TWENTY-FOUR

This is a family letter that was written a couple of years ago. Most of the incidents actually happened, although they probabaly didn't happen all within a 24 hour time period.

The following are actual events that may or may not have taken place within a 24 hour time period



The following takes place
between midnight and 1:00 a.m.

The midnight hour was nearing an end and they had been asleep for almost two and a half hours and the kids a couple more than that. Kris had begun to stir in the bedroom which was a little too uncomfortably warm.
“What in the world,” Kris screamed as he frantically sat up. He slapped his hand to his lower back where he felt a sharp and throbbing pain. “Oowww,” he grunted.
Emily groggily turned over. “What’s up?”
“I don’t know, I think a spider may have bit me.”
“There’s a spider in our bed, where?” she said as she scrambled to sit up, almost falling off the bed.

The following takes place
between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m.
Nicholas and Alexis were sound asleep oblivious to the commotion down the hall….

Emily was putting the sheets back on the bed. “So was it a spider or not?”
“Well, I was having a dream and a spider was climbing up the side of the bed and then crawled onto my back. Then I felt this pain,” Kris said still rubbing his back.
“Great, I’m not going to be able to sleep now with a spider that may or may not have bit you,” Emily said sarcastically.
“Come look at it and see what it is,” Kris said. He stood up to show his back to Emily.
“There is a red spot,” she said.
She walked around the bed to get a closer look. She made him lean over to examine his back. After poking around for a couple of seconds she lifted her hand into the air and proceeded to smack his back.
“Ow, what are you doing?” He exclaimed.
“It’s just a zit. Do you want me to pop it?”
“NO, that hurt! You’re not going to touch it now.”
Emily smiled and rubbed her hands together. “I think it’s ready to explode if you give me a chance.”
“Leave me alone. You’ll have to wait ‘til tomorrow before you try and pop it, I’ve got to get some sleep.”
They pulled the sheets back up and climbed into bed.
“Man it’s hot,” Kris said.
He rolled onto his side so that there was no pressure on the sore spot on his back. A red hand mark had started to appear where Emily had smacked him.
“So turn the air conditioner on,” Emily said. “I’ve been sweating all night.”
“No, we need to try and wait until it gets hotter.”
“Whatever,” she said and rolled over to go back to sleep.

The following takes place
Between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m.
The family slept soundly.

The following takes place
Between 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.

The family slept soundly.

The following takes place
Between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
The family slept soundly.

The following takes place
Between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The family slept soun….
“♪….got to know when to hold ‘em. Know when to fold….♪”

The following takes place
Between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.

“♪….’em. Know when to walk away. Know when to….♪”
Kris smacked the alarm off and then rolled over to jab Emily in the back. She pushed him away and mumbled something.
“Why does she make me set the alarm every night for 6:00 in the morning when she hasn’t gotten up before 7:00 in months,” Kris thought.
He buried his face in the pillow which was slightly damp from sweating throughout the night. The house was still slightly warm even though the windows were open. Kris pushed the blanket to the foot of the bed and quickly fell back asleep.

The following takes place
Between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m.
Emily sat up rubbing her eyes. “I better get up,” she muttered. “It’s almost 7:30.”
She rolled out of bed and began looking for her work out clothes. She wanted to get her exercising done early today because she had a list of errands to do. About 10 minutes later she was lacing up her shoes and getting the treadmill ready to go.
“What should I watch this morning” she thought as she turned the computer on. While the computer was warming up she untangled her earphones and plugged them into the speaker. She always did this so that she could hear whatever movie or television show she was watching over the sound of the treadmill. She could turn up the volume of her movie, but the earphones allowed the rest of the family to continue sleeping.
“Kris would make so much fun of me because I just watched this three days ago, but it is such a great movie,” she thought. She pushed the close button on the computer’s DVD player and tossed the Pride and Prejudice case on the chair.

….Thump, thump, thump, thump….

The following takes place
Between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.
….Thump, thump, thump, thump….
“Is that my head,” Kris wondered. He rolled over and realized that Emily had gotten up. The thumps were coming through the wall as Emily was in the middle of her work out on the treadmill, but there was a throbbing in his head. “Oh man, I think I am getting another migraine.”
He got up out of bed and his migraine was confirmed as the ache quickly turned to nausea and the urge to vomit arose. The inside of his throat was slightly burning from the stomach acids that had crept up his esophagus. He stood motionless for a moment and once he was sure that any fluid in his stomach was going to stay there, he headed down stairs.
Kris was rummaging through the cupboard looking for some aspirin. He tried remembering how many pills he should take because it hurt is head too much to actually try and read the directions. He knew the pills were small doses so he poured five into his hand. He popped them into his mouth and washed them down with the Welch’s purple grape juice he had poured into his cup.
“Aaahhh, nature’s sweetest nectar,” he mumbled. “I have to remind Emily to buy some more grape juice when she goes to Costco.”

♪Hot potato, hot potato….♪
Nicholas was now awake and excited to listen to his CD which he checked out from the library the day before. He loved having his Mom’s CD player sitting next to his bed.
♪….cold spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti….♪
Now Lexi was waking up. “Nicholas, I want Wiggles.”
“This is the wiggles, Lexi” Nicholas said. They both lay back down and began singing with the CD. “♪….give me that, give me that, give me that food. Mash banana mash banana….♪”

The following takes place
Between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Kris had barely gotten to the top of the stairs when he knew that what he just drank was quickly coming back up. He ran toward the bathroom and would have made it to the toilet in time, had the seat been left up.
“Why does she always have to put the toilet seat down,” he thought. Then a second wave started coming up his throat.

Emily folded up the treadmill and grabbed the towel to wipe off the beaded sweat that had formed on her forehead. She heard the faint sounds of Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car. She walked toward her own bedroom and into the bathroom and saw Kris sitting on the edge of the bathtub with his head buried in a towel.
“Are you O.K.” she asked? But then she noticed purple liquid all over the toilet and hundreds of tiny little purple specks covering the walls. “What is that?”
Although muffled, she heard him distinctly say “Nature’s sweetest nectar.”

The following takes place
Between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Emily had just started the batch of laundry which was full of towels used to clean up Kris’ barf and the milk and cheerios that had been dumped onto the kitchen floor. Now Lexi was sitting in just her underwear at the dining room table enjoying a second attempt at breakfast. Nicholas was busy lining up all of the books, music CDs, and DVDs from the library.
“Check, check, check, check….” he said.
Emily headed back upstairs to see how Kris was doing.
“You are sweating like crazy,” she said as she sat down on the bed next to him.
“Well, it’s hot, and I’m suffering here,” he mumbled hoping for some more sympathy.
“As soon as that migraine pill kicks in you’ll be felling a lot better.”
“I just hope I don’t throw that up too.”
Emily started poking at his back. “This is a nasty zit.”
“Kill me now and just go ahead and have your way with it,” Kris said.
“My pleasure.” Emily grabbed a washcloth to be prepared for when all the fluid would come pouring out. “I’ve never seen a zit this big before.”
Kris groaned with displeasure at the thought of it.
Emily began digging her nails around the base hoping that the pimple would easily pop. She thought it wouldn’t take hardly any pressure at all. A couple of moments later she was up and shifting her weight so that she could squeeze his back even harder. Nothing was happening except her nails kept digging into his skin deeper and deeper.
“STOP,” Kris yelled.
He put his palm over the spot where blood was beginning to appear where Emily’s nails had dug in. “No, no more. You are not going to touch it. If you can’t pop it without killing me you are not going to touch it.”
“O.K., maybe we’ll try again later.” Emily said.
“NO,” Kris sternly replied.
“We’ll see.” Emily got up and headed towards the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready. “Is it O.K. if I go get my haircut and if so will you be all right watching the kids?”
“Yeah, I think I’m feeling a little better,” Kris said and then mumbled “Except for my back.”
“What did you say?”
“Can you put a movie on for them?”
“That’s not what you said but I will put a movie on for them.”
Kris rolled over to try and get a little rest to clear out the cobwebs that were still in his head from the migraine.
He woke up for a brief second when Emily kissed him on the forehead before she headed out.

The following takes place
Between 11:00 a.m. and noon
“♪Winnie the pooh. Winnie the pooh. Silly liddel nana nana, stuft with fluff. He’s Winnie the….♪” Lexi was singing as loud as she could and filling in the unknown lyrics with words of her own.
“Sshhh,” Nicholas said with his finger to his lips. “Dad is sleeping.”
“Dad not sleeping,” Lexi said.
Nicholas quickly became irritated. “Lexi, Dad is too sleeping and he is sick.”
“Dad sick?”
“Yes, and if you are too loud I’ll turn the movie off,” Nicholas said trying to conduct himself in the same manner that his parents do.
“NO, I watch Pooh bear.”
They both turned away from each other and continued playing with their own toys as if their little conversation never took place.

The following takes place
Between noon and 1:00 p.m.
Kris was feeling much better now that he was moving around. Most of the grogginess had worn off when he was outside cooking hotdogs on the grill. He would usually cook four of them; two for him and one each for the kids, but he feared that the hotdogs would only add to his headache which had been rapidly disappearing. Nicholas had devoured his hotdog in seconds and was now plowing through a bag of Doritos. Lexi wanted a French vanilla yogurt.
Kris heard the door to the garage open. “Mom is home.”
“Mom,” both Nicholas and Lexi yelled.
“Hi guys,” Emily said as she walked around the corner.
Emily put down her purse and pulled out a small packet which was wrapped in aluminum foil.
“What’s that, leftovers from lunch? Give me some,” Kris said as he took the packet from Emily’s hands.
Nicholas peeked over the counter to see what was in the packet. “I want some cookies.”
“They’re not cookies,” Emily said as a smirk spread across her mouth.
“What in the world?” exclaimed Kris.

The following takes place
Between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

“What is it dad? Let me see. I want some,” said Nicholas.
Now Lexi was interested as she lifted her head momentarily ignoring her second cup of yogurt.
Emily grabbed the packet back from Kris. “It’s my hair that they cut off.”
“Why?” Kris simply stated.
“I am going to donate it to Locks of Love,” Emily said.
“What,” Kris asked.
“It’s a charity. It’s for kids who have had chemotherapy and they use donated hair to make wigs to cover their bald held.” Emily replied.
“Mom,” Nicholas said. “Grandpa Isaac needs hair for his bald head. We can give it to him to make him happy.”
Kris and Emily both started laughing.
“No sweetie,” Emily said as she knelt down to give him a hug. “Grandpa wouldn’t want my hair and I think he is happy with his bald head.”
“Yeah, but then he wouldn’t get a sun burn on his head,” Nicholas said.
“You have good intentions Nicholas, but this hair will be for little kids your age who are sick….and for big kids like me who are going bald,” Kris said as he winked at Emily.
“Well, can I still have a cookie?” Nicholas asked.
“Sure,” Emily said. She walked over to the cupboard to get the cookies.
“I want cookies,” Lexi said as she was struggling to take her shirt off because yogurt had been smeared across the front.
Emily gave Nicholas a couple of cookies and then went to help Lexi. The neck of her shirt was stuck across her face with her arms flailing in the air. Emily lifted the shirt over Lexi’s head to free her. “So how’s the zit on your back?” Emily asked.
“Don’t worry about it, its fine,” Kris mumbled. A few pieces of cookies flew out of his mouth. “By the way, there are still nail marks.”

The following takes place
Between 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
They were finally in the car and ready to go.
“Can I get a toy,” Nicholas asked.
“Probably not,” Kris answered. “If you guys are good then maybe we’ll go to a movie.”
“The big movie,” Nicholas said as he snapped his safety belts into place.
“Only if you are good,” Emily said.

They pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot and didn’t even attempt to try and find a parking spot any closer than two-hundred yards from the entrance. Fortunately there was a spot next to the cart return which was more important because they could secure the kids in the cart and not have to chase them through the parking lot. Lexi took her place in the child’s seat and Kris hoisted Nicholas into the basket. They headed towards the nursery because Emily wanted to get some new flowers to plant around the house and in the pots that Kris’ dad gave her. Only a few minutes had passed and Kris and the kids were already bored.
“Were going over by the patio furniture to wait for you,” Kris said as he pointed towards the corner of the outdoor nursery.
The store had two large canopies on display with a variety of furniture underneath. Kris took the kids out of the cart and they each found a seat. Five minutes later Emily had her arms full of flowers and she started to fill the cart. She left to go find some more and the kids were becoming more restless.
Just across the walkway from where they sat was another display. The store had set up a fountain with a small pond. The pond was prefabricated out of hard plastic and potted plants sat up against the back. Stones surrounded the front of the pond to look like a small retaining wall just like the one Grandpa Romeril built in his new backyard. The kids had finally noticed the water bubbling down the side of the fountain and into the pond. They jumped out of their chairs and went to the side to stick their hands in the water.
“Wow, so cool,” Nicholas said.
“Yeah, cool,” Lexi said as she was nearly lying down on the top row of bricks so that she could reach the water.
Kris jumped up from the chair and headed over to the kids. “Lexi, you are going to fall in.” he grabbed her and set her back down on the ground. “Look, there’s goldfish in there.”
“I love goldfish, can I have some to eat,” said Nicholas.
“They aren’t goldfish crackers. These are real fish, like Nemo,” Kris said.
“Are you guys ready to head inside,” Emily said as she walked up behind them and loaded a second batch of flowers into the cart.

The following takes place
Between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
As they headed through the store Kris took notice of a new high definition television they had on sale. The television was turned to the National Geographic channel and the picture was so lifelike it made him shiver as a spider was creeping across the screen.
“The North American Wolf Spider is the largest species of spider in the Northern Hemisphere. They are found in burrows located in open fields, but as new housing developments move in, the Wolf Spiders have had to adapt….” The television screen now showed a spider crawling across some carpet toward a baby crib. The program continued “….The spiders that have been forced from their fields find new domiciles in cracks and dark corners of the common home….”
“That is so gross,” said Emily.
“Well you know, they just built that church in the field next to our house,” Kris said.
“Stop it,” Emily said as she left Kris there and grabbed the cart and went ahead with the kids.
“….All wolf spiders are very skittish and very fast, but not necessarily too aggressive. Due to their speed and their nervousness, they should not be handled. Female Wolf Spiders may produce many egg sacs. Just before the babies are ready to hatch, the female spider searches for a live animal so that the offspring has immediate nourishment when they hatch. The Wolf Spider will typically find cattle where they inject their eggs underneath the skin or outer membrane of the host. Within 24 hours the spiderlings hatch and begin consuming the immediate area until they break through the skin and emerge into the…..”
“Ow. Why do you keep doing that,” Kris asked. Emily had smacked him again on his back where his zit had been swelling.
“Let’s go,” Emily said, pulling his attention away from the television.

The following takes place
Between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
“That was difficult,” Kris said as he tried to balance the drinks and quesadillas for the kids on the food tray.
“Let’s just hope they didn’t put mushrooms on your Philly cheese steak.” Emily was carrying Kris’ sandwich and a French-dip. She was concentrating hard as the au jus sauce was sloshing around in its container which had no lid.
Kris was able to balance all his food on one hand as he dug in his pockets for the movie tickets for “Over the Hedge.” He handed them to the usher and they headed down the hallway toward theater number 24. They finally made it to their seats with only a couple of tortilla chips falling off the tray. Both Nicholas and Lexi scrambled on the floor after them and stuffed them in their mouths. After getting the kids situated with their quesadilla in one hand and a Sprite in the other, Kris and Emily were able to finally sit back and start eating their meal.
“This is quite nice eating a decent meal at the theater while watching the movie,” Emily said.
“Next time I’m going to try that enchilada combo,” Kris said. “Maybe when we come and see Nacho Libre.”
“What is that?”
“It’s the movie with Jack Black and the people who wrote Napoleon Dynamite,” Kris said as the house lights went down and the whir of the projector kicked into gear. “Wow, what timing. Here’s the preview for it.”

The following takes place
Between 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
The movie was approaching its halfway point when Kris noticed Lexi getting restless.
“I gotta go pee pee on the toilet,” Lexi said as she hopped off the chair.
“You know, this is when it would be better if she wasn’t potty trained,” Kris whispered to Emily. “Now I’m going miss part of the movie.”
“Do you want me to take her?”
“No, it’s alright. It gives me a chance to get a refill.” He grabbed Lexi’s hand and they headed out.

The following takes place
Between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
“So did you guys like the movie,” Emily asked. They were pulling onto the street where they lived and had to avoid Ben and Angela’s trash can. It should have been put back in their garage the day before, but now the wind was blowing it across the street.
“Yes. It was so funny when the animals made messes in the house,” Nicholas said as he laughed.
“Funny,” Lexi repeated.
“I can’t wait to go to the big movies again and see Cars,” Nicholas said. “And then we can buy the Over the Hedge DVD.”
“We are going to have to wait awhile before it’s on DVD,” said Emily.
“It will be so cool,” Nicholas said as he started unbuckling his seatbelt.
“So cool,” repeated Lexi.

They pulled into the garage and Emily headed out to go plant her flowers. The kids followed her smiling because that meant they could play with the hose and spray each other. Kris headed upstairs to watch some World Cup soccer matches that he had recorded on Tivo.

The following takes place
Between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
“I’m coming,” Kris yelled. He headed downstairs with some towels for the kids who were soaking wet after their water fight. They were both standing in the entryway in only their underwear and as soon as they saw their dad they ran towards him. “No. Stay there. You are going to get the carpet wet.”
Nicholas ignored him and kept running but Lexi tried to stop. Her feet slipped out from under her on the wet tile and she landed on her rear. She had started to cry as Kris lifted her into his arms to comfort her.
“What happened,” Emily asked as she came in through the garage door.
“She slipped and fell but she’s fine,” Kris said.
Emily finished drying off Nicholas then threw the towel down in the entryway to dry the floor. Kris sat Lexi down in her Dora the Explorer chair and went outside to pick up the wet clothes that were spread across the lawn. He threw the wet clothes and towels in the washing machine and Emily came back downstairs with some dry clothes. Of course this only meant underwear and a T-shirt because the kids didn’t like wearing pants or shorts in their house except when company came over, and that wasn’t even a guarantee. Once things were settled down the kids began to play and Emily headed upstairs to practice her violin and do the bills. Kris returned to the soccer matches.

The following takes place
Between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
“Guess what time it is,” Emily asked. She was standing on the staircase landing looking down at the kids. Nicholas had most of his Star Wars action figures laid out with the good guys on one side and the bad guys on the other. They were preparing for a war but Nicholas couldn’t figure out what side to put Anakin and the storm troopers.
“In episodes II and III they were good but they changed to the dark side at the end,” Nicholas mumbled. His eyebrows furrowed as he mentally considered the debate.
“Nicholas, guess what time it is,” Emily asked again.
“Bed time,” Lexi yelled as she grabbed her blanket and stomped through Nicholas’ battlefield. Her blanket dragged behind and wiped out most of the Jedi.
“Lexi,” Nicholas yelled. “You are ruining my fight.”
“Nicholas, come on,” Emily repeated.
“Oh barnacles,” Nicholas said. He grabbed his pillow, Darth Maul, and Obi Wan Kenobi and followed Lexi up the stairs.

After going through the routine of taking a bath, brushing teeth, and reading some books they were finally ready to get to bed.
“I want to say the prayer tonight,” said Nicholas.
“No Lexi,” yelled Lexi.
“O.K. Nicholas first, and then you,” Kris said to Lexi.
She frowned and said “Barnacles.” Kris grabbed her and sat her in his lap so she would hold somewhat still and Nicholas proceeded with his prayer. Tonight’s prayer was slightly lengthier as he had to bless each of the Jedi Knights so that they could win tomorrow’s fight against General Grievous, the Emperor, and Boba Fett. He also blessed his dad’s back and mom’s hair.

The following takes place
Between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
Now it was Lexi’s turn. When she was done Kris and Emily tossed them in bed and gave each of them a goodnight kiss and hug. Then, as per the requests of the kids, they had to give another goodnight kiss and hug.
“What are you doing now,” Kris asked Emily as they left the kid’s bedroom.
“I’m going to finish doing our bills.”
“And then play your computer game?”
Emily smiled. “Maybe. Are you going to go watch the Food Network?”
Now Kris smiled. “Of course, you know Good Eats is the best show on television.”
“Are you going to be asleep before I come to bed?”
“I am tired so maybe. But it also depends on how long you play your game.”

The television chattered as Kris climbed into bed. “The lobster is basically a giant cockroach. If you don’t have a problem killing a cockroach, you shouldn’t feel bad about killing a live lobster.”
“I’ve got to go buy some live lobsters. That would be a great Sunday dinner,” Kris thought as he started to dream about a huge lobster feast.
“….three, four, five. That’s it, the lobster is already dead and they didn’t feel a thing….”

Kris woke up as Emily was sitting on the bed trying to take a peek at his pimple.
“Let me take one more shot at this,” She said.
“Whatever.”
Emily started poking around again. The nail marks from earlier that day had faded. The pimple had now looked quite different than the night before. It appeared as if it was a small golf ball that was protruding out from Kris’ back. On the top it looked like a small crater had formed. Black and dark red colors had materialized around the edge of the crater and the center looked raw.
“Does this hurt,” Emily asked.
“It’s not bad, it’s just sore.”
Emily started scratching at the crater and a small circular piece of skin sloughed off. Tiny droplets of blood began appearing in the pores both inside the crater and immediately around it.
“Did that hurt?”
“No, I didn’t feel anything,” Kris said.
“I think it just popped,” Emily said almost quizzically. “I’m going to try and squeeze the junk out.”
Emily grabbed the washcloth which had been sitting on the nightstand since earlier that morning. She then started poking around the base of the lump. More blood was forming around the crater. She started to squeeze the lump and it immediately started to move from the inside. She pulled her hands back in shock as she saw what looked like hundreds of tiny dots moving around just under the layers of skin.
“Did you get it,” Kris asked.
Emily shrieked with horror and scrambled back falling off the edge of the bed.

The following takes place
Between 10:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.
The top of the lump had burst open as hundreds of tiny spiders with a slight tinge of blood red came pouring out through the crater. Kris was unaware of what was going on as he sat up to see what had happened to Emily.
“Are you all right,” he asked as he put his hand to his back to scratch the intense itching where he assumed there was now a popped pimple.
Emily scrambled to her feet. “Don’t touch it,” She screamed.
Kris had a bizarre feeling all over his hand and quickly pulled it around to see what was going on. Freshly hatched spiders were crawling over his fingers and dropping onto the bed sheets. Emily recoiled into the corner of the bedroom as Kris flailed his hand trying to shake the spiders off. He used his other hand in an attempt to smash the spiders on the bed. He jumped to his feet as shivers started to cover his body. At first he wasn’t sure if it was spiders crawling all over his body or hairs standing up on end. He looked at the bed where he was sitting and saw hundreds of spiders scrambling about the sheets. There were also small blood streaks where hundreds more had been smashed and smeared. Kris then peered over his shoulder and was barely able to catch a peek of where the lump had been. Now the lump was smaller as spiders continued to crawl out through the crater. Blood was dripping down his back and a dozen droplets had already hit the side of the bed and the floor. Dozens of spiders were crawling up his back. A few had crawled around his side and were creeping around his stomach. Others had fallen to the floor and were now crawling across his feet.

“….from the ocean floor to your plate. Now we have shown you that you don’t have to spend royal amounts of money at a restaurant to get a feast fit for a king….”
“That looks good,” Emily said as she entered into the room.
Kris quickly sat up. He glanced around at the bed and looked at his hands for any trace of spiders. His skin felt like they were still crawling all over him and a new set of shivers crept down his spine.
“Are you all right,” Emily asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You just startled me when you came in because I was asleep.” Kris didn’t want her to know that he had just had a nightmare.
“I’m sorry. I thought you were awake because I heard you saying something,” Emily said. “You are sweating like crazy. Are you sure your feeling O.K.?
“Yes, I’m good.”
“That’s it. I’m turning the air conditioning on because this is ridiculous.” Emily went downstairs to flip the switch on the thermostat and the fans immediately started turning.

Emily was finally ready for bed and she threw the blankets and sheets to the foot of the bed because the air conditioning had yet to take any real affect.
“Do you need the alarm set, and if so what time,” Kris asked, knowing what the answer would be.
“Six o’clock.”
Kris rolled over to flip the switch on the alarm.
“Wow,” said Emily. “It looks like your pimple popped.”
“Really?”
“There is only a small red dot now.”
“Well, it looks like you can’t torture me anymore.”
“If you want, I can look for more zits.”
“No thanks,” Kris said and they both rolled over and were asleep within minutes.

The following takes place
Between 11:00 p.m. and midnight
It was nearly midnight when both Kris and Emily woke up at the same time. They grabbed the blankets that had been gathered at the foot of the bed. They pulled them up to their chins and looked at each other. They both said in unison, “Its freezing.”
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Copyright © 2006 by Hulahan Publishers
West Jordan, Utah 84084