Best-Selling Author & Writer

The Blau family were in for a shock. They had recently returned from visiting New Jersey in the dead of winter, just so Elizabeth could explain to Rosa the difference between seeing snow in a photograph and actually being in snow, when they woke up one morning to a vast winter wonderland.

“Look!” shouted Rosa flying into her parents’ bedroom and bouncing on their bed which was something she had been told many times not to do, “look daddy, mummy, look outside. The beach is gone.”

It was those last four words that shook her parents out of their deep slumber, believing that while they were asleep a giant tsunami had hit North Topsail Beach and washed all the sand out to sea, on its way to Africa. They screamed and jumped out of their bed. Rosa didn’t know her excitement would cause her parents to panic. She tried to make the best of it.

“It’s not Tuesday!” Rosa announced as she walked into the kitchen where Julia was busy preparing dinner.

“I know that, Rosa. I can read.”

“Then why are we having tacos?”

Julia laughed. “Just because it’s Thursday doesn’t mean we can’t have tacos.”

“Yes, it does. We are only allowed to have tacos on Tuesday. That’s why when they invented the calendar they made it Taco Tuesday. You’re not allowed to have tacos on any other day.” “Ha, you’re wrong,” replied Julia, busily cutting up tomatoes and onions for the salsa. “But that doesn’t mean you have to have some of it. You can just have the meat without the taco.”

“What’s the meat?”

“Chicken,” replied Julia knowing that would upset her sister, and it did.

Rosa yawned.

“Time to go to bed young lady?” asked George who closed the book he was reading to her. Rosa yawned again and lay her head on her father’s shoulder.

“Yes daddy, I think so. I feel very tired.”

“Well, you’ve had a very busy day, haven’t you?”

Rosa nodded and closed her eyes. “Yes daddy, but you know what the best part of the day was?”

George smiled. He had an idea, but he had to ask. “What was the best part of the day?”

“Right now, daddy, when you read me a chapter from Little Women. The book is much better than the movie though.”

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” shouted Rosa as she flew from bedroom to bedroom waking up everyone. And as the occupants groaned Rosa pulled the curtains aside. She then flew into the living room and opened those curtains as well because the occupant of that room, Elizabeth, was asleep on the couch. She groaned the most and tried though unsuccessfully, to pull the quilt back over herself. “Wake up! Wake up!” Rosa continued to shout and Elizabeth who had fallen asleep on the couch after drinking too much the prior evening, had been allowed to stay the night, instead of having an overly eager Jeremy walk her home. They didn’t trust Jeremy to take Elizabeth home without a detour down by the beach and the water’s edge. Jeremy was crestfallen when he was booted out of the house, even though he had unsuccessfully tried to plead his case.

“Whose idea was this anyway?” asked a shivering Julia.

“Rosa’s!” shouted everyone except of course, Rosa. The Blau family stood on a snow covered Atlantic City boardwalk.

“Yes Rosa, why did you make us come here in the middle of January?” Timmy being the skinniest of the lot tried to hide behind his father, the most corpulent of the lot, but failed miserably. Elizabeth, who had agreed to tag along in the hope of teaching Rosa a lesson about photographs of snow and actually being in the middle of the snow, watched Jeremy begin to move sideways closer to her.

“I can keep you warm,” he whispered to Elizabeth who lashed out with her wing sending him flying through the snow and ending up on the beach. “This is just like home!” he replied grinning from ear to ear. “You need to do that more often.” He looked at a fuming and shivering Elizabeth.

“What’s that doing on the table?” asked Sybil, her voice climbing as she pointed to a round glass container.

“What’s what doing on the table?” replied George pretending not to notice the small glass container in the centre of the table.

“That!” Sybil emphasised pointing even more determinedly with her wing.

“Oh, that,” replied George hoping he could come up with an answer which would placate his wife. However, after scanning all his brain cells and finding he couldn’t, he defaulted to the truth. “Ha,” he began, “you have to ask Rosa, she put it there.”

“Why would Rosa put that there?” she asked this time hoping George would finally tire of going around in circles and illuminate her.

“It’s cream cheese,” he replied looking quickly around the room for his youngest daughter, but she wasn’t there.