Halliwell’s Episology (Year 3/1/2)
“I DON’T WANNA GO TO SCHOOL!!” My littlest sister rang out again, that early in the morning.

Grams was busy getting her to settle down, to button her jacket but the hyperactive one was practically trying to squirm her way out of her grasp, wriggling and struggling that for a moment I thought her version of school was simply a place of horror. Right, horrifying kids like her probably. Piper and I were having our breakfast at the table but our eyes were fixed on the screaming one. It wasn’t the first time she acted like that, but definitely still something to watch out for to perk up the start of a day. Most of the time amidst Phoebe’s screams and shouting, there was the unmistaken sound of laughter and giggling from her too. Either Grams must be the ticklish one or Phoebe finds her morning routine somewhat a way to gain attention, a very hilarious and strength wasting attention.

“Honey, school is good for you.” Grams coaxed.
“NO! I DON’T LIKE SCHOOL!!” Loud and clear.
“Why?” Piper asked for the umpteen times, though she was chewing her sandwich. Come to think of it, I braved school courageously, my middle sister wasn’t that as keen but she only protested through her facial gesture. Right then our little one was giving us a brand new perspective to the idea of schooling, through her cries and screams.
“Pheebs.” I winced at her. “School is really very good for you. It’s fun and you get to play all the time and the teacher teaches you drawing remember? You love to draw.” I input the same words into her little mind since it all started. Somehow, she never gets tried of listening, or was I the one running out of words?
“Ya. Miss Anterson (Anderson) teach me drawing. She sounded happily, completely forgotten her own little ‘rioting’ earlier.
“That makes it all the more you should go sweetie. The teacher will teach you and you’ll draw very very nice beautiful pictures.” Grams do make it sounded like school is a place meant only to draw. How long ago did she really study? I daren’t ask her.
“Phoebe, Prue goes to school, I go to school and you go to school too. We all go to school together and in the afternoon when we come back, we still get to play together.”

Right, she sounded so positive cause she is the one usually gets to play, not me. Comparing the schoolwork, who gets the more assignment and projects? Wait till she gets her fair share and I get to play with Phoebe then.

“Piper’s right Pheebs. You be a good girl, go to school and study ok? Do you like reading? You always want me to read before bed right?”
“Yes,” Grams has finished clothing her and was getting her little backpack ready.
“Grams, I want to hold my bag. Give me my bag.”
“Ok honey, here you go.” We watched while still eating as Grams helped put the bag nicely on her little shoulder. Then Grams put a red cap on her brown crown with two ponytails hanging by the side.
“Don’t move.” Grams told Phoebe. Her big brown eyes looked unblinkingly at front while Grams adjusted the cap nicely. My littlest sister always has this idea that if she moves, the cap was gonna dropped.

Piper giggled as Phoebe’s eyes simply followed Grams hand as she did the adjustment.

“Ok. You’re all set to go to school.”

Phoebe pouted her mouth and her eyebrows knitted in protest.

“Pheebs, you like school don’t you?” Her bus was coming and that was my last shot, as usual.
She nodded her head. “I like school, but I don’t wanna go to school!”

Ok, someone tell me what that means.

“Why honey?” Grams signed. It was obviously tougher to handle the youngest one in her career as a mother and grandmother.
“Cause I don’t want to hold Johnny hand! He keep want to take my hand and I don’t like him!”

Grams has to chuckle and so do we. What was her excuse just yesterday?

‘I don’t like Miss Anterson (Anderson)!’ The reason? ‘She made me draw apples!’ And I thought she loves apples and it wasn’t really a bad idea.

I went to my baby sister and rest my hand on top her head, I mean her cap.

“Pheebs. Johnny is your partner. You have to hold hands with him. You have to walk two by two when you’re outside the class. It’s safer.” I tried to tell her the need to hold hands in preschool.
“But I want to hold Mickie hand! I like Mickie! I don’t like Johnny! I don’t want to go to school!”

Grams rolled her eyes and hid her laughing face behind her one hand as she knelt before the shortest one in the family.

“Phoebe, Johnny is a nice boy. He’s cute too.” Piper said that and who could figure how she knew about boys being cute at her age of 6/1/2.
“Pheebs, you really have to hold hands with Johnny. If you don’t, he will cry.” I’m really trying.

Phoebe looked at me surprised. “Why he will cry?”
“Because he likes you and he wants to hold your hand.”
“Yes sweetie. You’re a good girl and you won’t want to make him cry right?” Grams played along with the game.
“No, I don’t want Johnny to cry.”

Phoebe shook her head, her pouting face gone, our strategy worked.

10 minutes later, we heard Grams yelling her ‘goodbye and see you later honey’ to little Phoebe who finally boarded her bus, in peace.

Who will ever know that a 3 year old refusing to hold a boy’s hand will be so eager and desperate to hold many twenty years later,

~~~~~~~~~~

That afternoon, we came home and saw her doing her drawing in the living room.

“Hi Pheebs.”
“Hi Prue. Hi Piper.”
“Hi Phoebe.”

We went to her side as always, put down our bags and watching her do her work. She likes it when people pay attention to what she was doing.

“Nice drawing Pheebs.”
“Yeah, Great coloring.” Chipped in Piper.
“Miss Anterson (Anderson) teach me how to draw a watermelon today!”

My sister looked so happy for once as apples were out of her drawing scope, and a bigger version was introduced. I was thinking, that Miss Anderson sure knows how to ‘draw’ attention to the 3 year old kiddos, or were they simply too noisy to teach them the straight lines.

“So how’s school today?” Piper asked, a habit to get the youngest talking, to let her know that we’re concern.
“Ya, I like school.” She exclaimed without a second thought.
“That’s nice Pheebs. Will you like to go again tomorrow?” I enquired.
“Ya, I want to go to school tomorrow.”

She smiled showing me her neat set of baby teeth.

“Did you hold Johnny’s hand today?” Piper probed.
“Ya! I hold his hand like that!” She grabbed Piper’s hand and held it real tight there. I could see her little knuckles going white. “And he did not cry Prue.” She rounded that up with a ‘proud’ look implying that she is a good girl to let Johnny held her hand.
“That is my good girl Phoebe.” I told her giving one of my best ‘proud of her’ look.
“Me too!” Piper added in and we fell into each other’s hug.
After a while, “Prue, I wanna go to school again. I wanna play with my friends.” She winced.

Don’t worry, I’m used to that kind of procedures each day. First, she refused to go, and after attending for a day, she wanted to go back. We were watching a playback almost everyday since she started school and blessingly, it last only half of her first year.

~~~~~~~~~~

19/1/2 years later. Piper was making tea in the kitchen with me waiting to be served while reading a magazine nearby. Everything was nice and quiet when the door opened and slammed. We looked at that direction, it was Phoebe who looked pissed off at something and she headed straight for the refrigerator.

“Honey, I’m making tea. Do you want,” She saw her sister downing a cold bottle of mineral water.
“I take that as a no.” Piper shot me a questioning glance.
“What is it Pheebs? Someone ticked you off or something?” I have to ask, not worryingly though, cause my littlest sister looked amusingly when she was in that situation, at times.
“I can’t believe it!” She threw up her hands as in defeat.
“What?” Piper wanted to know what else the younger one couldn’t believe, especially she has been the keenest to accept themselves as witches.
“I was dumped by a hot cutie in school today!”
“Oh, I’m so sorry honey. Is that guy a nerd or a first class moron?” I was kinda surprised someone actually ‘dumped’ my, blossoming sister?
“Same thinking here. Look at you, you’re beautiful, smart and sexy. With all your, assets finely brought out, developed and very outstanding honey.” Piper fell into my frequency of thinking.
“That! Sisters, is the problem! Or maybe not!?!?!? Ohhhhh, I’m so confused, angry and hurt!” She plopped down on the chair looking sulkingly.
“So what seemed to be the problem, or not?” We went round to her and gave her our sisterly touch.
“Can you imagine he said that?!”
“What?”
“That my breasts are too, what for him to handle!”

At that, we have to giggle silently.

“Sizeable?” Piper suggested.
“Immense” ? I thought
“Massive?” Piper was really digging up words.
“Bulky?” I was thinking about my camera.
“Extensive?” Piper was looking at me for choices. I shrugged my shoulders.
“Voluminous?” That was the next best word to describe.
“Mammoth?” Piper must be thinking about the people she used to feed at ‘Quake’.
“Piper! Mammoth is a word so exaggerating!” Looking down, she paused for a moment. “Am I really growing out of control here?”

We burst out laughing.

“Hey guys, what’s so funny? Here I am, a sister in development dismal and you two are laughing it off? Am I getting it wrong or it really is your way to show a concern?” Phoebe wasn’t angry, more like trying desperately to cover up the hilarious touch behind the whole issue.
“Oh god, no Phoebe, of course not. It’s just that, wow Prue, that guy is the most senseless, brainless, mindless and idiotic one of his own kind!”
“Make it ridiculous and, laughable?”
“Prue!” She hit out at me and I quickly wrapped my arms and locked it in front of her letting her nest in my chest.
“I’m sooooo sorry to rub in like that but hey, it’s his loss and I bet sooner or later, he will be kicking himself real hard for rejection you.”
“Prue’s right honey. Besides, it’s a big ocean out there. You should leave your line a little longer. Patience equals the bearing of great fruit and I mean real grrreeeaaatttt!” Piper’s consolation words.
“Wow, so Leo’s the great fruit huh!” Phoebe gave Piper a dirty look, I can’t blame her cause I am thinking what she was thinking. Naughty sisters do think alike at times mind you.
“No no, don’t you think of that sister. You’re bad you know that.” Piper walked back to her tea set, Phoebe jumped off the chair and hurried after her with me right behind, knowing fully well what was spinning inside her head.
“Come on Piper, tell us. Which part of the fruit, I mean his fruit do you fancy? His good looks? His chest? Broad shoulders? His sexy legs?”
“Sexy legs?!!” Piper looked unbelievingly at Phoebe who actually mentioned that.
“Ya! You know, between his hairy legs, the part that man use it to harvest their seed,”

Piper clamped her hand over her mouth looking half amused and half ‘out of hope’ for our sister. The latter was laughing behind Piper’s hand cover and I had to join in the laughing chaos. Sure is our little sister to ever think of the unthinkable. She is after all no one simple, but our full time troublemaking baby sister.