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 Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:36 pm
Bal sat on the edge of the curb, his boots on the snow-crusted tanbark of the park and his tail on his lap. He picked bits of snow and slush out of it with an expression of total concentration on his face. His tail always got cold when he was outside, but it was worse when it was all wet and full of bits of snow.
He had resolved around December that he did not like winter at all, and was not planning to change his mind anytime soon. It was cold and he couldn't run, the snow was too thick and his boots were too fat and his chest stung when he breathed too much of the cold air too fast.
Even the park wasn't as fun, and he always liked the park. Everything metal was so cold that it hurt and, paradoxically, there were more kids than ever there, enjoying the fresh coat of snow yesterday had brought. He gave up on his tail and propped his head up on one hand so it mashed up his cheek, watching the other children and feeling decidedly gloomy.
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:09 pm
Joshua had caught sight of someone sitting alone on the curb. He looked lonely. Maybe he needed a friend? Joshua had been raised with the ideals that people should always have someone to play with. He slipped and stumbled in the snow covered ice towards the person, until he was standing in front of him. "Hi!" He said smiling, "I'm Josh. What's your name?"
He looked around the park. "Is your Mommy or Daddy here?" He asked, curious. If they were, why was he sitting alone? Why wasn't he playing? "Daddy's over there--" He pointed towards one of the brightly colored benches positioned around the playground.
Ben was reading one of Thali's short stories; he was supposed to critique it when he got home. He wouldn't. His wife was far too sensitive these days, her being so close to her due date. The man didn't want to discourage her from writing.
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Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2009 11:47 pm
Bal was startled out of his cold and sulky reverie by a boy about his age, who seemed perfectly happy in spite of the cold. "Hi, m'Bal," he said, and made himself smile. "Nice to meetchoo."
"My mommy's here," he said, pointing over to the swingset, where she was helping his sister get her tail adjusted. "Don't wanna swing though." What he wanted to do was run, which was what he usually did when he came to the park, whether through tag or just scampering across the structures as quickly as he could. It was hard today, though, because he was bundled up like a fat snowman and his boots were clunky and useless. And because of the snow. He hated snow.
"D'you know any good games?" he asked Josh, tilting his head slightly. He seemed to be having fun in spite of the cold, so maybe he knew some special games that could still be played.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:33 am
Josh smiled, he liked Bal's name. It was easy to say, making it easy to remember. "Nice to meet you too, Bal." He said politely. He had to think about the other boy's question before answering. He knew an awful lot of games. "We could have a snowball fight," He suggested, thinking. He didn't think his Daddy would approve of him getting snow all over the car, so he added, "Or play hide-n-seek, or tag, or pretend, or..." He could have gone on naming games for a half an hour.
He paused, and looked at his new friend. "How about you pick the game?" He asked. "Do you have a favorite?" Maybe he would learn a new game.
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:50 pm
Bal thought hard, his forehead furrowing as he sorted through the suggested games. Tag was out, as he had just spent the last five minutes sulking about, and maybe snowball fights, which were just like tag but you got a whole load of nasty snow down your collar. He chewed the inside of his cheek and weighed the two remaining options. He liked pretend, but he was not always very good at imagining and he didn't want to admit that. Hide-and-seek was a fun game, though, because it was just like a puzzle or one of the Where's Waldo books Laura had brought from Earth, and he was good at those.
"Um," he said, "You wanna play hide'n'seek? I can be It." He mainly offered this to be courteous, but also because he sort of liked being It. Waiting wasn't much fun.
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:18 pm
Josh smiled, he liked hide-n-seek. "Kay," He said. "You count to... as high as you can, kay?" Joshua knew better than say ten, because ten was before several other numbers, like five. The toddler believed he was a good 'hider' because his younger brother could rarely find him. "Close your eyes," He instructed his new friend. He couldn't hide if Bal was looking, could he?
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:05 pm
"Okay," Bal said agreeably, and shut his eyes, covering them with both hands so Josh would be sure he was not cheating. "One..." he murmured, thinking of his numbered blocks at home. Sometimes he liked to have Laura help him put them in the right order, but he could not think of what that was now. "Three, two? Three, four, si- five, six, seven-"
His mouth went dry. He could not think of the next number, but he was sure there were a few more, and it wouldn't be fair to stop there. "One two three, ready or not here I come!" He sprung up from the curb, his tail twitching thoughtfully as he tried to decide where the other boy would have gone. There were lots of hiding places at the park, but which was the best?
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Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2009 1:07 pm
Joshua had hidden in the orange tube leading to the slide. Laying on his stomach, he could watch Bal without being seen; or so he thought. He was doing his best not to giggle, always his weakness when playing hide n seek.
He knew one thing. Bal would never find him. He was sure he'd found the best hiding place in the entire playground.
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 1:26 pm
It took him four tries to find Josh. First he checked under the slide, then behind a fat old oak tree, and then by a tall, sloping snowbank, although he did not really think he would hide somewhere so cold. When he finally did go through the orange tunnel, he wasn't looking for him at all, he was just trying to get up into the crow's nest the slide came from so he could have a better view of the playground.
He broke into a happy, lopsided grin when he saw the other boy. "I found you," he told him, "This is a good hiding spot!" It was, too! Bal wished he had thought of it sooner, or at least found it on purpose.
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Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 4:24 pm
Joshua smiled in delight. He had gotten slightly bored with waiting, though he was still pleased that he had rather hard to find. "Want to hide next?" He asked politely. After all, it was in the rules that when the seeker found the hider, they switched places, right? And then he'd get to count and seek.
"Or maybe we can play another game, if you want." He said, smiling at his friend. "You pick!" That way, whatever game they played, Bal would be happy.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 10:41 pm
"Let's pretend!" he said, rocking on the heels of his feet. He would not have minded hiding, but he couldn't think of another good hiding place on the structure besides the tunnel, and he did not want to sit on the ground.
"You can decide what to pretend," Bal added politely, to make up for blurting out the new game.
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Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 11:43 pm
Joshua smiled, pretending was one of his favorite things to do. He had to think of what they could pretend in the snow, though. Pirates? Nah. Knights? Nah. Someone that liked the snow... "Let's be eskimos!" He decided. "They live in glue and make friends with polar bears and penguins and stuff!"
"Or, you can pick," He added, politely. "If you don't like eskimos."
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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 11:33 pm
"I like eskimos," Bal said agreeably, although he was not exactly sure what they were. He could only remember their coats, which were huge and fat and padded with thick white fur that bloomed out of the hood and the ends of the sleeves. Past that, they have looked like anything.
He did know what igloos looked like, though, even if he had never made the connection until now. There had been funny houses shaped like light bulbs on two of Laura's Christmas cards, and she told him that they were igloos. There had not been any eskimos in them, though, only a polar bear in one and a cold man with a fishing rod in the other.
"Let's pretend that is a glue house," he said, pointing at the sloping snowbank he had checked earlier. "And, um, maybe there is a polar bear there," he continued, because Josh had said that eskimos were friends with polar bears, and anyway there had been one in Laura's igloo card.
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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:05 pm
Joshua smiled, he was pleased that his new friend liked the idea of being eskimos. He had never been one, so he really didn't know how to act like one besides the fact that they hung out with penguins and polar bears.
"That'll make a nice glue house!" Josh agreed, smiling. "Do you think the polar bear wants to play with us?" He didn't know what sort of games polar bears would play. Maybe they liked tag? "Maybe you can ask him what game he wants to play!"
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Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:47 pm
"Okay," Bal said, and hopped off the curb to check behind the ridge of snow. He nodded seriously at the imaginary polar bear, then clambered back onto the playground to tell Josh what it had said.
"He says he would like to play tag, and he promises not to eat us, because we are eskimos," he repeated, rocking back on his heels. He was not sure how he felt about that idea, because polar bears were large and full of teeth and anyone could get caught up in the moment. But then, imaginary bears were probably less dangerous.
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