Kindy's Kingdom

"Kindra Bullettan Allison! How DARE you mess with Thomas's things??!!!!!!!" Mother yelled from the kitchen after it was reported that Kindy (for Kindra) had stolen one of Thomas's stuffed animals during the night. "Oh, Mother," Kindy sighed. "It was such a funny sight, seeing him sleeping with Bartie. STILL. Tommy, you aren't a baby any more, you know. Is your expected knowledge fading, old man? Geez, it was hysterical." Seeing the look of anger on Thomas's face, Kindy groaned. "Oh, fine. Here you go." She took Bartie the Teddy Bear out from behind her back. She threw him on the floor in front of Thomas. He picked him up and hugged him lovingly. Cringing with her theiving loss, Kindy snorted and growled. "Don't even THINK about stealing Mollia Kate from me, you little skunk, OR ELSE," she said. She drew back from his stare in the temptation to steal Johnny the Giraffe from him that night. Releasing his rage, Thomas asked, "So, Mother, CAN we go out?" Mother looked out the window and winced. No, later, she thought inside her head. But out loud she agreed. "I suppose," she said. "But bundle up warm. It's chilly. And don't let Hairry in. He had rabies over the past few weeks. And TICKS. He'll get them all over everything if you let him in. I'm warning you...DON'T." She looked sternly at the troublesome twins, who grinned playfully at each other. "Sure," they agreed. "OK." They put on their winter hats, parkas, and boots. They wore scarves around their necks and squeezed into their gloves (well, Thomas did). Kindy looked up at Thomas and giggled. "Ha-ha! Look at you! You're all...puffy!" Thomas stared at her. "Well, you're puffier. And it's not my fault that I'm puffy at all." Kindy tried to open the door for them, but her hands in the mittens slipped. "OK, Mother," she laughed. "I think we're ready to go out now." Mother hurried to the door. Inside, she was thinking, don't let them out in the middle of winter...it's too cold--but she opened the door. Snow blasted through the front door. Even in her velvet long-sleeved sweater and long pants, Mother was freezing. The children could feel the outdoor coldness through their heavy parkas. Shivering, Kindy led the way down the icy porch steps and into thee frozen garden. Gigantic trees swung in the sky, completely bare and dying. The yard was covered in a thick blanket of heavy snow. Thomas's teeth chattered. "Brrrr. I'm cold."
"I know, but let's keep going. I want to see if the garden's still alive," Kindy said, though by the looks of it the garden was dead all over. The flowerbeds were covered in snow, and if Thomas looked over his shoulder, the pumpkin patch was, too. Everything that was to be beautiful in spring and summer was dying. But on the other hand, it looked amazing! Everything was coated in a glittering blanket of white. Snowflakes fell like white rain. Kindy stuck out her tongue and felt a little prick of coldness. "Ahhh!" she yelled, and then giggled. Thomas laughed along with her. "Silly! It's just a little snowflake!"
"TWO snowflakes," Kindy announced proudly, spitting them out (or at least trying to, they had already evaporated ) and noticing. Thomas yelled 'cheater pants' and stuck out HIS tongue. "Three! I got THREE!" he yelled, and spit HIS out. Kindy ignored her brother's victory. Quietly while Thomas wasn't looking, she balled up some snow and squeezed it firmly. Then........"HEY! YAHHHHHOOWW!" Thomas screamed. Kindy had finally beaten him at something! Laughing, Thomas scooped the straying snow from the rear collar of his shirt and packed it tight. Now it was Kindy's turn to get the scare. Thomas snuck up on her from behind and plopped it into her hood. "OK, I agree with you now, Tommy. Let's go in." As soon as Thomas had put the snowball in her hood, Kindy should have felt the extra weight. But she didn't. When she pulled her hood up, the snowball rolled out onto her head! Kindy screamed until she was hoarse. She stomped inside. Thomas walked slowly down towards the house, thinking about how he'd apologize when he got back. But no ideas came to him. Thomas sighed, stooped down and rubbed some snow onto his glove, creating a hole. "I wish I knew how to apologize to my sister," he said. Suddenly, the snow all around him whirled up into the sky. "For the love of Pete! What the heck is happening?" He turned his head towards the kitchen window. Kindy was staring out at him. Quickly, she put her snow-things back on and rushed outside. "Thomas!" she yelled. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, but that question doesn't answer mine. Could you stop being so un-helpful?"
Kindy rushed into the yard and grabbed her brother's arm. "Ahhhh!" they both screamed, horrified with their progress. "OK, do something!" Kindy cried, and the snow blizzard picked them up and carried them away.

Kindy squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "It's just snow, snow can't hurt me," she whispered repeatedly. But she was wrong. The icy blasts touched her face and she felt the frozen gust whip past her chin. The wind howled like a driven wolf. When the twins landed, their eyes remained shut. They hoped that when they opened them, they would be in their own backyard, with their mother waving wildly for them to come in and drink some warm, tempting hot cocoa. Finally, they opened their eyes. They were not in their backyard. "Where are we? How did we get here? I haven't believed in magic since I was, like, three!"
"Shh, who cares? Right now, not me. What matters is where we are..." His voice trailed off as he stood, mouth gaping, and staring at the world around them. Emerald green grass sparkled in the sunshine. A beautiful palace glittered and shimmered in the distance. "Oh, wow! Cool, Thomas! Let's go see--" Kindy tried to say, tugging free of her brother's grip and trying to run off to explore the palace. But Thomas grabbed her arm. "No! If anyone catches us snooping around this palace, we're in BIG trouble!" Kindy knew that her brother was right. How could she trespass in such a beautiful territory?