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“mamma! mamma, look at what i found!”
placing down the newly restocked vase of flowers in her hands, suzie q turned to her daughter’s excited squeals.
holly, flashing a gap-toothed grin, hoisted up her newfound treasure for her mother to examine. it took every scrap of will suzie could muster to not laugh out loud at her easily excitable child. it was just a tennis racket; an old raggedy one at that. a ball would probably go right through it if you ever tried to play a proper game with it.
“awe mimma, where did you find this dusty old thing? it must be ancient,” suzie mused, gently pulling the racket from holly’s grasp. the girl didn’t seem to mind, bouncing cheerily from one foot to the other.
“i found it in papa’s closet!” holly admitted shamelessly. suzie giggled, placing a hand on her hip.
“now what would your father think about you rummaging around through his things, hmm?” suzie teased. holly only laughed as she rocked back and forth on her heels. this little gremlin wasn’t remorseful in the slightest.
“he’d probably call me a clever girl for being brave enough to go on such an adventure!” holly beamed. “his closet is kinda like a scary jungle. i could’ve been eaten alive by a big scary monster in there, but i made it out with a prize to show for it!”
“ha! that you did, my dear,” suzie cooed. she honestly had half a mind to actually scold her daughter for going through her father’s closet, but then again, what could it hurt? joseph himself barely touched the closet; she assumed it was full of nothing but memories. but what memories could he have with a rickety old tennis racket?
the slight pull on the hem of her skirt drew suzie from her thoughts. “can we play with it, mamma? please? pleaseeee?”
“oh, i don’t know sweetie. this thing is so old. i doubt it would be able to hold up for more than one or two hits,” suzie pondered as she flipped the item around in her hands. glancing down at her daughter, she saw the obvious wave of disappointment that crashed over the girl’s features, though she tried her best to hide it. holly was such a good child. it almost felt wrong to ever deny or scold her.
suzie quickly racked her brain for any game they could play with this thing that didn’t end up with someone losing an eye. holly could always just go swing it around, but that didn’t seem like much fun; even for a five-year-old. oh, suzie could probably decorate it to make it look like something else! no, that would take too long. what was something that kids liked to do that could even be recreated with this...
“oh! i know something we can play!” suzie chimed. holly immediately perked up, eager to see what her mother had planned. “come now, we need just a couple more items to get started!”
holly trailed her mother all over the house, watching as she got a large paint pan from the old storage room, filled it with water, and placed it outside. she also offered her assistance when suzie asked her to go fetch a bar of soap from the kitchen sink.
holly sat quietly, observing her mother’s ridiculous tasks. suzie shaved a few pieces of soap off into the paint pan before swishing it all around with the tennis racket. after a moment too long of mixing, suzie finally stood up, a goofy smile adorning her features.
“watch this, mimma,” she whispered as if telling her daughter something of utmost secrecy. holly watched in awe as suzie extended her arm that held the racket before wafting it through the air. this in itself was pretty boring, but the beautiful transparent array of bubbles left in its trail was definitely a sight worth gawking at.
there were just so many, and they were all so pretty. holly giggled, clapping her hands excitedly before yelping a giddy “do it again mamma! do it again!”
suzie obliged, this time holding the racket out in front of her before spinning around in a circle. a swirl of bubbles surrounded her and floated about before popping into the air after a moment. holly was quickly on her feet, absolutely tickled pink as her mom squatted down to show her what to do.
after a couple of failed attempts, with holly’s movements being awkward at first, the young girl finally got the hang of it. holly spun around, squealing happily as a wall of bubbles formed before her. she danced around for a moment, careful not to pop any of the bubbles as she looked into each one. they were transparent for the most part, but the slight rainbow sheen that decorated each and every one was the best part of it.
while most of the bubbles quickly popped out of existence, suzie watched as one determined little bubble drifted closer to her daughter’s face. holly stepped back, not wanting to pop the bubble, but the form simply floated closer.
“mamma...” holly whined, glancing worriedly at her mother. suzie giggled, watching as the bubble continued to follow holly in a circle.
“i think it likes you, dear,” suzie chirped. though she knew it was probably just the wind, it was quite odd how this bubble just wouldn’t seem to pop. holly smiled uneasily, finally stopping long enough for the stubborn bubble to catch up to her. as the form drifted closer to her face, holly held her breath when it finally perched upon her nose. suzie sucked in a breath, staring at the scene in front of her.
the bubble didn’t pop.
it just sat idly, occasionally tickling her daughter’s nose. holly did her best to stay absolutely still, but after a while (which in child time is only about 5 seconds) holly exhaled through her nose, causing the bubble to wobble.
“hi there,” she muttered, watching as the bubble teetered on the tip of her nose. “i guess you really do like me!”
the two blondes gasped in surprise when the bubble finally popped, startling the young holly into a sneeze. suzie shook her head, watching her daughter quickly forget to experience and go right back into blowing more bubbles. she decided she would leave holly in the backyard to her own devices for a little bit. at least until her father got home.
✰
“i’m back!”
as soon as joseph barged through the door, he was immediately met with a barrage of endearing kisses all over his face courtesy of his beloved suzie q.
“where is my sweet girl at?” joseph called out into the house. suzie shook her head before grasping joseph’s hand and leading him to the back door.
“she’s out back playing with her new toy,” suzie informed him. “she went through your closet and found an old tennis racket. what were you even doing with that thing?”
joseph let out a hearty laugh. “i’ll have you know that i used to be a tennis pro back in the day, my dear suzie q!”
“oh please! we're still 'back in the day.' you're only 27,” suzie huffed, swinging open the back door. “that thing was so old that my grandmother probably owned it! we gave it a different purpose instead.”
the two stepped out into the backyard, watching as their daughter continued her game of bubbles. after swishing the racket in the almost empty pan once again, holly brought it out in front of her before twirling in a circle. this seemed to be her favorite move thus far.
her parents watched as a storm of bubbles surrounded her; their daughter giggling as happily as she could while the bubbles continued to swarm in a current around her. wait...shouldn’t the bubbles be floating aimlessly?
“umm...bubbles aren’t supposed to-”
suzie quickly shushed her husband before pointing back out to where their daughter played once again. “just watch.”
the torrent of bubbles continued to swish and swirl around holly as she happily jumped to bat at each one. it wasn’t until she was able to grab ahold of a bubble and bring it to her face that joseph fully grasped what was going on.
the bubble holly held gingerly left her hands before floating in a circle around her head. holly watched in childish awe as the bubble ducked up, down, and all around her until finally coming back to rest on her hand once again. she giggled as she pushed it back into the air to join the others, right before they all consecutively burst. the young girl bust out into a fit of laughter, quickly ducking down to refill her makeshift bubble wand once again.
suzie glanced over at her husband, the sound of their daughter’s glee filling her ears. “do you think caesar’s having a good time?”
joseph huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. a smile of adoration danced across his lips as he watched holly chase a particularly teasing little bubble out across the yard.
“yeah, i think he’s having just as much fun as she is.”