Granny's House
"He goes up to the basket…then…boom! A thousand points!" yelled Brendan after he slammed his basketball into his mini-basketball hoop.
He picked up the ball and held it over his head like a trophy.
"I am the king of this game!"
"Whatever…" said Kate, whom had just come downstairs with her pink backpack
She sat down on the couch and absentmindedly looked into space. Soon after Gladys came downstairs with Lola close behind.
"Hurry kids, you better be ready …" said Gladys rushing into the kitchen.
Lola stopped at the foot of the steps and watched her brother play basketball. Brendan tossed the ball in the air and ran with it to the basket. Lola was curious.
"Can I try?" asked Lola timidly
"You?" said Brendan annoyed, "But you're a girl…"
Lola pouted.
"Fine…but your only gonna end up crying…"
He tossed her the ball. She caught it with much difficulty, since it was bigger than she was. Brendan didn't even bother to move as Lola tried to bounce the ball. She smiled as she made it bounce higher and higher. She then smacked the ball with all her might and it went high into the air, and it landed swoosh into the basket.
"Yay!" cheered Lola
"Lucky shot…" grumbled Brendan
"Come on kids…let's go…" said Gladys
It was a Monday and school was about to begin for Brandon and Kate. Brandon was going to kindergarten and Kate was going to the third grade. But it was going to be Lola's first time in daycare. Gladys opened the door, and went towards the van with Lola hanging on to her hand and the older two trailing not too far behind. Gladys opened the side door.
"Everyone in!"
Kate went in followed by Brandon. Gladys picked Lola up from the ground and placed her in her car seat. After fastening the seatbelt, she closed the door. Gladys sat in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition. She pulled out of the driveway and went on her way.
"Mom!" Brendan is putting his boogers on my shoulder!" complained Kate
"No I'm not!" said Brandon
Gladys rolled her eyes.
"Mom!"
"Mom!"
"Stop it!" shot back Gladys
The two Bunnies silenced for a moment.
"Can't we ever have a peaceful morning? Just once?" begged Gladys
Kate and Brendan looked at each other then turned away. But not before Kate shoved Brendan.
"Kate! I saw that!" scolded Gladys
"Why you always picking on me?" retaliated Katie
"Cause you're the one always starting trouble!"
"But he started it!"
"Did not!" defended Brendan
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Shush!" yelled Gladys
The car fell silent. Lola clung to her Edna.
"Ah, finally!" exclaimed Gladys
They arrived at the front entrance of the local elementary school. The side door opened and Kate and Brendan came out of the car.
"Alright kids, be good," said Gladys
"Bye!" waved the two Bunnies as the joined the crowd of children entering the school.
Gladys and Lola waved goodbye. Gladys closed the door and started the car once more. Lola noticed her mother going in a different direction than they usually did.
"Mom, where are we going?"
"We're going to your daycare; you're going to be with other kids your own age,"
"Kids like me? Wow…like Kate and Brendan go to school with other kids?"
"Yes sweetie,"
"Yay! I'm a big kid now!"
"No little missy. You're still a baby…"
"But I wanna be a big kid like Kate and Brendan,"
"In due time…"
Gladys pulled up to the bright house. She and Lola came out and came towards the white fence. There in the yard, little children were playing tag. There was a woman there watching over them. She noticed Gladys and Lola at the gate and walked towards them.
"Why hello there," said the woman
"Hello," greeted Gladys, "I'm Mrs. Bunny,"
"Ah, yes, I've been expecting you. And who is this lovely young lady?"
"My name is Lola!" she said cheerfully
"Nice to meet you," said the woman, "I'm Granny."
She extended her hand and shook Lola's hand.
"Come in my dear, and meet the other little ones,"
Lola stepped forward, but couldn't take the next step. Gladys hadn't let go of her hand. Lola tugged and tugged until she got free.
"Bye mom!" she called back as she skipped towards the others
"Bye Lola…" hesitated Gladys
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," assured Granny
"Here, I brought some things for her," she said giving Granny a large tote bag
"Wow, I didn't know she was moving here," she joked
"Sorry, is that you never know what she may need,"
"It's alright. Is she your first?"
"No, I have two others. She's the baby,"
"Oh, I know it's difficult, but she'll eventually have to venture out on her own,"
"That's true…but it's just that I worry for her,"
"That's understandable. But I assure you, she's safe here,"
Lola reached the other kids. They were running around, away from the black duck, whom seemed to be 'it'. One of the boys approached her.
"Eh, hi!" said the boy
"Hi," replied Lola
"My name's Bugs Bunny, what's yours?"
"My name's Lola,"
"You wanna play tag?'
"Sure,"
"Hey Bugs!" called the little black duck, "I got a new rule; every new player has to be 'it'"
"We've never done that before Daffy!" said Bugs
"I said it was new, so the new girl is 'it' now!" said Daffy running off
"You don't have to be 'it'…" said Bugs
"It's ok, I'll be 'it'" said Lola
Soon enough, the other boys came towards them.
"Hello!" said the littlest one, "I'm Tweety."
"I'm Sylvester," said the cat
"Sfghsghsgh…me Taz!" said the little devil
"Hi you guys! I'm Lola," said Lola with a bright smile
"Hey!" demanded Daffy, "I thought we were supposed to run away from whoever's 'it'!"
"Ok Daff. It wouldn't hurt to be polite," said Bugs
"We're in the middle of an important game here! We don't have time to introduce ourselves! It's just a trick so she can tag you!"
"Daffy, give it a rest,"
"It's ok Bugs, I'm ready to play!" said Lola
"Ok doc," said Bugs, "Ready! Set! Go!"
The boys began to run away. Lola set Edna down on the ground and began the chase.
Lola ran towards Taz first. She was catching up to him, but he began his tornado and spun in another direction past her; this caused Lola to spin herself. After shaking off the dizziness, Lola searched for the next closest person. She saw Sylvester. She ran towards him, but he was able to make it to base before she could tag him. Lola then looked around her. She heard someone atop the slide. She climbed the steps and found Daffy. Daffy went down the slide, with Lola behind him. When he reached the bottom, Lola tagged him.
"Hey!" said Daffy
"Tag! You're it!" she said
Daffy tried to tag her back, but she was too quick.
The game continued on. The little ones were laughing and smiling; having a great time. Gladys looked on. She slowly made her way to the van, leaving her baby with her new friends.
Lola had a fun filled first day. She got to play with her new friends, she got to eat food she's never tasted before, and she learned many things from Granny. The day seemed to pass by so quickly for her, but the hours seemed like days for Gladys. She came back, three o'clock on the dot to pick her up. She parked in the street and came towards the house.
"Oh Mrs. Bunny," said Granny upon opening the door
"Hello Granny, I'm here for Lola," said Gladys
"Of course, she's right in the living room,"
Granny led Gladys to the living room. There they found the children finger painting.
"Lola?" said Gladys
"Hmm?" said Lola looking away from her canvas, "oh, hi mom!"
"Time to go…"
"Aww, but mom…we were gonna play hopscotch later…"
"Sorry sweetie, but we have to go…you're coming back tomorrow."
"Oh ok…" she hesitated
"Bye Lola!" said the others
"Bye you guys…"
Lola took her painting off the canvas and went with her mother.
"Granny, thank you for watching her," said Gladys
"Of course dear," smiled Granny, "We'll see you again tomorrow Lola."
"Ok, bye Granny!" said Lola
As Lola and Gladys were walking towards the car, Gladys noticed Lola's painting.
"What do you have there, Lola?" asked Gladys
"My masterpiece," said Lola
Lola handed it to her. On the paper were colorful blotches of paint. She tried to make out the drawing.
"It's so pretty," she said
"It's a picture of me and my new friends!"
"Oh I see now," she giggled, "I'll put it on the refrigerator when we get home. Right now you're going to tell me all about your first day."
Lola recounted her day to her mother. How they played tag, how they had a puppet show, how they had pudding…about all the fun stuff they've done. Gladys was pleased her baby was having fun when she was away from her for the first time.
Later that day…
Gladys and all the little bunnies were home. They were waiting for the head of the family to come home from work to begin dinner. Soon enough, Larry arrived home. He looked serious, which was normal, as he walked towards the table.
"Hi Larry," said Gladys
"Hi Gladys," he greeted
"You're alright?"
"I'm fine. Just had a stressful day at work, that's all,"
"I made your favorite,"
"Yes, thank you Gladys,"
The family then partook in the meal prepared by Gladys. The sounds of moving cutlery, and thge slurping of the children were loudest at the moment. Larry then broke the silence.
"How was your day, kids?" asked Larry
"We got to play with blocks!" began Brandon, "and we also started our alpha…alphababet…"
"Alphabet," corrected the annoyed little Kate
"Sounds great Brandon," said Gladys
"And you Kate?" asked Larry
"Humph…my teacher already gave us homework. I don't want to do it…"
"You have to do it young lady,"
"Lola sweetie, tell daddy about your day," said Gladys
"So did you have fun?" asked Larry
"Yes, daddy. I got to make lots of new friends….and I got to play tag and eat pudding…oh! And I got to finger paint! It was so much fun!" giggled Lola
"You should see what she drew…it's so adorable," said Gladys
"I'm sure it is," commented Larry
Kate rolled her eyes and fiddled with her food. Gladys continued to talk about Lola's day, hardly letting Lola speak at all. Larry was quiet throughout most of the evening, however. Kate was getting fed up, so she just excused herself from the table and went to her room. Gladys never noticed her older daughter's behavior. She continued talking about her pride and joy; never noticing anything else.
After dinner, Gladys went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Larry went to the living room with the two younger children. After finishing up, Gladys stoped by her fridge. She admired the little painting made by Lola. She smiled so proudly...
"A masterpiece…" sighed Gladys
"What? That?" said Lola looking over her shoulder
"Yes Lola, your masterpiece,"
"It's just a kids drawing, mom,"
"Not just any kid…"
"It's not exactly a Rembrandt," commented Lola as she took a closer look at the drawing in her mother's scrapbook, "A Picasso maybe…"
"Oh don't be silly…"
Gladys closed her scrapbook and looked at Lola. She smiled and squeezed her cheek.
"My little sweetie, the artist…"
"Mom, when will you ever stop treating me like a little kid?" she said rubbing her cheek
"Never…you'll always be my baby,"