Window movie

It wasn't raining, it was slushing that in-between stuff, not rain, not snow. Slush. It smacked the window and slid down, like the spit balls in class against the white board. She watched her dad drive away to work, and try and leave to fast, sliding a bit on the wet road. Why did he get to to work and I have to stay inside?

"I want to go play outside!"

"It's horrible out there, Lena. Read a book."

Lena didn't want to read a book, she wanted to put on her red galoshes, red slicker, and stomp around in puddles until the water got over the sides and soaked her feet.

"Dad went outside!"

"Dad doesn't soak himself in puddles and get the sniffles."

"Just a few minutes!" She pleaded, "I'll stay in the yard!"

"No, you'll get sick again. Color a picture, do a puzzle, play with Tony. Anything inside."

"It isn't that cold, it isn't even snowing!"

"It's cold enough for pneumonia. Go play one of your games."

Lena pauses. "Anything inside mama?"

"Yes, anything inside. You can't go out until this rain stops, and it isn't supposed to until tomorrow... No TV!"

"It's slushing." Lena mutters and she slides her socked feet down the hallway, pretending it was a skating rank. 'What can I do...' she wondered to herself, scanning the walls, pictures in dad's study, the books on the shelves. Even they looked bored, all standing together at attention waiting to be read. Well Lena couldn't read them yet. She could make a fort out of them... no, too much work. She slid into her toy room, scanned the trunks, everything so neat. Nothing interesting. She made a blanket fort yesterday. She slid down the hall with the bedrooms and stopped at Tony's room.

"Wanna play?"

"No, I don't want to play, I'm busy."

"You're playing video games!"

"Like I said, busy."

"Can I play with you?"

"No, you're too young for this game its a first person shooter."

"One of my video games?"

"I already know my vocab, go away."

Lena glared with all her might at the back of his head but it didn't start smoking so she slid on... and stopped at the bathroom. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. "Mooooom?!! Can I take a bath?"

"Sure honey, only fill it half way."

"OKAY!"

Lena grabs the bubble bath, and empties the whole bottle into the tub giggling to herself. Turning the water on full blast she watches as mountains of bubbles slowly build in the tub. When she doesn't think any more will grow she stops the water. "Is it only half way?!" Mom yells. "YES!" Lena yells back. Lena hops and tugs one of the towels down off the rack and lays it out.

"I'm not getting in, anyway." She mutters to herself and feels giddy as she loads her bubbles onto the towel and slides them out into the hall. She pauses. Doesn't hear anything. Very quietly, she sneaks around to the other doors, but they're closed and it's quiet behind them. She closes the door to Tony's room. He doesn't notice.

Lena starts making her snow dunes in the square of floor in between all the bedroom doors. She forms her ice rank, mounding up bubbles and using strips of toilet paper for the ice. She goes back again for more bubbles, putting some on the molding of the walls. When it looks perfect, she pauses again, holding her breath. No sounds of anyone coming. She could hear her mother washing dishes in the kitchen, and Tony using no-no words at his game. She slides off her socks, covers the bottom of her feet in shampoo, and uses her sand bucket for the beach to splash water from the tub onto the ground... and ice skates. It didn't matter that it wasn't snowing, she had her own private rank. She was the BEST skater in the world, Lena the Magnificent the fastest and prettiest skater EVER. She went around, and around, and around. Tried a few spins, almost fell, but caught herself and she felt smug.

She didn't even hear her mother come down the hall. "Lena!" Mom gasps, and Lena turns too fast, landing on her bum facing her, both feet out in front of her. Tony opens the door, "What?...oh, my god. Lena you are soooo screwed." He chuckles but Mom is not amused. "Back in your room!" Mom was so mad, she hand her hands on her hips even though it got her pants all wet. There were still suds on the backs of her hands. Lena laughs a little, they looked like spit foam.

Lena beams up at her mother. "YOU" she says, "said aaaaaaaaaaanything."

"Lena, you clean this up right now."

Mom brings out towels. A LOT of towels, but Lena didn't make that much of a mess. Mom watched, arms crossed and she gathered all the wet bits of paper from the ground and put them in the trash. Then she had to wipe the walls, AND the floor, and mom didn't even help. She just stood there. It was a lot. By the time all of it was clean, she was wiped out, and thumped onto the floor, blowing a lock of fallen hair out from her eyes.

"And now the towels go in the laundry room." Mom directed, and Lena couldn't pick them all up. So she mounded them, and pushed the whole mountain into the laundry room and lifted them one by one into the laundry hamper. "Am I done now?" She asked her mom.

"Yes, you're done. You're in time out, go sit by the window."

Lena slides down the hall. "And no sliding!" Came mom's voice after her. She stomps to the window, and watches as it slushes. People came and went, neighbors walked their dogs. She started to see them as fairies, and Mr. Bogman was a giant, and his wife a captured princess. The old lady down the street was walking her small yip yap dog but picked it up because it was shivering so bad. She was a knight in disguise as an old woman, she drank a potion that would wear off soon. The old woman glared into the windows of Mr.Bogman's house, shook her head at the lawn and went by.

Lena looked at the clock. It was only 3!!!

She would be stuck watching her window movie FOREVER.