Laughter filled the living room. It had been such a celebration last night that Helga evidently woke up late.
12:30.
"Helga!" Olga greeted. "Why were you asleep for so long?"
"I...don't know! Guess there was just too much energy to handle last night! Man, that was some fight! Wait a minute...where are you going?" She asked, watching as her sister, Louis, Henry, and Penelope were putting on their gloves, earmuffs, and coats.
"We're going out to eat, and then one of my friends is having a big time Christmas party at a hotel downtown tonight, so we're gonna hit that." Louis answered.
"Yeah, I've been looking forward to spending some time out on the town." Henry grinned. "It's a welcome thing after being on duty for so long."
"We don't get enough of these days." Penelope agreed. "It should be fun!"
"But wait, Henry, weren't you and Louis gonna go with me to the park today and work on my running and jumps?" Helga asked.
"What? Oh." He suddenly realized. "We'll do that a little later, promise."
"Yeah, we've still got a long time left left in this visit." Louis smiled.
"Now let us get to leaving!" Penelope chimed.
"See you later, Helga!" Olga waved daintily as the four walked outside.
"Great, now what am I supposed to do all day?" Helga muttered to herself.
She heard a muffled voice coming from the dining room and smiled, walking through the living room, kitchen, and into there.
"No, no, I was thinking we'd want to try something more original. Like, I'm thinking a panoramic shot on top of the heights to really give the viewer a sense of scale before..."
"Hey, Aunt Cecily! What do you say you and me go out and do some Christmas shopping?!"
"Wha?" She spun on her heels, startled, with her cell phone in her ear. She quickly put her hand on the speaker. "Oh, not today, Helga. This is a really important call, and not the last one, either."
Helga sighed as she turned away.
"No, Stanley, I'm at my son's house for the holidays. That was his fiancée's sister. Anyway, we really need to make sure the picture quality delivers. I'm the showrunner, I'll never hear the end of it if it's anything less than perfect. Tell Linda that her lighting people need to be..."
Cecily's voice grew weaker and muffled again as Helga headed back up to her room. There, she picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Hey Football Head, what do you say you and me go out and do something?"
"What? Oh, sorry, Helga. I'm taking a little road trip with my dad and grandpa today. I have to get ready!"
"Aw, criminy. Well...can I come?"
"You want to go on an outdoor trip? In the cold?" He asked, both amused and skeptical.
"Criminy. I guess you're right. Oh well, have fun."
"Thanks! See you!" He hung up.
"Man! Everybody's busy!" Helga sighed and stared out the window. "Might as well work on that biology report, then..."
She walked out of her room and down the steps again, to suddenly see Miriam coming up from the basement. The two stared at each other for what seemed forever, not quite sure what they should say. Remembering what Louis and Arnold had said to her, and especially last night, she cautiously made a request.
"Miriam, I'm about to work on my biology report. Want to tell me more about the muscle memory stuff?"
"Huh?" She blurted. "Oh..." She faintly smiled. "Alright."
The two walked into the living room and sat down at the family computer in the corner of the room.
"No way! You're saying that the Olympic team accelerated your muscle memory? I thought you'd need to be at that level already just to get there?"
"Of course you need to be at a high level already, honey, but muscle memory isn't built just purely on repetition alone. How you time it matters too. When I was training for the Olympics, I would learn something and then have to act on it fast or I'd be left behind just as fast. There's no room for mistakes at that level. If you act within a few hours of learning something and keep repeating that, you'll retain the memory better. It was the same with Olga on the piano. She would practice a lot, sure, but she would see a complex composition and then start running with it within a few hours. She wouldn't wait until her next formal lesson. Olga was already a concert level pianist by the time she was a teenager, but her learning more and more complex pieces and then attempting to do them within hours helped. Of course...it wasn't just her own enthusiasm...there were outside pressures..."
Helga instinctively moped as Miriam's guilt came out.
"Well, thanks for all this." She countered, trying to lighten the mood. "How come you didn't actually wind up competing in the Olympics?"
"Uh, well...personal reasons."
"...Was it Bob...?"
"...Yes." She sighed. "My relationship with your father started around then and it just consumed me. It was great at the time, but not competing in the Olympics is still my biggest regret. Honey, I know you like that Arnold boy, but make sure you follow Olga's example and not mine. Don't throw away everything you have going for some guy, no matter how great he seems."
"Yeah..." She sighed, suddenly remembering a certain incident from a few years ago, before her sister met Louis. "Anyway...that should do it for this section of the report. I have to ask Henry and Penelope for their input whenever they come back. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. I was supposed to go work on my hurdle jumps at the park with him and Louis, but they obviously had other plans."
"Hmm...wait, I know! How about I take you!"
"Huh?" Helga couldn't help but blurt.
"Oh...I know I'm not nearly in the shape those two are, but remember, I know a thing or two about training. So...what do you say?"
Silence suddenly descended on the room. The only thing that was audible was Cecily's muffled voice from the dining room.
"Uh...sure! Why not?"
"Remember, honey." Miriam said to Helga after she had returned from her latest dash over the rocks they had placed as obstacles. "It's not just how you move your legs, but how your feet come off the ground. I wasn't running track, but I met enough of those guys to know this, plus we did these exercises on the swim team to improve our leg strength."
"OK." Helga responded, putting her game face on.
She was off, trying to lift the balls of her feet up higher, then tamp them down just in time before she needed to jump the rocks.
"Good! Try getting your feet a little higher off the ground, then plant them just before you jump!"
Helga jumped over the first rock faster and further than she had before.
"Hey, mom, I'm doing it!"
Suddenly, Helga found herself tripping on the next rock and falling over.
"Ow..." She muttered as Miriam rushed over.
"Of course, some people will find that talking isn't always helpful when trying to learn something new. It shifts your attention ever so slightly."
Helga looked up. Miriam looked down. Then, suddenly, as if it was something in the wind, the two broke out into laughter.
"It's been a couple of hours. I think that might be enough for today. Plus, I have to do some Christmas shopping, and I'm hungry. Why don't you come with me, mom? You'll probably spot a better gift for Olga faster than I would, anyway."
"Sure, honey." She smiled. "Tomorrow, I'm sure you'll do better with Henry and Louis watching you."
"Yeah, but I want you to come, too!"
Miriam raised her eyebrows as Helga walked past her, toward the park's exit. She smiled and followed.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.