and it bleeped one more time before finally falling silent. Happy with the silence, Amy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. It was Thanksgiving morning and it was her turn to cook the big dinner she would share later with her two best friends and angel.

With one big stretch, Amy pushed off her bed and left her room in her Lorax pajamas. She shuffled through the hall and slipped into Samandriel's bedroom, finding the baby angel curled up in his crib. Amy grinned softly and brushed a hand along the baby angel's wings, laughing when they arched up into her hand.

"Samandriel," she whispered softly, bending close so her mouth was just a hair's width away from his ear. "Samandriel, wake up."

"Mmmm," the little angel moaned, rolling over so he was on his side. "Don't wanna." Amy chuckled and rubbed a gentle hand up and down his back.

"You don't want to help bake that giant Turkey Simon bought yesterday?" Samandriel's eyes popped open then and he looked up at Amy with tired, wide eyes. "I'll take that as a no." She walked over to the stack of clothes set out for Samandriel then, grimacing at the ugly orange and brown striped sweater with a fat turkey printed on the front. "Simon pick this out?" she questioned while holding up the sweater for Samandriel to see. Samandriel shook his head.

"No," he yawned. "I did." Amy huffed out a laugh and stepped over to the little angel.

"Like father, like son," she mused.

Dressed and slightly more awake, Samandriel and Amy made their way into the kitchen. The clock on the oven read 6:00am. It was real early, but Amy remembered how long it had taken Kieran last year to cook everything on time. It wasn't an easy thing to do, but Amy had the upperhand this year. She had a helper to cheer her on.

Plopping Samandriel on the stool nearby, Amy got to work. She first went to the turkey and ham waiting in the fridge. She had prepped them the night before and all she had to do with them now was get them in the oven. Now all she needed to do was make the cranberry sauce, gravy, yams, pie, and a new kind of food she had discovered a while back. They were dumpling –potato dumplings. She had never heard of such a thing before, but when Mrs. Wellington showed up a while back to help watch the angels while the Winchesters took care of some aspects of the building of their home she had told Amy all about the little round balls of flour and potato. Amy couldn't get the little dumplings out of her mind after that and she just had to try them.

"Amy, I hungry," Samandriel whined while watching Amy get a pot of boiling water and bowl ready to stir her dumpling mixture in.

"Can you wait just a little longer?" Amy pleaded as she started to pour flour and already cut potatoes into the bowl in front of her. "I just want to get the mix started." She chanced a look at the little angel and was met with a pouty lip and big eyes. Amy groaned and stepped back from the bowl filled with potatoes and flour. She moved to the kitchen cabinet stocked with snacks and pulled out a box of strawberry pop tarts. After pulling out a packet, she ripped it open to reveal two perfect pop tarts. Well, they were almost perfect. Amy dropped the pop tarts into the toaster to warm them up just how Samandriel liked them. "There," Amy huffed. "Now you puddle along to the washroom and soap up those dirty hands of yours."

Samandriel carefully slid off his stool with Amy's help and hurried off to the bathroom. He tiptoed silently past Kieren and Simon's shared room. The two were curled up together in their thick quilts snoring the early morning away. When Samandriel was a safe distance past their room, he started running again until he slid into the bathroom. There was a little footstool for him by the sink and the little angel used that to climb up to the sink. He washed his hands quickly in the warm water and bubbly soap before leaping off the top of his chair. He spread his wings as he fell. He couldn't fly yet, but he could still use them as a parachute.

Once his feet safely landed back onto the floor, Samandriel pattered back into the kitchen. He looked to his spot at the counter, expecting to see his pop tarts waiting for him on a plate by his stool. What he found instead was empty space. The little angel frowned and looked from the counter to the rest of the kitchen. Amy was at the oven stirring the dumplings in a pot of boiling water. A few feet away under the cabinets near the coffee pot was a flaming toaster. Angry red flames were shooting up from the toaster and eating away at the bottom of one of the wood cabinets it was under. Smoke was starting to form and billow up from the flames, turning from a light grey to a dark black.

"Fire!" little Samandriel cried out in fear. "Fire! Fire!" Amy startled from her thoughts and dropped the spoon she was using to stir her dumplings. She turned, eyes widening as she took in the sight of the angry flames. She cried out at the same time the fire alarm screeched to life. More and more smoke was billowing into the air, making both Amy's and Samandriel's eyes sting.

The sound of feat pattering against the floor sounded from the living room and soon Samandriel was being swept into Kieren's arms while Simon dashed for the toaster. With a pair of oven mitts suddenly on his hands, Simon unplugged the toaster and grabbed it. He yanked it out from under the cabinet and hurried from the kitchen to the front door. Amy ran ahead of him, swinging the door wide for him. Simon tossed the flaming toaster onto their frost covered lawn. With wet ground surrounding it, the fire had nowhere to go and when as much of the toaster was eaten away as possible the fire began to die. Simon and Amy raced back into the house when the flames became only small embers. Back in the kitchen, they found that Kieren had managed to put out most of the cabinet fire with a towel while Samandriel sat on a stool a safe distance away. Simon and Amy hurried over to him, joining in on smothering the hungry flames eating away at their home.

It took a while, but eventually the flames died and the group was finally in the clear. Kieren grabbed the scorched and soot covered towels from his boyfriend and best friend to toss into the water filled sink. When he turned back around Samandriel had somehow moved from the safety of his little stool and was now standing under the burnt cabinet and staring at the dark scorch mark on the very bottom along with Simon and Amy. Kieren rolled his eyes and walked past the three to the main window of the room.

"Amy, what were you cooking in the toaster?" Kieren asked, looking over his shoulder as he slid the window open.

"Samandriel's breakfast," Amy revealed while pulling her head back from under the cabinet. She scooped the tiny angel into her arms and gave her two friends a shrug. Guess this means we can add to the Thanksgiving tradition and go Black Friday shopping, yeah?" Both of her roommates paled at the mention of the dreaded Black Friday that Amy constantly tried to drag them into year after year. The only one ever brave enough to go shopping with her was Samandriel.

"Uh…" Simon shared a quick glance at Kieren and then at the cabinet. "…it's not too bad. We don't have to go get a new one," he reasoned. "It doesn't look like the fire burnt through at all."

"Yeah it just…added some color," Kieren added with a roll of his eyes as he watched Simon try to talk himself out of going shopping.

"What about toaster?" Samandriel asked then. His eyes glittered with sadness. "No more pop tarts?" Kieren and Simon both gulped as they took in the watery glint in their angel's eyes and the way his lip wobbled. Amy gave the both of them a long look too and the boys finally cracked.

"Fine!" Simon huffed, raising his hands in defeat and surrender. "We'll go Black Friday shopping." Samandriel and Amy both cheered triumphantly, but their joyous shouts were soon covered by the sizzling of water flowing over the pot Amy had left unwatched for too long. The group yelped and Amy hurried over to the pot, getting it under control before any more water could spill out. She checked her dumplings, finding that they hadn't been burnt and that they were actually ready to come out of their hot bath. She grinned up at her favorite boys and gave them a thumbs up.

"We're A-Okay!"

Simon, Kieren, and Samandriel gave her a thumbs up back and she turned back quickly to her dumplings and battled with getting them out of the hot water without dropping them. Simon leaned into Kieren's side.

"You're cooking Christmas dinner right?" he questioned. Kieren gave him a nod in answer.

"Without a doubt."

I'm back! Sorry, for dropping off the side of the Earth for that past couple weeks. I'm pretty sure school is trying to kill me.

Fun fact: Part of the toaster incident is true. A couple of years back I nearly burnt down half the kitchen because I left my pop tart in the toaster. Amy and I share a lack of skill when it comes to doing anything in the kitchen.