%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |
A foster child, a carnival and Dr. Pepper Peeps... |
| Monica peeled a squishy yellow Peep off the paper sheet and stuffed it in her mouth. Then she reached into the crinkly plastic wrapper for another one. The sweet, melting marshmallow glop was wonderful. Footsteps echoed on the kitchen's vinyl floor. "Monica? What are you doing?" She shrank down, hiding behind the fridge door, hoping her foster dad wouldn't find her. "Seriously?" Dan pulled the door open and looked down at her with a wrinkled brow. "Are you hungry?" "Uh… no, not really." She shifted away from him, scooting towards the sink. "Why are you raiding the fridge? You'll make yourself sick, gobbling those things. Come on, sit down and I'll make you a peanut butter sandwich." "No, I don't want one!" she snapped. "I'm not hungry!" He sighed. Monica tried to avoid the funny sad look in his eyes. "Why not? Did you spoil your appetite with Peeps?" "No… I'm just not hungry is all." "But why…?" Dan shook his head, taking the half-empty package of Peeps from her hand and sticking it back in the fridge. "Do you need anything? It's ok to tell us, honey. We're here for you." "No, I'm fine. Just… leave me alone." Monica edged past him and fled to her room, where she sank drearily into a pile of stuffed animals in the corner. Being six years old was hard. If only her mom hadn't been so mean. Now she was stuck living with these strangers. They were nice… too nice. She was waiting for them to lose their tempers, to yell and call her bad words and throw things at her like her mom did. It was just a matter of time. Then she would have to go to some other weird couple pretending to be her mom and dad. Why, she'd never even had a dad before. Someone knocked gently at her bedroom door. "Monica? Can I come in, please?" It was Reema, Dan's wife. Monica wriggled upright in the pile of toys that weren't really hers. "Yeah, sure." Reema walked in with a sweet smile on her face. Her eyes had the same confused look that Dan's had, though. "Is everything ok?" She knelt on the floor beside Monica. "Dan was worried about you. He thought you might not be feeling well." "I'm ok…" Monica hesitated. "Why does Dan call you Reema? Your name is Miriam in the paperwork." "It's a long story, dear." Reema smiled a different, special smile as her eyes grew dreamy. "Would you like to hear it?" "Might as well." Monica heaved a sigh and settled back against the wall, hugging a random teddy bear. Not like she had anything else to do. Reema sat down, running her fingers through Monica's soft red curls. "When I met Dan, we were two grumpy teenagers in school. I hated my name. I thought it sounded ugly and it didn't suit me. When he became my friend, he wanted to give me a nickname. He came up with Reema. Reema, Miriam. See? It's like backwards. I thought it was adorable, mysterious, unique. I've kept it to this day." "Aww," Monica giggled. "That's so cute." She snuggled a little closer to her foster mom. "Would you like him to give you a pet name too?" "Uh… no." Monica stiffened. "I'm fine with my name." "Has anyone ever given you a pet name?" "No. Not a nice one like yours." "Aww, I'm sorry." Reema wrapped an arm around her. "Someday soon we'll find a nickname for you. Nicknames are often based on finding what makes someone special." After sitting quietly for a few minutes, Reema left. She stopped in the hallway, her voice drifting back to Monica. "Poor little girl… needs time to bond… carnival tomorrow?" "Sure… she'd get excited about it," was Dan's muffled response. Monica sniffled. She wasn't sure exactly what a carnival was, but she'd seen pictures of it in the newspaper. It sounded like fun. Maybe it was something to look forward to. *** The next morning, Monica woke up to find Dan puttering around in the kitchen with pancakes and sausages. "Where's Reema?" she demanded suspiciously. "Why are you making breakfast?" "Reema's not feeling well, hon. Would you like to go to the carnival with me today? I'm afraid she won't be able to come with us. It'll be just you and me." "Might as well." Monica stared at her plate of fresh hot pancakes, perfectly done, complete with maple syrup. "I thought dads couldn't cook." She looked up and saw a spark of delight in his eyes. Did she just call him a dad? "Oh, that's an old joke. We can cook as well as moms do. Sometimes even better." He winked, leaning over to drop a marshmallow Peep on top of her pile of pancakes. She giggled. *** Monica squealed with excitement as Dan pulled into the carnival parking lot. A huge ferris wheel dominated the view, and smells of all kinds of tasty things wafted through the air. Pushing through the noisy, stinky crowds was a different story, though. The sun was so hot, and everything was big and scary and seemed to cost a lot of money. She clung to Dan's hand, terrified of getting lost in the madness. "Is there anything you'd like to do here?" He asked. "Look, we can try for one of these stuffed pug dogs. Think you can knock down all the bottles?" "Isn't it too expensive?" She looked wistfully at the price chart. "Money's no problem. Go right ahead." Monica walked away from the booth hugging a pug dog, who she promptly named Fluffy. "Can I keep him?" "Of course you can. He's all yours." "Even if I have to stay with someone else?" "We'll make sure you keep Fluffy." She skipped along with a joyful smile. Finally, a little friend that belonged to her. At another booth, a man was selling packages of funny brown Peeps. "Step right up!" he boomed in a voice that bounced through Monica's ears. "Get yer Dr. Pepper Peeps here! Enough for everyone!" "Wow!" Her eyes widened. "What's Doctor Pepper?" "That's a kind of soda," Dan explained, pulling change out of his pocket and handing her a package. She tore it open and stuffed two of them in her mouth. They tasted awful! Tears stung her eyes as she spit them out and threw the package on the ground. "These are gross!" she cried. "I don't want any!" "Aww, Monica…" Dan bent down to pick up the scattered Peeps and dispose of them. Suddenly it was all too much: the shouting, loud music, people shoving past, smells of hot fried whatever. Monica's hands were sweaty and sticky from the melty Peeps. She had to use the bathroom. And now she'd made her foster dad waste money on yucky Peeps and embarrassed him in front of everyone! She scrambled away blindly, clutching her toy pug, trying to find a spot to be alone and sit down and cry. It was like what happened at Walmart that day, when her mom said she could never go back in ever again. "You embarrassed me, you little monster!" The words rang in her ears over the noise. It seemed like forever until she ended up huddled against a fence, sobbing. Now her foster parents wouldn't want her anymore! "Monica! Are you ok?" Dan landed on his knees by her, breathing hard. "Why did you run away like that?" "I—I embarrassed you. Now I'll have to live with someone else!" "Who told you about embarrassment?" He gathered her up in a big bear hug. "I'm not embarrassed. I'm your daddy. Nothing you do could ever embarrass me. I'm proud of my feisty little girl." "Really? You're my daddy?" Monica blinked back the tears, wiping her nose on his shoulder. "For as long as I can possibly be, honey. Reema's your mommy. We love you very much. That's why we wanted to take care of you." She peeked into his eyes, afraid of what she'd see. His warm smile and kindly gaze made her heart swell. So that's what a daddy was: someone who would follow her with words of comfort. She threw her arms around him. "I—I love you too, daddy!" "Come on, you want to go home now? Are you getting tired? Is Fluffy tired?" She glanced at her limp, tearstained stuffed pug. "Yeah, I think he needs a nap." Dan hoisted her in his arms and carried her out, saying silly things to cheer her up. "Who's my peppy Pepper Peeper girl? Is it you?" "Peppy Peeper Peppers…" she repeated sleepily, wiggling with giggles. She couldn't wait to tell her new mommy Reema all about the day's adventures. *** Monica would often look at her old carnival prize pug dog and laugh, remembering her eventual adoptive dad's pet name they'd agreed on: Peppa. notes ▼ lyrics to Monica ▼ video ▼ |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
