A Tale of Two Sisters (And Ice Cream)

Once, in a small house covered in winter snow, lived a family.

      They were all very different and special in their own ways. But they put that all aside to cooperate with each other, like a good family should.

      Except for the two sisters.

      Gem was a purple Gelert, with long purple locks and lilac eyes. She enjoyed using her time in the corner of the room, with a book in hand or scribbling away at a piece of paper.

      Alaya was a yellow Kacheek, with short blond locks and sweet baby blue eyes. She loved to be outside, talking to people, having fun.

      Alaya was the social butterfly.

      Gem was always alone with her own thoughts.

      Alaya loved warm sunny days.

      Gem loved watching the snow gracefully fall from the window.

      Alaya liked sweet things.

      Gem liked sour things.

      Alaya was sometimes timid, afraid to voice her thoughts.

      Gem's voice was always strong, no matter what.

      But in turn their lives went on, all the same. People often called upon their differences. "How could outgoing Alaya ever be related to thoughtful Gem?"

      And this is where our story begins...

     Gem

      It had been a normal day. I was watching Sweets, as usual, while Alaya was probably playing around with her huge amount of nail polish she had just gotten from the Grooming Parlour. That's how it always went on Saturdays, after all.

      Sweets is my little brother. His real name is actually Pan, but we call him Sweets for good reason. He's a small biscuit Gelert, with a mop of chocolate brown hair and freckles that always reminded me of chocolate sprinkles. He's the most excitable four-year-old I have ever met, like he was always hyper on sugar.

      "Gem," he announced. "I want some ice cream."

      "We don't have any, Sweets, and you aren't supposed to eat ice cream in the middle of winter," I answered. He pouted, but remained where he was with his toys, while I continued writing. My story was getting good...

      "I'm going to the washroom!" Sweets told me proudly. I nodded, eyes not leaving the paper.

      A few minutes later, I heard a shriek.

     Alaya

      I hate my sister.

      I don't mean to be rude, but sometimes I really do. I mean, who wants a sister who is always out to get you, and can convince any parent that she's innocent? Once, when we were four, we were playing in the sand box and she kicked some sand in my face. And you know what? After I started crying, she blamed the wind. But today was she must've been feeling especially hateful, because this wasn't just mean. This was sabotage.

      I leave my room for one second, and she comes in and ruins everything. I step in, and do you know what I see?

      Nail polish. All. Over. The. Floor.

      And I had the typical reaction. Scream.

     Gem comes walking in, and in a monotone, she asks, "What's wrong?" Then she spots the blobs of colour. And as always, we had different reactions.

      "My nail polish!"

      "The carpet!"

      "Gem!" I groaned. "I know you're a klutz, but this is ridiculous! How can you knock down dozens of bottles at once?"

      "I wasn't in your room and I am NOT a klutz!"

      "You just wanted me to get in trouble, didn't you?!" I yelled back furiously.

      "I wasn't in your room! Are you deaf?!"

      "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO MADE ME DEAF WITH YOUR YELLING!"

      "YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S YELLING!"

      Gem turned around and marched out of the room. I huffed and glared.

      She came back carrying two cloths. She handed one to me, glaring.

      "Start cleaning!" she barked, as if I needed to be told.

      "Yeah, yeah..." I muttered. "This is all your fault anyways."

      "I heard that," Gem said darkly, scrubbing the floor. "And I'm telling Mum, by the way."

      "HOW CAN YOU TELL MUM WHEN YOU DID THIS?!" I yelled at her. She threw her cloth on the floor in response.

      "FINE! CLEAN ON YOUR OWN THEN AND MAYBE YOU'LL BE GOOD AT SOMETHING FOR ONCE!" she screamed at me. Wow, she can be loud when she wants to.

      I started scrubbing, fighting back tears.

      "Why me?" I asked miserably. The nail polish wasn't coming out.

      Then Gem runs into my room, and throws a piece of paper at me.

      A nice sister, right?

     Gem

      I learned long ago that my sister is the most self-centered girl in the world.

      She has to have everything. And when one thing goes wrong, she has to throw a tantrum. She doesn't have anything to cry about. She doesn't have to take care of her little brother all day, do homework, and get the house clean and in one piece! She doesn't do that every day!

      And the nerve she has! Everything is always my fault, isn't it! Gem, who never even goes into your room, just had to spill all of your nail polish!

      Fine then! You obviously don't need me to help you! I'll just go back to writing my story, and you can get in trouble for all I care!

      ...Wait. This isn't my story. My story doesn't have scribbles all over it...

      You. Are. SO. Dead.

     I ran into her room and threw my ruined masterpiece at her. "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO ACT LIKE A BABY?"

      Alaya fired up immediately. "I'M NOT A BABY! YOU'RE JUST PLAIN MEAN!"

      "WELL, YOU'RE A MEAN BABY!"

      "WELL, YOU'RE THE MEANEST MEANIE IN THE WORLD!"

      "MEANIE ISN'T A WORD!"

      "I DON'T CARE!"

      I screamed in frustration and slammed the door on the way out.

      "GOOD RIDANCE!" I heard Alaya yell from behind the door. My voice was sore from yelling, so I didn't say anything back.

      "Sweets?" I called tiredly. No answer.

      "Sweets?" I called again, a little louder. Dead silence.

      And thus, I began my frantic searching. Maybe he'd gotten scared with all of the yelling and was hiding or maybe he had been kidnapped while I wasn't there or...

      I looked out the window. And I spotted small foot-prints. Sweets sized footprints.

      Oh no...

     Alaya

      When my sister burst into my room, I was about to yell at her to leave me alone. But she didn't look angry; she looked... scared.

      "Sweets is gone," she said abruptly.

      I scoffed at her. Did she really think I'd fall for her stupid tricks again? "Yeah, right. Good luck with that."

      She responded by tugging me off my bed. "I'm serious! Sweets is outside, in the cold all alone, and we have to find him!" I glared—I still hadn't exactly forgiven her yet.

      "Are you sure..." I asked hesitantly. She dragged me out of my room and to the front door, bringing out our coats from the closet.

      "Stop whining and come on!" Gem insisted. I was reluctant, but I followed her.

      Now, don't get me wrong, I really loved Sweets. I took him out shopping every weekend, and he was by far my favourite sibling. But it seemed strange. Sweets had never run away before, and he was usually very well-tempered. And of course, he liked me the best. What could have made him run away?

      Gem ran after the footprints. The snow was bound to cover them soon, so we had to act fast.

      After a while, they led us to the market. And there; conveniently enough was where they ended.

      "What now?" Gem groaned.

      "We should split up," I said slowly. I wasn't used to giving out commands. "We can cover more ground that way." Gem gave me an odd look, but agreed all the same.

      "You know... we should make this a contest. Whoever finds Sweets first wins," Gem said, just as competitive as ever. I grinned back.

      "You're on!"

      And so we walked off in our different directions, in search of Sweets.

     Gem

      If I were Sweets, where would I be?

      If I were Sweets, I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Okay, Gem, what do four-year-olds like doing? They like... playing! With toys! He's in the toy shop!

      I raced down the snow covered roads and went inside the huge building, then raced up to the cashier.

      "Have you seen a little boy walking in here all by himself?"

      The store owner looked at me like I was completely lost. If Sweets wasn't here, where could he be?

      Dejectedly, I walked to the meeting place I had assigned us both. Alaya was standing there, pacing.

      "I can't find him," she said desperately. "Could he have gone farther?"

      "I dunno..." I said, walking down the sidewalk with her. There was silence as we walked, both deep in thought.

      "I could really use something sweet right now," Alaya snorted, pointing at the ice cream shop. "Both types."

      That's when I stopped dead. "Sweets said he wanted ice cream... before he left..."

      Alaya pulled me from my standstill. "What are you waiting for?"

      We both burst into the ice cream shop, wide-eyed.

      Sweets was sitting there, his legs crossed, just staring at the ice cream through the glass. When he noticed us, he grinned.

     "Hey, do you guys have any money? I want some ice cream."

      We rushed up to him and pulled him in a hug. "SWEETS!" we exclaimed in union.

     "Can't... breathe..." he choked out. We put him down, where he looked up at us. "Can I have some ice cream now?" he asked sweetly.

     Alaya pulled out some change and handed it to Sweets. He walked up to the cashier, and standing on his tippy toes, he slid the coins to her.

     "What flavours?" he asked excitedly.

     "Vanilla," we both said automatically. Then we both burst out laughing.

     As we walked home under the snowless sky, I had a rather scary thought.

     Hey... maybe we're not so different after all...

     ...Nah.

     Sweets

      Oh, hi there! It's Sweets writing this! Actually, Gem is writing 'cause she said she wanted to get my 'confession' on paper. I don't know what confession means exactly, so I'll tell you the exciting stuff I did today, okay?

      First, I ate some waffles. Then Mama went to work, so Gem watched me. I was playing with my toy, but then a feeling washed over me. I wanted some ice cream! So I asked Gem, and she said that we didn't have any. Then I started to go to the potty to do my business, but someone was already in it. I guess it was Alaya, because her door was open. I accidently went in her room, and saw her nail polish.

      Then I got an idea. If Gem and Alaya got into a fight, I could go outside, get some ice cream, and come back before they even noticed! So I accidently spilt all of Alaya's nail polish, and scribbled on Gem's story, and then I hurried out the door!

      When I got there, the ice cream lady said she wouldn't give me any ice cream until I paid for it. So I was waiting there until the snow stopped (or at least till the ice cream lady caved in and gave me some) when Gem and Alaya burst in! I knew I was probably doomed by that point, but Gem and Alaya didn't ask any questions. They just bought me ice cream and we walked home! But when we got home, they started asking questions, so that's why Gem's writing this for me...

      The moral of this story? Um... I think it is that two very different people can make a very good team, if they work together and put their differences aside.

      And that ice cream is delicious.

The End