A Snow Day Means A Play Day

Adrianna drudged through the doors, slowly dragging her feet as if that would prevent the inevitable. She heaved a massive sigh, reluctant to return, but knowing there was no real way to delay it. Dropping her backpack into one of the baskets lining the wall, she plopped down onto the bench of the cafeteria table.

“Why’d we have to have school today?” she groaned, disappointed the weather hadn’t cooperated.

Serena stifled a laugh, understanding her discontent. “Well, we may have had three consecutive snow days earlier this month, but just because we receive a snow day doesn’t mean that we’ll get another one right after,” Serena explained gently. “The roads were icy and slushy yesterday, but they’re all clean today.”

“I’d rather be at home,” Adrianna grumbled dejectedly. “We’re only going to be here one day, and then it’s the weekend. It doesn’t make any sense to be here.”

Serena hummed her agreement and pointed out, “It’s a school day, nonetheless. Besides, if you all receive too many snow days, they’ll start adding more days to the end of the school year. I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.” She paused, considering ways to uplift Adrianna’s mood, before inquiring, “How did you spend your snow day?”

Adrianna lifted her head from its slumped position on top of her crossed arms, peering up at Serena. “I played Minecraft and watched videos about it.”

“Oh, really? What did you do in Minecraft? When I was babysitting once, a girl built a house for her brother with an indoor pool, but somehow a Creeper opened the door, trying to come inside; I didn’t know they could do that,” Serena remarked, pondering her limited knowledge of the game.

Adrianna began explaining the game and her favorite Minecraft YouTubers. During her explanation, Kimberly entered the cafeteria, joining the pair at the table. She seemed sleepy but eager to participate, listening to discover what the conversation’s focus was.

“You can do a lot of stuff in Minecraft,” Adrianna explained. “There’s Survival Mode, you collect things, you can build things, and you can get pets, like a wolf, a cat, or a horse. They can follow you in the game.”

“Can you have a duck for a pet?” Serena inquired.

“No,” Adrianna shot the idea down.

“Awww, but it’d be cute to have a little duck follow you around,” Serena lamented. “Well, what about pet chickens, cows, or pigs?”

Adrianna shook her head. “That’s food. You can’t have them as pets.”

“Hmm,” Serena pondered. “Well, can you add wings to the horse to turn it into a Pegasus? Then you could fly with them.”

Kimberly giggled, adding, “And you could add a carrot to its forehead to make it like a unicorn!”

“Then it’d be an alicorn! That’d be fun!” Serena remarked.

Adrianna frowned, correcting the others, “No, you can’t do that! They’re just horses. You could attach your pet to a leash and fly, which would allow it to follow you, but then your pet would get hurt.”

“Darn, that’s no good. Well, what about pet hedgehogs? Or pet alligators? Or a pet fox?” asked Serena, curious to find out the range of pets the game possessed.

“No, none of those are pets,” Adrianna sighed.

“Okay, so none of those are pets, but what about a pet T-Rex? That could be fun.”

“Ugh! NO! There are no pet dinosaurs!” Adrianna huffed in frustration while looking at Serena as if she were crazy and Kimberly did her best not to smile, vastly amused by the exchange.

“I see,” Serena replied, pausing to reflect on what she learned. “I still think it’d be fun to have a duckling follow you as a pet.”

“What’s with you and ducks?! You’re so silly. There are no pet ducks,” Adrianna declared with finality.

Serena shared a look with Kimberly before noting, “That doesn’t mean they couldn’t add it to the game. There’s always updates.”

Kimberly stifled her laughter, not wanting to stir Adrianna’s ire, as Adrianna sent a stern look Serena’s way. Serena smiled, but Adrianna declined to comment, deciding the conversation was closed. Trinity and Tamara then arrived to before care, and Adrianna scampered off to go play with the pair of sisters.

“I thought your suggestions were reasonable,” Kimberly whispered with a grin.

“Well, considering that other games have wide variety of pets, I figured it’d be feasible to have some of those as pets,” Serena replied with a shrug. “Oh, well. It’s a shame, but maybe they’ll add them in at a later date.”

Kimberly nodded before joining the others. Serena smiled and enjoyed the relaxed morning. Mornings after a snow day were always laidback, as kids trickled in slowly. The kiddos always came in with interesting stories to share, too. Odds for additional snow days were dwindling as the days grew warmer with spring’s approach, but life was full of surprises. It might just decide to throw them a curveball with a surprise snowstorm, despite the warmer temperatures. Serena knew the children wouldn’t be opposed to more days off; she certainly wouldn’t complain about sleeping in.