Page 17 of Alice & Meg: Summer Vacation
Meg grabbed my arm and pointed.“Look!It’s Piglet in a watering can!”
Sure enough, he was adorable and pink, peeking out of a ceramic can with flowers around the base.
“And Tink!”Cyn gasped.Tinker Bell stood delicately on a spool of thread, wings sparkling, wand raised mid-flick.
I wandered further in and took it all in.The Cheshire Cat fromAlice in Wonderlandlounged on a mushroom, his striped tail curling up behind him.Jaq and Gus fromCinderellawere tangled in a string of beads.
“These are gorgeous,” Reva said and ran her finger along the edge of a Belle figurine.
Then Meg and I locked eyes across the aisle.
“Winnie the Pooh,” we said at the same time.
We both made a beeline for the shelf, and there it was.
ThePooh Bear Musical Snow Globe.
The base was a hollow tree trunk with honey dripping down the side.Inside the globe, Pooh sat on a log with his honey pot, looking like the happiest little bear in the world.A bee buzzed above him, and when you turned the key, it played a tinkly version ofWinnie the Pooh.
“Oh, Meg,” I sighed.
She was already holding one.“We need matching ones.”
“Absolutely.”
Greta squealed from a few shelves away.“You guys, look!”
She held up a massive figurine of Maleficent with her staff in one hand and a black bird perched on the other.
“That is terrifying,” Adley muttered.
“Exactly why I’m buying it,” Greta grinned.
Raven walked past us, cradling a Grinch and Max statue like it was her child.“Don’t judge me.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said.
Adley picked up a Rapunzel statue with glowing hair.“Okay, this one’s mine.”
“YO!”Clash called from the back.
We turned to find him holding five giant bags of gummy worms, two bags of licorice, and what appeared to be a full tub of cotton candy.“I blacked out.This is what happened.”
King patted him on the shoulder.“I am not at all surprised by this.”
Then Reva let out a full-body gasp.“Oh my god.Rock candy!”
We followed her over to a giant spinning display of rock candy on sticks.Dozens of them in every color imaginable.Ruby red, ocean blue, lemon yellow, sparkly pink.
“My dad used to buy these for me every time we came to Falls City,” she whispered, picking up a deep purple one.“Every single time.”She blinked fast and held the candy like it was made of glass.“We’re all getting some,” she declared.“Everyone.Pick your color.”
Hero smiled and kissed her temple.“Happy wife, happy life.”
Reva grinned through watery eyes.“I’m pretty simple if all you need to do is buy me rock candy.”
“Alright,” I said and picked out a pale purple one, “let’s go check out before we spend all of our money at the candy store.”
We headed toward the registers.Everyone had arms full of trinkets, bags, and candy.Wrecker and I ended up last in line.
