Disclaimer: I still don't own Charmed.
Tales of December
a story by Ryeloza
Penny: December 3, 1945
The crowds were thick that afternoon and Penny nearly groaned with frustration as she dragged her twelve-year-old brother down the street by his hand. Gordon, of course, felt he was too old for this treatment and fought her every step of the way, but Penny wasn't about to lose him in the throng of other people apparently also Christmas shopping. This should have been simple: pick Gordon up from school; take the trolley downtown; buy presents for Mom and Dad; go home. She hadn't counted on so many other people; she hadn't counted on Gordon being such a pain.
Unexpectedly, Gordon joined his left hand in the pull to get out of Penny's grasp and without thinking she whipped around to face him, causing him to topple over from the sudden lack of exertion. Most unfortunately, he tumbled right into a man's legs and him down too.
"Damn," Penny swore under her breath. Ignoring Gordon for the moment, Penny reached out a hand to help the other man out. "I'm so sorry, sir," she said, but before she could get out another word, the man batted her hand away.
"You stupid kids. What the hell do you think you're doing, roughhousing in public like that?" Taken aback, Penny physically stepped backwards for a moment as the man rose to his feet and leaned into her space. "Were you raised in a barn, you stupid little bitch? Your mother must be a lunatic to even let you out of the house—"
Penny opened her mouth to defend herself—she certainly wanted to before any of these onlookers decided to play Good Samaritan—but before she could, the umbrella the man carried zipped out from under his arm. Penny's eyes widened; the man turned around. Before he could say a word, though, the umbrella began to beat him over the head of its own accord. To escape, he hurried down the street while the other people around gawked.
In the confusion, Penny yanked a laughing Gordon from the ground and dragged him into the nearest building. "What the hell were you thinking? You can't use your powers like that at all, let alone in public!"
"Oh settle down, Penny. You get all worked up over nothing." Gordon stuck his hands in his pockets and slouched miserably. Penny resisted the urge to throttle him. What good were powers if you abused them like that? Eventually you'd end up doing something unthinkable or else dead. Especially when you were as big an idiot as her brother was.
Before she could say anything like this, Gordon said, "Now can we get on with this? I have better things to do today." Then he walked away from her.
Exasperated, Penny threw her hands in the air. "Boys!"