Mama's Monster
Feather spent more and more time with Mama at her apartment and more and more time with that tiny, wild, little pipsqueak called Stella. Mostly the three of them had fun together but sometimes Stella was slightly skeptical of the space this Feather took up with her Mama. When Feather held Mama’s hand Stella would grab both Mamas hands. When Feather and Mama sat on the couch Stella always squeezed in the middle.
“I’m Mama’s number one.” Stella would remind Feather, and then she’d add encouragingly “You might be her 2 or 3” because Stella was as kind as she was clear.
“Well as I long as I make the top ten.” Was usually Feathers reply and then Mama would assure her she didn’t even know ten people.
One day Stella gave Feather the usual reminder about being Mama’s number one and Feather said something Stella couldn’t hear.
“What was that Feather?” Asked Stella.
“Oh, nothing just a secret”
“What? A secret??” Stella loved Secrets. A secret would take over her entire body and soul and she would run and spin in circles reciting everything she knew EXCEPT the secret and then everything that was the exact opposite of the secret and then things that were close to the secret and then shrieking and giggling so much she could barely be understood, she would yell the secret.
Feather knew all this because recently while Stella was taking a bath, she had made the mistake of telling her the location of a TOP SECRET candy stash. The whole apartment was a slippery soapy mess within seconds and any sweet tooth in a mile radius was sure to have heard the details on Feather’s stash. So Feather was actually being pretty sneaky when she beckoned the wriggling with excitement Stella over to whisper in her ear. “You are also number one on MY list…of pipsqueaks to tickle!” And then she tickled attacked Stella without mercy! Stella tickled back! And then the pair raced around and around the apt tickling each other until Mama did her referee whistle and they both had to freeze. After that Stella and Feather were like two peas in a pod. They both liked making each other laugh, chasing each other around and getting carried away into sillier and sillier antics after just one little giggle.
One day the trio came home from doing errands all over the city. Stella had been forced to wear socks on this trip and she hated socks. So as soon as they got home Stella sat on the floor, wrenched off her shoes and then her socks and threw them across the kitchen. “Ugh! I don’t want socks anywhere near me!” She exclaimed in a mixture of exasperation and relief and then she flopped back and lay on the floor with a satisfying sigh.
Feather laughed “THATS AMAZING!” And then completely inspired she said “I want to do that too!” So she sat on floor and wrenched off her shoes and threw her socks across the kitchen and yelled “I DON’T WANT SOCKS ANYWHERE NEAR ME!” And then lay on floor next to Stella, staring at the ceiling and feeling very refreshed.
Mama shook her head and sighed “Maybe we don’t encourage her to throw socks around the kitchen?”
From a place of total relaxation it took Feather a few beats to respond “Wait, are you talking to me or Stella?” She asked.
Mama laughed exasperated “I’m talking to the other adult in the room!!”
Feather sat up while Stella rolled around on the floor laughing. Feather was in trouble.
“Well I don’t know!” Said Feather “She is the one who started it!”
“But your socks are way bigger!” Stella shrieked, and she was right. Feathers socks were way to big to let fly around a place with food. Even so Feather found this truth offensive and waged another tickle attack. She and Stella raced around and round the kitchen screaming and laughing while poor Mama stood in the middle. She hadn’t even had time to take her shoes off.
“I’ve created a monster.” She said, but she could barely be heard over the mischief makers flying around her.
Other times it was Stella who copied Feather. She started wearing hats like Feather. When Feather had her hat forwards Stella wore it forwards. When Feather turned her hat backwards, Stella turned hers backwards. Sometimes Feather would flip it backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards super fast, just to see if Stella could keep up - She could.
Once Feather taught her how to fold paper back and forth to make a fan. Later this prompted Stellas Mommy to FaceTime Mama. After talking about scheduling Mama asked “what is that noise in the background??”
“Ohh that noise, why don’t you see for yourself…” and she turned the camera toward Stella who was frantically and delightedly making paper fan after paper fan as a mountain of fans grew around her. “FEATHER, taught her how to make paper fans.” Said Mommy and she smiled a little harder and a little longer than grownups usually do.
Feather was listening to the conversation just out of view of the FaceTime and thought it was probably a good time to get even further from view. Whistling casually she slowly backed away from the scene of the mad pipsqueak and her fevered fan making. Maybe Stella’s Mommy was slightly overwhelmed by all those fans NOW but Feather was sure she’d be pleased by the time summer rolled around and it got really hot out.