To Try or Not To Try Spinach

"No! No! No!" the twins chanted. The Tibble Twins were chanting because their grandmother wanted them to eat disgusting, nasty spinach. She wanted them to eat better, all of them, and she tried serving them the vegetable as a side dish, but the boys weren't having it.

"Boys, please, you'll like it if you try it!" she pleaded, but the chanting continued even as she spoke. The noise was deafening and she could feel the room vibrate. If she looked hard enough, she could see the painting on the wall shake with each booming "No!" the boys screamed.

She had to do something drastic to get their attention, something she'd never done before. She had to take away something. A toy? No, they went through toys faster than they did air. Television? No, they barely watched anyway because she wouldn't let them watch anything violent. No, she had to do something better-

"Boys, if you do not eat the spinach, you won't be allowed to play outside," she said with a threatening tone. The chanting stopped. "I take you heard me?"

"Grandma, please, you can't do that!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Please, anything but that!" Timmy cried.

"No outside time period, even at school. I'll call Miss Morgan right now unless you eat up," she said firmly. The boys exchanged glances...then they exhaled slowly and ate everything but the spinach. After dinner, the call was made, and the boys would be kept inside even during recess at preschool.

"Why is it so quiet out here?" Emily asked. Emily, DW, and Vicita were sitting under a shade tree playing with their dolls while James sat nearby reading a book. The other students were running around playing tag, and though many of them were crying out and screaming, the playground did seem much quieter.

"I know! Are the twins here today?" Vicita asked. Her daycare class normally didn't meet with DW's class, but because so many of them were sick, the teachers included, they were being allowed to play together.

"Yes, they're here," Emily grumbled, showing them a bandage from where they flung a pair of safety scissors into her arm, creating a small scratch.

"Look, they're inside cleaning tables!" DW exclaimed.

Even James looked up from his book and joined the girls as they stared into the room from the sandbox. They had no idea why the boys were doing that; even though Emily was scratched, they apologized and Miss Morgan forgave them for that. And even though they laughed too loudly during story time, Miss Morgan just gave them a time out.

"Well if they didn't do anything here, what about at home?" James asked. "I was grounded last week for causing the bathtub to overflow by accident. Molly was grounded too."

"Their grandmother never punishes them!" Emily argued. "Something must be up. Maybe they're doing it on their own."

"No, they look so unhappy," Vicita noticed.

"Should we ask them?" DW questioned. The children exchanged glances before shaking their heads. Every day without a Tibble was a blessing and you didn't ruin that by asking questions. So they joined the game of tag instead and forgot about the troubled twins.

A few days later, curiosity got the better of DW and her friends, and during craft time, they finally asked the boys why they'd been inside during recess. The boys gave them strange answers at first, but after some prodding, they finally told the truth.

"All because you won't eat a vegetable?" Emily said, holding back laughter. She didn't like everything her family served either, but she knew that trying at least a bite was enough to please them, even if she didn't like it and couldn't finish it. "Just try it!" she offered.

DW kicked her under the table, "No, tell them it's gross. They won't eat it then they'll stay in here forever," she murmured.

"What DW?" Tommy asked.

"Emily forgot what spinach was so I was telling her," DW lied.

"Okay then, what is it?" Timmy smirked, eying Emily carefully.

"It's worm food. If you eat it, you turn into a green worm. I get it confused with lettuce," she grinned nervously. "That'll turn you into a rabbit if you eat too much."

"Plants can't turn you into anything!" Tommy laughed.

"Yes it can," James argued. "Spinach made my sister get sick all night, and the next morning, she looked like a zombie!"

"Simple food poisoning," Timmy smirked. "You're all lying to us."

"How do you know? You won't try it," DW grinned.

The boys were stunned. DW was right; they didn't know what spinach was because they hadn't tried it. But if it was dangerous...

"Tommy, we should stick it out," Timmy whispered as they left school. "What if we turn into worms?"

"I think they were lying," Tommy said firmly, waving at the grandmother. "I'm going to try some tonight. Playing inside is boring."

"But-"

"Come along, boys, I have friends coming home for dinner and I need you fed and out of the way as soon as possible," their grandmother commanded, dragging them towards home.

Just like the previous nights, a bowl of steaming spinach sat beside the boys. But unlike the previous nights, they knew what it was now, or they thought they did. Was it really going to turn them into worms? The twins doubted it, but they were still afraid.

"Come on boys, hurry up," their grandmother commanded.

Finally, as slowly as he could, Tommy dipped him a tiny serving. Timmy took the spoon and did the same. And together, they dried the icky green vegetable...and liked it.

When their grandmother returned, the table was cleared of food, including the spinach. Their grandmother was so happy she handed them their favorite outside toys and shuffled them outside. And despite some minor flatulence later, the boys found a new favorite side dish, and a new reason why not to trust the kids at school.

~End

Theme 012: Trying Something New

This one-shot was completed as part of a theme list challenge I'm doing with TheUltimateCombo and others. For more info, see my profile, and let us know if you'd like to participate too.