Sorry, the last one fell flat. My apologies. But at the request of Afanoflife, I've added a little something that I hope makes you guys smile. It's just a short drabble, but it's cute. Enjoy, review, and suggest other things you'd like to see! Ciao!
Chapter 18– Drabble Based on Independence Day
"Granddad, LOOK!" SPLAT! Alexandra's hands shifted to form the shape of a butterfly on the huge, communal sheet of paper that took up the entire two picnic tables set together in the crafts tent. She lifted both her red and blue hands up to show the newcomer. "You wanna try? C'mon, it's fun! Looks cool, too!" She quickly stamped her open palms haphazardly across the paper, leaving a huge collage of hand-prints.
The child's enthusiasm was contagious, for even the King of Camelot himself tentatively got in on the fun. Though considerably more conservative and using one of the oversized paintbrushes available, rather than making his own hands filthy, Uther gave himself over to artistic impulse. Glancing once at his eldest grandchild, he watched as she tried splattering paint by flicking her own brush toward the paper. Laughing, he asked, "What are you doing, Alexandra?"
Alexandra turned her blond little head to look at her grandfather, and she gave him an excited, toothy grin. "Paint Splatters! I saw this on Artzooka, an' Momma showed me how to do it, an' it's so pretty." She turned her head back to her work and frowned in thought. "Needs sparkles."
"Alex, honey, here you go," said an older woman as she handed The Brigadier General's granddaughter a small plate of multicoloured sparkles. She was greying, slightly, but she appeared to be in excellent shape. "That's all for now, kiddo. The other kids will want some, too." Lori smiled at the child, seeing open amusement on the man's lined face. "They love this part of the day," she said with a friendly smile. "Alex has been coming to this since she was a baby, and we have just watched this li'l miss grow up." She frowned in question. "I don't think we've seen you here at Pendleton before."
Uther shook his head, setting his brush down to converse. "No, this would be our first time here. Lovely celebration, though, I must say."
"Well, thank you! I'll pass it on to the Committee." Lori nodded and glanced about. "You must be Alexandra's grandfather. I met her father a while ago, and you two sound very much the same. British, right?" Her own accent was a soft southern lilt, and in comparison the newcomer was very reserved.
Uther nodded, cautious not to reveal more than was necessary "Indeed."
Lori bent to help each child in turn, handing them a variety of supplies and decorative bits. She turned abruptly when one of the little ones beside her squeaked. "Hey—Robert, stop flicking paint at your sister. You know she hates that," she scolded, taking the little boy's brush away. "Now, go see your dad, sweetheart. You need to go play." She rolled her eyes and smiled at Uther. "Ages and stages, I tell ya..."
Uther grinned, watching the little dark boy race out of the tent. It reminded the ageing King about his son's young life, when Arthur had been out to cause trouble. In contrast, Alexandra was tame. She had a sense of empathy that her father had not possessed at such a young age. Glancing at her work, again, he laughed out loud when the very...sparkly project met his vision. "Well, now, that is...bright," he commented, setting a hand on the girl's back.
"Yep!" Alexandra giggled and set her plate in front of the coordinator. "Lori, do you have some colouring books and crayons?" she asked politely. In seconds she was handed two books, and Alexandra set one in front of her grandfather. "Here, Granddad, you can colour with me!" She set a pack of crayons in front of him, and she settled onto her heels as she opened the book she'd chosen—a book of fairies. "It's really easy. You just take a crayon-" she demonstrated as she spoke-" and move it all around your paper. But try to keep the colours inside the lines, okay? It's not how fast you can do it, it's how hard you try to do your best," she advised. "Momma says I'm really good with crayons, an' we used them in Kindergarten." She paused in thought, looking at her grandfather. "Tommy tried to eat one, so the teacher took it away." She shook her head, rolling her own eyes in disdain. "He's just gotta learn..."
Uther stared at Camelot's heir incredulously. Yes, she talked a lot...but she spoke quite coherently, and she sounded very much like her own mother when she gave instruction. The King chuckled to himself as he sought to do as she had instructed. Under normal circumstances, he would have refused to participate in such activities...but here, in this land, his Kingly status just did not matter. He could bond with this child and really come down to her level for a short while. And, low and behold, he saw the value in such pastimes. It was very...relaxing. Nodding his approval, he coloured in a strange looking vehicle called "Lightning McQueen". How odd...
"Lookin' good!" Alexandra chirped, pausing to watch her grandfather's first foray into colouring with wax crayons. "Granddad, I think you got it!"