The BEST Thanksgiving Ever

The BEST Thanksgiving Ever! (Fiction)

By Lulu Feng (age 11)

“SSSSSSSSSS……” Picking up the hair curler off my carpet, I desperately tried to wrestle my hair into ringlets for the billionth time. I plopped criss-crossed in front of my mirror and carefully wrapped my rat-tail hair around the curler almost burning my poor fingers. Unfortunately for me, I stunk at doing this sort of thing and I would probably never get finished before the guests started arriving for Thanksgiving dinner in two hours.
“LIAN!!!!” My mom’s voice screeched as I quickly put up the hair curler. “COME DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND STOP WASTING TIME UP THERE!!!!!
“Coming, Mom!” I shouted as I threw on my sweater and bounded downstairs.
“Ohhh…Is Lian in trouble again?” My think-he-knows-everything-little-creep brother, Jayson, asked innocently in that smooth voice of his as he sat at the kitchen table mixing the batter for our carrot cake.
“No, Jayson, now do be quiet unless you have something reasonable to say.” Mom said as she opened the oven to check on the sweet potato fries. “Lian, do you mind finishing making the mashed potatoes? Please don’t get angry when I say this, but Grandma and Grandpa might not make it here in time from New York with the turkey. It started snowing over there and the airline might delay their flight if the snow doesn’t clear up—“
“WHAT?!”I cried stopping mid-way to the kitchen counter and turning to goggle at her.
“Yes, I know----“ A loud ring filled the house and was silenced abruptly signaling that my dad had picked up the phone. It was amazing what one call could do to our whole house. Not knowing how important this phone call was or even who was calling, I rapped my fingers on the table and grabbed the mixing bowl from Jayson. Judging by the looks on my mom and Jayson’s faces, I could make out that something extremely important was going on. I swear I saw my mom’s ears prick up like my friend’s dog, Cookie, does when he’s listening hard. Seconds later my dad walked into the kitchen with a grim expression on his face.
“The light snow just turned into a blizzard in New York.” He sighed.
“So?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
“To sum it up, we don’t have a turkey for dinner.” No turkey for Thanksgiving?! I put my face in my hands and hurtled up the stairs and into my room slamming the door.
Tears came pouring down my face by the millions. I buried my face in my mom’s velvet blanket and tried to hold back some hiccups. My eyes burned from all the tears and my head felt as if it had expanded to the size of a hot air balloon. My body shook and swayed and I pressed the blanket closer to my face to muffle my cries and gurgles. I cried until I had no tears left in my body to cry. Feeling dizzy, I pressed my head against the cool post of my bed. Why did this Thanksgiving have to be so awful?
Lifting my head slightly I stared into my mirror when the doorbell rang. I sat up so hurriedly that I crashed my head on my bedpost. The Thanksgiving feast! I completely forgot about it!
Jumping off my bed, I sprinted to my closet. I quickly pulled on my party dress and hastily brushed the knots out of my hair. After washing my face quickly and placing a little dab of lip-gloss here and there, I rushed down into the kitchen hoping that I looked nice.
I entered the kitchen and was greeted with a mixture of overwhelming scents filling my nostrils and enveloping me with a warm, happy feeling. Most of the guests were already here mulling around eating some appetizers. I glanced at the table. The stuffing and everything else was there. Even the turkey looked beautifully seasoned and crisp! Wait, the turkey?
My mom came out of the bathroom and wiped her hands on her apron. She noticed me and smiled. I ran up to her and threw my arms around her neck.
“Where did you get the turkey?” I murmured quietly into her ear.
“The turkey? Well, your dad went out and bought a full ready-made chicken. Do you think the guests will be fooled?”
“Are you kidding? Even I was tricked!” I laughed. Then, I saw my best friend Kathryn standing by the kitchen doorway holding a beautifully wrapped gift. I didn’t really expect anything that happened, but I was pretty sure now that this was going to be my best Thanksgiving ever!