Beatrix Bobbit on Spring Break

Beatrix didn't know how it could be Spring Break but also stiill Winter.

Of course, she didn't long for sunny days and opressive heat. Instead, she longed for the fresh blooms and herbs that would fuel the more complex potions she'd been studying as of late. So, Beatrix sat rather forlorn in her black velvet cloak, staring out the window at the howling wind whilst thumbing through a book of the most prudent Spring supplies to gather each week.

"Very good, Sybil, dear! Excellent toe point," Mrs. Bobbit ceased playing on the chipped wooden piano and stood, stretching her shoulders and fingers. "Beatrix, dear, would you like me to bake those orange muffins you like so much?"

Mr. Bobbit who was dozing on the green floral couch snorted. "Yesss," he whistled through his mustache while snuggling the black ball of fluff that was Penny into his armpit.

Sybil, who was currently walking around the room on her hands, squealed before she dismounted. "What should we do next, Bea? It is Spring Break after all!" Sybil twirled, her green ribbon skirt flaring out around her.

She looked parrticularly fairy like today with her hair braided in a crown, dressed in that ribbony skirt Mrs. Bobbit made yesterday from spare Christmas gifts.

Beatrix stared at a speck of dust on the window sill and blew on it to move it from one side of the window to the other. Just as Beatrix thought her sad game couldn't get any more boring, she heard a strange sound.

"Bea! Did you just quack in response? Are we speaking in quacks now for the rest of Spring Break?" Sybil erupted in a fit of quacking laughter as she collapsed on the arm of Beatrix's chair.

"It wasn't me..." Staring at the speck of dust, Beatrix did the only sensible thing she could think to do. She blew on it again, this time turning her ear towards the window.

Quack quack! Quack quack! Quack quack!

"It was the dust!" Sybil's pale eyebrows shot up her foreheard.

Suddenly, Beatrix's mood imrpoved greatly. Despite the overcast skies, the drips of freezing rain and the wind that cut right through her cloak.

Now, they had a real Spring Break adventure to pursue.

"Come on, Sybie! We're going to the woods," Beatrix hopped off of the chair. She grabbed her twig wand by the front door and placed her black witch hat on top of her head at a slight angle.

"Yay!" Sybil twirled as she wound her pink crochet scarf around her neck and adorned her ears with giant crochet earmuffs in the shape of Sunflowers.

"We'll be back for muffins, Mom!" Sybil called.

"Okay, Beatrix dear. Sybil, dear, don't catch a chill," Mrs. Bobbit popped her pale head out of the kitchen, showing off smudges of flour on her forehead.

"Enjoy your nap, dad," Beatrix said.

"Muffin?" Mr. Bobbit grumbled from the sofa just as Beatrix and Sybil marched outside.

"Our first Spring Break adventure," Sybil cheered through chattering teeth as they slipped under the canopy of trees.

Beatrix blew on a medium sized grey stone, and handed it to Sybil. She pulled a second stone out of her pocket and rubbed her hands across it, relishing the warmth that soon flooded her veins.

"Good rock enchantment, sissy," Sybil sighed as her cheeks turned from blue to pink.

"There hasn't been much else to do. But now we have a mission," Beatrix turned towards the path up the hill, lined with damp moss instead of pine needles.

"And what is our mission, exactly, Bea?"

"Find the Fresh Spring Pond. And hopefully some ducks."

Sybil nodded seriously. "Mission understood." She was able to keep the laughter in for only a second before a giggle escaped.

While the warming rocks kept them from freezing, big, fat, droplets of rain kept pelting their heads every few steps. Finally, they came to the top of the hill.

Beatrix sat on the slick, mossy ground and fanned out her cloak.

"Yessssss! I love this part!" Sybil squealed as she plopped down next to Beatrix.

"Hold your side up," Beatrix instructed as she grabbed the right side of the cloak, and Sybil held the left side. Once they had the fabric scooped up, Beatrix flicked her wand.

And, like Penny sliding around the kitchen tiles, they were off, zipping down the hill so fast the wind roared in their ears. Beatrix had to hold onto her witch hat, and Sybil's braid tore free so that her pale waves were tangling as they slid faster and faster.

The pine trees cloaking the hillside were no more than a spindly blur. Only when the moss gave way to brown grass did Beatrix shout, "Grab your warming rock, Sybie!"

"We're going in?" Sybil asked.

"Only if you want to?"

In response to this Sybil let out a, "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Beatrix grinned just as the grey cliffs surrounding the Spring Pond came into view. Sybil whooped louder, and Beatrix joined her as they sped over the cliff.

They were dropping down, down, down until Beatrix pulled up on the front of the cloak. They landed on the light blue surface of the water with barely a ripple.

Though their cheeks were red and their hair was plastered in wet knots to their faces, both sisters were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

"We should do that more in the Winter, too, Bea," Sybil said.

"I could not agree more," Beatrix said. "Now, we have to find the ducks."

"What if they all flew South and they still haven't come back?" Sybil asked, her wide blue eyes looking around the pond.

"They must be here! I think they were trying to tell me something," Beatrix said, though she had no idea why the ducks would be trying to tell her anything.

She and Sybil visited often in the Spring, Summer and early Fall. They always brought crumbs from Mrs. Bobbit's best baked goods. Sometimes the ducks followed them as they swam and dove for treasures or gathered various herbs and petals from the rocks nearby.

But, that was the extent of their relationship with the ducks who inhabited the Fresh Spring Pond.

"Bea? I don't think they're here," Sybil said with a hint of sadness in her usually cheerful voice.

Beatrix sighed as she kept looking around for feathers or webbed feet kicking beneath the water. But, there was no sign of the ducks at all.

"Quack!"

"Sybie..." Beatrix said trying not to smile too widely before she gave in. "QUACK!"

"Quack quack quack quack!!!" They joined in a cacophony of quacking, both of their voices bouncing off of the surrounding cliffs while the cloak continued to float around the pond.

Eventually, when their voices were tired of the quacking they stopped, panting, trying to catch their breath.

"It was worth a try," Beatrix said.

"Or a quack!" Sybil laughed, sticking her tounge between the gap in her two front teeth.

"So much for our adventure," Beatrix stuck a hand in the water, scooping some of the fresh water into her parched mouth.

"Hey! This is still an adventure, Bea. Just one without ducks," Sybil made the same motion with her hand, cupping the water and taking big gulps.

Then, Beatrix thought she heard something. She put a finger to her lips and pointed up, cupping her ear to try to narrow down the sound.

Only when she was certain did her eyes glint in triumph. "Wings," she said.

Sybil nodded fervently when she heard them too. As the noise got closer, feathers flew down from the sky, landing on the surface of the pond until they nearly covered the whole thing like a blanket.

QUACK QUACK! QUACK QUACK!

Above, the ducks flapped their wings, quacking happily before they all began their descent to the pond. Sybil let out a cheer, Beatrix waved as she watched them, wondering if this was the start of something.

The ducks had called to her, hadn't they? Now, she had to find out what they wanted.

"You came!" Sybil was chatting happily with the ducks as they landed in the pond. Some ruffled their feathers, others dove in search of fish, and some kept a steady quacking.

It took a moment for Beatrix to notice when the ducks fell completely silent. It was so strange to hear the opposite of quacking and flapping wings and sloshing water.

Beatrix looked at Sybil who clapped her hands together.

"Hello, ducks," Beatrix said, feeling slightly absurd that she didn't know which duck to address her concerns to. "I, um, heard quacking in my living room. From a speck of dust, I think. And my sister and I came as fast as we could to see if you're in trouble. Are you in trouble?"

Beatrix looked around as all the ducks remained silent. Then one with a mowhawk almost blinked at her and quacked once.

"I don't think they're in trouble," Sybil said, as if she spoke duck perfectly well. Which, she probably did. Sybil had quite a way with animals. Kind of like Mr. Bobbit's bond with Penny.

"If you're not in trouble, what did you want us for?"

Beatrix looked from the ducks to Sybil who nodded, slapped her knees and said, "OF COURSE! That is very sweet of you, we were wondering where it was."

"Where what was, Sybie?"

"Spring," Sybil titled her head up, and as she did, sunlight shot through the gray clouds. Sybil's skin looked golden and the water around them glittered.

All along the cliffs, a sweet floral smell filled the air as flowers in pink and purple and yellow bloomed. The trees hanging over the cliffs dropped some of their small white petals on top of the feathers and sunshine sparkles.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

"Haha that's very funny!" Sybil acknowledged the mohawk duck again. "He remembered about your potions."

Quack!

"Oh yes, I'm sorry we don't have any. Wait," Sybil rummaged around her skirt pocket before she pulled out a slightly smooshed muffin. "Yes I do! Here you go!"

She began crumbling the muffin and tossing it out into the water as the ducks competed for crumbs. When it was gone, the pond fell silent once more.

"Thank you, for brnging Spring back," Beatrix said. She then waved her twig wand to direct the cloak towards the cliff side where they could climb out and gather potion ingredients to her heart's content.

"Of course we will," Sybil nodded. "We'll bring them some of mom's orange muffins, right?"

"Assuming dad hasn't eaten them all, we will!" Beatrix smiled and waved as she scrambled onto the cliff face with Sybil at her side. Together they climbed until they reached the top to find the woods completely transformed, blooming and green and buzzing.

"Now it feels like Spring Break," Sybil danced between the trees while Beatrix scooped small musrhooms and flowers and stems into her upside down witch hat.

"Just in time. Maybe we can convince mom to extend it since the first part wasn't really Spring," Beatrix suggested, already plotting the new potions she would be busy making.

Sybil merely laughed in response.

Back in the pond, the ducks quacked irritably, wondering how much longer it would be before the promised orange muffins were brought to them. They had brought Spring back. The least the strange girls could do was thank them with some of those delicious muffin crumbs.