Jera Valson
July 07, 2008 7:24 AM
Snow! by Jera Valson
As far as Jera could tell, she had the best of both worlds for midterm. She got to hang around a couple of days after the other kids went home while her Ma finished up some school work, and she got to go home and catch up on some family time. The main bonus of Sonora at midterm? There was snow!Jera had seen snow before - there was the occasional powdery covering up the mountain, and she'd been to Romania in the winter - but seeing snow in the middle of the desert in Arizona was something else. After a warming breakfast of bacon and sausages, Jera wrapped up in a blue dufflecoat and red earmuffs and headed out to play in the gardens. There was enough snow to make a snowman, she was sure of it. Pulling on her dragonhide gloves (and hoping her Ma didn't catch her wearing them to play in the snow), Jera began rolling up a ball.
It wasn't very long before someone else appeared in the clearing. Jera was bent over her snow ball, which didn't quite yet reach her knees, and was sort of lumpy in places. "Hey there," she greeted cheerfully.
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Jera Valson
Snow!
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Jera Valson
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Kyler Kent
July 08, 2008 12:35 PM
Snow<i>man!</i> by Kyler Kent
Kyler had been sitting in his dorm, staring out the window as the snow drifted down to the Gardens grounds. He wasn't all that happy about staying at school for Christmas. Dad was filming in Alaska and Mom was set-scouting all across the globe. Though it sounded like heaps of fun to him, he wasn't allowed to go. Kyler stood up, having the sudden urge to get out and do something. He threw on his red winter coat and slipped his gloves onto his hands. He knew the gloves would soak through if he touched the snow, but he didn't care too much. That was all part of the winter experience. Kyler trudged through the snow as he made his way to the Gardens. The blanket of snow around him was simply screaming to be rolled up and made into a snowman.Kyler turned a corner and spotted Jera from DADA, who apparently had the same idea he had. The base of a snowman lay resting at her feet. He grinned at her as she greeted him with a, "Hey there."
"Hey," he replied, putting his slowly freezing hands into his pockets, "You have the same idea I had. Want some help?" Kyler got plenty of snow back home, living in the Colorado Rockies. Building snowmen were an annual tradition for him. It had to be done. Mom usually found a way to make it striking a funny pose. As tradition would have it, the poor snowman had sparklers for the eyes and nose. They were simply a weird family like that. He may not be able to use fireworks this winter, but he planned to make a snowman. If he was going to carry on the tradition, it would be nice to do so in good company.
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Kyler Kent
Snow<i>man!</i>
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Kyler Kent
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Jera
July 10, 2008 1:41 PM
Snow<i>lady</i>? by Jera
"Kyler, hi!" Jera greeted still more enthusiastically as she realised who had joined her. Kyler was the Muggleborn she'd been working with in Defense classes. "Yes, please help. It's going to take me hours on my own and my feet are already cold," she puffed, little clouds of steam forming in the air before her lips."Pa usually helps me," she said, pushing the ball awkwardly into a fresh patch of snow. "I didn't realize how hard it would be to try it own my own." Jera paused in her work and grinned at the snow-free trail she'd made rolling up the ball. It didn't matter - there was plenty of snow left in the gardens, and she would bet the quidditch pitch was covered in a snowy white blanket, too.
"You staying over midterm, then?" she asked Kyler. "I'm only staying a couple of days either end of the holidays while my Ma finishes up some work or something," she smiled. Then it was back home to the Rockies, and hopefully the druids would be celebrating Winterval while she was there, because that was one event she didn't want to miss. She hadn't been watching the moons, though, so couldn't be sure exactly when the festivals would take place.
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Jera
Snow<i>lady</i>?
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Kyler
July 10, 2008 10:51 PM
Snow<i>alien!</i> by Kyler
Kyler removed a gloved hand from his pocket as he returned Jera's greeting with a wave. He came to stand beside the lumpy globe of snow. He gave her a thumbs up as she got him the go-ahead on helping out. Snowmen were simply tradition, with the nice help of behind insanely fun to create! There were so many options. You could go classic snowman, which was, as the name goes, a classic. You could go for funny poses which brought entertainment in their own ways. Or there was always the idea he had been wanting to try out for a while... After Jera had paused in her procession of the snowball, Kyler bent down and began smoothing the edges of the by adding clumps to it and smoothing them over. He looked up towards Jera, blowing his just too-long brown hair out of his eyes."I usually do this with my Mom back in Colorado," he said, "Whenever I make them by myself they end up being only two feet tall." He held up a hand a foot above his head. Due to the fact that he was crouched on the ground, the hand was about two feet up.
"You staying over midterm, then?" she asked Kyler. "I'm only staying a couple of days either end of the holidays while my Ma finishes up some work or something."
"Yep," he replied, trying to sound indifferent. "Mom and Dad are off on business. She's scouting places for sets and Dad's in Alaska for some ice-covered movie that probably won't make it to the big screen." He shrugged and flashed her a smile. "I don't really mind. Not being home for Christmas is weird, but I plan to make the best of being here for winter. I mean, we're making a snowman right now! That's a start!" He gave the base an approving nod and began to make the middle, rolling up a snowball in the perfectly sticky snow.
"That's cool," He said, "that you're able to stay here and go home for midterm. Is it weird for you, being a teacher's daughter? I mean, do you see more of the perks or drawbacks of it?"
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Kyler
Snow<i>alien!</i>
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Jera
July 27, 2008 3:55 PM
That's ambitious by Jera
"You live in Colorado?" Jera repeated, sounding delighted. "I do, too. In the mountains. There's a hidden cove where the druids live, and we live just down from that," she chatted. Living near the druids was part of the reason her parents had decided to settle there; her Ma and her Pa could both use their research to teach and be taught by the colony, and their protection spells stretched far enough to cover the Valson/Powell house and its inhabitants. For Jera, the main benefit of the druids was that there was always someone around for her to talk to. This had been especially important over the last couple of years with her Ma working away and her Pa working on his new book. Jera'd had a lot of alone time - without the druids she might have gone crazy.It sounded like Kyler's parents spent a lot of time with their work, too. They had cool Muggle jobs working in the movies. Jera hadn't ever seen a movie, but she knew what one was. Or, at least she had some disjointed ideas about moving photographs following a script. "You'll have a great time over the holiday," Jera tried to reassure him. "I hear the Headmaster and the prarie elves do some games or something over midterm."
The base of the snowman looked about ready, so Jera left Kyler to finish smoothing off the edges while she stepped a couple of feet over to find fresh snow for the next stage. "Is it weird for you, being a teacher's daughter? I mean, do you see more of the perks or drawbacks of it?" Kyler asked.
"I don't know," Jera said, packing some snow into a ball with her slowly numbing hands. "I do get to see my Ma more than any of the rest of yous guys," she said, with an oddly cheeky smile. "But I guess I have to watch myself more closely," she considered. "I can't break curfew or get detention or anything - I'd never hear the end!" Jera smiled, but she didn't see she was in any real danger. It wasn't as though she was prone to rule-breaking, anyway. "I feel for my Da though," she said, almost as an afterthought. "He's on his own so much of the year."
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Jera
That's ambitious
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Kyler
August 17, 2008 5:56 PM
My author apologizes for the delay by Kyler
Kyler's family consisted of the three of them (parentals and himself), a few aunts and uncles, plus their demon children. His cousins were all significantly younger than him or a few years older. Their reunions usually fell around Christmas time. At whomever's house that Christmas dinner was held at (most lived in Colorado, except for Uncle Teddy and Aunt Lenora), theirs was the house that would undergo a week of clean up. Malorie, his four-year-old cousin, loved to take out the magic markers. If an eye wasn't kept on her, the colors would end up on the walls. Malorie's baby sister Linnea would normally sleep when the Kents and the Sterlings united. A sleeping baby, as Kyler found out, called for scolding parents. Aunt Sephora would top the children's volume by calling out to the world, "Kids, hush! You'll wake the baby!" Their oldest brother, Parker, was the most rambunctious kid he had ever met. He thought he was the biggest, baddest, strongest kid that ever ever lived ever. And he wanted to prove it, which meant tipped flower pots and broken glasses. Uncle Mervin would spend half the time (when he wasn't staring after Aunt Sephora) trying to Parker from inflicting maximum destruction. And those were just the little kids.The oldest ones were the ones that Kyler had to worry about. Cole was seventeen. Nick was fifteen. And both loved to beat up on him. Dad wasn't any help. Kyler could be gushing blood and he would tell him to suck it up. Thank God Uncle Teddy showed him some mercy, but only after it stopped being funny for him. Aunt Lenora loved it that her two boys were so strong, but she eventually took some pity on him two. Aunt Natalie was his favorite though. She was the chill, but weirdly wise aunt that seemed to take to Kyler for some reason. Who would have thought, right? Why chill with the kid who can't defend himself and spends all his time finding ways to prank the other kids. He was... the incapable trouble maker. Apart from Mom, Aunt Natalie was the best. He missed hanging with her and Mom during the break. Sometimes he missed his cousins too (just not the bloody noses). Jera was lucky to have her family so close to her more often than not. The problem was, there was no room to goof off.
"Oh yeah?" He said, looking up with a grin, "I live in Durango. I love being in the mountains. Gives me time to go rock climbing." Jera assured him that there would be plenty to do over break, which he believed. If something didn't happen, he would be making something happen.
"I can't break curfew or get detention or anything - I'd never hear the end!"
Kyler let out a laugh. "Yeah, that's what I'd be worried about too." Jera trailed off, mentioning her Dad and how he must feel staying at home.
"That's how I feel about my Mom," he said, "She keeps busy with her work, but Dad is usually on another continent. She stays home most of the year by herself. My mom and I are really tight so it sucks being away and leaving her at home. We should get a dog..."
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Kyler
My author apologizes for the delay
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