A Happy and a Sweet New Year

         “If your room is not clean by the time I get up there, so help me, I will end you,” Rebecca yelled up the stairs, clutching the receiver of the phone with one fist.
         “You’re just my sister! You can’t tell me what to do! You’re NOT mom,” her ten year old sister, Sara, shrieked back. She kept shrieking incoherently about “Services suck” and “I HATE apples” and something about how it wasn’t really the New Year anyway since it was fall. However, this was muffled as she slammed the door hard enough to knock the pictures off the walls.
         Rebecca released her death grip on the phone receiver, putting it up to her head again, “Hold on one second, Aunt Barbara, I have to take care of something.”
         As she went to press the hold button, she heard through the other line, “Fine. Keep me waiting. It’s not like I have a dinner to prepare for, or like I am having blood sugar issues and need to eat every 15 minutes. It’s not like I’m having dizzy spells or hot flashes. I’m sure I’ll be fine just sitting here, waiting for you-” Click. Safely on hold.
         Rebecca closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and found her resolve. She placed the phone on the table, grabbed the duct tape, and stalked her way up the stairs. Sara was still screaming, and it sounded like she was throwing things in her room to boot. Rebecca pounded on the door, “Sara! Open up.”
         “NO!” Thump.
         Rebecca slid the tape over her hand, so that it was positioned around her wrist like a bracelet. She slid up against the back of the door, her other hand poised around the doorknob, “Last chance, Kiddo.”
         “Go away! I hate you! I hate this holiday! I hate being Jewish! I hate-”
         She opened the door, then ducked and rolled her way under the pillow Sara flung at her. She crouched on her knees at the foot of the bed, her sister staring at her wide eyed from her mattress. Sara’s face was flushed from screaming, her cheeks wet with tears. She breathed deeply before shrieking at the top of her lungs, “Get OOOOOOOOOOUT!”
         Rebecca dove on top of her sister, grabbing her wrists and sitting on her thighs to pin her kicking legs. Ziiiiiiip. The duct tape wrapped itself firmly around Sara’s wrists, tying them together. “Stoppit! What’re you doing? I’m telli-“ Ziiiiiiip. It stuck perfectly over her mouth. “Mmmph!”
         “Listen here, you demonspawn,” Rebecca shoved her finger at her sister’s face, “I have had enough of your whining. Yes. I know mom is not here. I know you hate celebrating Rosh Hashanah without her. I know we don’t really get along. I also know you are going behave. You are going to wash up. You are going to help me make the Challah. You are going to be the sweet and charming little girl I know you can be. Or you know what?”
         Sara’s eyes were wide as saucers as she shook her head slowly.
         “I’m going to take your precious stuffed hippopotamus, Mr. Egleymore, and I am going to give him to Aunt Barbara’s Mi-Ki’s and I am going to let them use him as a chew toy like they did last year, and, if you want him fixed, YOU are going to have to sew him up.”
         Sara shook her head wildly back and forth, “MMMM!”
         “And if you think you can tell mom, forget about it! I’ll just say you weren’t paying attention and left him out, like last year.”
         “MM!”
         Rebecca raised an eye brow and crossed her arms in front of her, still sitting on top of her sister, “So? Are you ready to behave?”
         Sara glared at her. Hard. Then she nodded.
         “Good!” Ziiiiiiip. Off went the tape on her mouth
         “OW!”
         Rebecca tilted her head, eyes glinting wickedly, “Behave.”
         Sara clamped her mouth shut.
         Rebecca smiled and rolled off her sister, “Good.” She sauntered her way out of the room, tossing over her shoulder a nail file, “You can use that to get the tape off of your hands. I’ll see you downstairs when you’re dressed.” She turned around to level her sister a sinister glare, “Or else.” She closed the door behind her and coasted downstairs.
         She picked up the phone, “Hello? Aunt Barbara? Uh huh. Yeah. Uh huh. Just Sara needing a little assistance to get into the holiday mood. Uh huh. Yeah. Mmhmm. If I could just get that apple challah recipe? Yeah. I know. Yup. So lucky. Uh Huh. Uh huh. Got it. Yeah. I know. No? Oh. Ah. Okay. Sure. Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah. Really got to go now. Yup. Yeah. Love you too. I see. You don’t say? Uh huh. Sure. No problem. All right. Will do. See you then. Really have to go. Sure. Have a happy and a sweet new year.”
         Click.

Word count: 819