One cold winter’s night, the Shy family was gathered to enjoy their Hanukkah festivities, feasting on latkes and sufganiyot under the menorah’s warm glow. It was as joyful a time as ever, all celebrating in the (mostly) quiet way their family did.
Except for the youngest child Rosemary, who lay curled up in her grandparents’ armchair with chocolate on her face and an ache in her belly.
“Oh dear!” Her Bubbe, Posey Petals, exclaimed in a whisper. “Has someone had too much chocolate gelt? Honey, did we give her too many?”
She whispered to her husband in an even more hushed voice, but Rosemary could still hear her as she struggled to sit up.
“No! No, it wasn’t too many! I…I want more!”
Even she knew she didn’t really want more, but part of her feared that Bubbe and Zadye would give her less candy next time if they knew what too much had done to her tonight. Plus, Sandpiper and Uncle Zephyr and all the others were in the other room and she didn’t want them to think she was weak if they saw her in this state.
“Sorry Rosie, it looks like we’re out!”
Her Zadye, Gentle Nimbus, looked through the empty bag that once stored all their candy. The children weren’t greedy with it. No, they had no reason to be when they had ponies to spoil them rotten and give them more than they could ever ask for, like grandparents do.
“Hmm…I have an idea, then!” Posey lit up. “I’ll only be one moment.”
As his wife went into the kitchen, Nimbus unfolded their special Hanukkah throw blanket from the couch and brought it to Rosemary. She was surrounded by wrappers from her chocolate gelt, but significantly fewer than what she was given.
“Oh my, did you eat them with the wrappers on?”
Rosemary blushed in embarrassment.
“They were just so shiny! It looked as yummy as the chocolate!”
While some grandparents might respond with a warning about such behavior making the stomach ache worse, Nimbus wouldn’t have dreamed of putting even the tiniest dent in his grandbaby’s enthusiasm. Plus, he had read that dragons liked to eat gems, so maybe other shiny things also fell in that category.
“I’m back, dear, I hope I wasn’t too long.”
A whisper sounded behind her as her Bubbe appeared, flying with a bowl of hot matzah soup in her hooves.
“My little dragon has had a nice, big hoard of chocolate tonight. Now maybe she should try hoarding matzah balls instead!”
Rosemary accepted the bowl eagerly, not even bothering to blow on it before she started eating. Her insides were built for the heat; in fact, it felt good. Better than she thought she’d be able to feel for the rest of the night.
It wasn’t just the soup, but the loving attention of her grandparents as her Zadye tucked her in with the soft blanket and her Bubbe helped her eat as much as she needed.
“Doesn’t that feel better?”
Her Zadye asked once she was almost done with her bowl.
“I can get you some more, if you want it,” her Bubbe offered.
Rosemary smiled at them, her stomach ache gone and now replaced with a warm, sleepy feeling that covered her just like the blanket. It overpowered any craving for soup she might have had left as she yawned.
“Can I have some tomorrow?”
Her grandparents smiled at her like “yes” was the only option there could be.
“Of course, dear. It’ll be right here waiting for you.”
Blanket pattern from Vexels.com
