Silver Bell Wish 6
by Peregrine

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Copyright © 2023 Peregrine
All rights reserved.
Disclaimer:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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Chapter 6

The Plan

“Really? You want to use my plan? Yes, yes, I think it will work!”

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“I can’t believe you want to use my plan,” said Renee.

“Why not? I want to hear what you came up with.”

“This is so rad!” said Renee. “My big sister is asking me for advice. I’m always coming to you when I need advice.”

“Well, let’s hear this plan.”

“Well, there are only three steps.”

“That’s good. I was expecting something complicated.”

Renee frowned at her sister. “Do you want to hear the plan or not?”

“I’m sorry. Three-step plan…continue.”

“The first step is to reconnect with interests that you both like. I don’t mean pretending to like something he does. It’s gotta be something you both like.”

“What interests do you share with your Grady?” asked Rian.

“I found out we have similar tastes in music. We even like some of the same video games.”

“Hm, you mean like things we used to do together?” Rian wondered if this Alex liked the same things as the previous Alex.

“Yeah. You both enjoyed going to the Music Pot for the concerts. Don’t forget jogging in the park and getting coffee.”

“I think I understand. Like me showing up for coffee last night.”

“Yeah, that was pretty bold. I would have started with going to the Music Pot. You show up and let him see you by sitting close.”

“Alright, that sounds good. What’s the second step?”

“Step one leads into step two. You cross paths with him more often. Like last night, you got coffee, and you spoke with him. If it’s jogging, you stretch and maybe jog with him.”

“So, step one is to let him see we still have the same interests and step two is to get in his face while doing them. That’s doable. What’s step three?”

“Step three is the most daring. It’s also what I need the nerve to do. You invite him to a party. You could even throw the party and invite him.”

“Invite him to a party as a date or invite him to a party I’m throwing. You know, that’s actually a decent plan. Did you think of it yourself?”

“Pretty much. I took some ideas from some online sites.”

“That’s a plan I think I can put into action. Now I have to figure out if we still like the same things.”

“That’s easy. All you need to do is check his social media page.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. You’re the best little sister I’ve ever had,” said Rian, smiling.

“I’m the only sister you have,” said Renee.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re the best.”

Rian pulled into the hospital parking lot. “This is it, my elf in training. Let’s make some kid’s day.”

~~0~~

Rian and Renee walked to the office for the activities director. The director was walking out as the two elves got there.

“Hi, girls. It’s Rian, right? Who do you have with you?”

“This is my sister, Renee. She wanted to visit the children with me.”

“Nice to meet you, Renee. It’s good she’s here,” said the director. “Amelia called and said she couldn’t make it today and promised to be here tomorrow.”

“Where do you want us to start?”

“Why don’t you both start on the fifth floor? I’ll let the nursing station know you’re coming.” She started walking, then stopped. “Hold on.” She went back into the office. “Celeste, would you make our elves here some name tags and give them the candy cane buckets?” She turned back to the elves. “Celeste will get you started. I have to run to a meeting. Have a good time.”

~~0~~

With their name tags in place and carrying the candy cane buckets, the two sisters walked to the elevators to get to the fifth floor. Just like last time, the kids, parents, and staff gave them big smiles as they passed. The two elves got to the nursing station and began visiting the children’s rooms. Some children recognized Rian as the elf who saved Christmas. Rian and Renee talked with the children, handed out candy canes, and gave and received hugs. Rian saw Renee was enjoying herself with the kids.

Rian noticed a clock on the wall showing eleven thirty. “Are you ready for some lunch?”

“I’m starved.”

Rian thought of her previous life and remembered Ellen. She wondered if there was an Ellen here. “I want to make one more visit first. Follow me.”

After taking an elevator, they went to the nursing station and asked if Ellen was still there. After getting confirmation, Rian led Renee to the room. Knocking on the door, Rian said, “Knock, knock. Can we come in?” Rian opened the door and saw Ellen’s mother sitting in the chair next to the bed. After getting a nod of the head from Ellen’s mother, Rian walked in.

Ellen saw Rian as she walked in, and her entire expression changed. “Rian! You’re here! Mom, my wish came true!”

“Hi, Ellen. I’m glad to see you too.” Rian brought her sister to her side. “I want you to meet my sister. Renee, this is Ellen. Ellen, this is Renee.”

“Nice to meet you, Ellen,” said Renee.

“Are you an elf too?” asked Ellen.

“Yes, I’m in training, though. That’s why I’m here with my big sister.”

“I like Rian. She’s nice.”

“I like her too. But she is my sister. I kind of have to.”

“Ellen started giggling and Renee joined in.”

As Renee and Ellen started talking together, Ellen’s mother asked Rian to step outside.

“Thank you for coming. She needed cheering up. How did you know?”

“I didn’t know. I guess it was some real Christmas magic.”

“Whatever it was, I’m glad you came. You were wonderful in the play the other day.”

“Thank you. Did Ellen get to see it? I didn’t see her at the meet and greet.”

“We couldn’t stay. She was too tired.”

“You said she needed cheering up? What happened? Not bad news, I hope.”

“No bad news, thank God. The therapy dog, Bubbles, was to visit her today but couldn’t make it. She was looking forward to its visit. The owner has to leave early, so they cut the visits short. Your being here makes up for her disappointment. I want you to know I appreciate you and your sister visiting.”

When they got back into the room, they found Ellen and Renee laughing together.
“I like your sister, Rian. She’s funny.”

“She is one of a kind.”

Rian was happy that Renee and Ellen were hitting it off. Her mind was on other things. She soon came back to being present in the visit.

“Ellen, Renee, and I have to get going.”

“Can you come visit again?”

Rian looked at Ellen’s mother, who nodded her head.

“You know I’m very busy this time of year, but I think I can fit a visit in again.”

“Can Renee come?”

“She couldn’t keep me away,” said Renee, hugging Ellen. “Bye, Ellen.”

Everyone said goodbye and Rian and her sister left.

“This has been nice,” said Renee. “The kids’ faces all light up when we walk in the door. Can we do this again?”

“I’m sure we can,” said Rian. They started walking to the elevators when Rian saw a guy with a dog. “Hey, look. Maybe that’s the guy with the dogs. I’m going to talk with him and see if he can stay a few minutes longer and bring Bubbles to see Ellen. Let go before he gets away.”

The sisters walked down the hall where the guy and dog were standing. He had his back to Rian talking with a nurse. The conversation appeared to be over as Rian got there.

“Excuse me, sir. Would it be possible for you to stay a few minutes and bring your dog to see another patient?”

“I’m sorry, I have to get going,” he said.

“It would only take…” Rian stopped as the guy turned around to face her. “Alex?”

“Rian! Wow, we see each other for two days in a row. So that’s your costume for the play? It looks great on you.”

A little flustered at seeing Alex, all Rian could say was, “Thanks.” She regained her composure. “You’re the guy with the therapy dogs?”

“Yep, this is Bubbles. She loves being with the children.”

“What’s up, Bubbles?” Renee said, giving the dog attention.

“Hi there, squirt. I see you’re helping your sister.”

“How come he can call you squirt?” asked Rian.

“He’s a lot taller than I am, that’s why. Hi, Alex.”

“You were saying?” said Alex as he checked Rian out.

“I was asking if you could stay a little longer. One patient was looking forward to seeing Bubbles.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t stay. One of my volunteers didn’t show up.”

“Rian will volunteer!” said Renee.

Rian shot a deadly look at her sister and said, “I can’t…”

Alex thought about it for a moment. “That would work. You can take Bubbles on your visits. I can handle things on my end. It would help me out.”

“And Ellen can get to play with Bubbles,” said Renee.

“I don’t know what to do…”

“Bubbles knows the routine. All you have to do is get her to the children’s rooms. She does the rest.”

“But I…”

“It’s settled.” Alex handed the leash to Rian, who handed it to Renee. “Get Bubbles to the Animal Antics Foundation by three. It’s on Ashbee Lane. I’ll see you later.”

Alex left, leaving the sisters with Bubbles.

“What were you thinking? Why did you volunteer us?” Rian asked her sister.

“It’s part of the plan. Or did you forget?”

“You are going to explain to me how this is part of the plan. Right now, let’s get Bubbles to Ellen’s room.”

“I can’t wait to see her face when we walk in,” said Renee.

“Me either,” said Rian.

~~0~~

Ellen was ecstatic upon seeing Renee walk in with Bubbles. While Ellen was engaged with Bubbles, Ellen’s mother took Rian aside.

“How on earth did you get Bubbles to come here? I was told the dog couldn’t visit today?”

“It turns out I know the dog’s handler.”

“I am going to have to agree with Ellen. Your visit, and then you and your sister bring Bubbles. It is a Christmas miracle. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to thank us. Renee and I have had a blast visiting the children, especially Ellen.”

Renee was having such a great time bringing Bubbles to visit the children that she forgot she had been starving. They made several more visits before noticing the time.

“We’re going to have to leave to get Bubbles back to the foundation on time and get you home.”

“Aww. Can we do this again?”

“I don’t know if we’ll have Bubbles, but I’ll be back tomorrow. You can come with me again if you want to.”

~~0~~

Renee rode in the back seat with Bubbles and they pulled out of the parking lot onto the street.
“I know we had fun bringing Bubbles to see the kids, but you have to tell me why you volunteered us. You said it was part of the plan?” said Rian.

“You just had step one and step two come together. Don’t you see?”

“I don’t get it.”

“Step one is finding common interests. He likes to bring the dogs to the hospital to visit the kids. You like visiting the kids in the hospital. There is a common interest.”

“I’m doing it during Christmas time. He does it all the time.”

“So? It’s a common interest right now.”

“I’ll agree. It’s a common interest. So what now?”

“Like you said, step two is for you to get in his face. You will see him when you bring Bubbles back. You talk with him, asking him how he got involved with the therapy dogs. Now that you’re a volunteer, you’ll get to see him more.”

“Whoa, I thought you volunteered us for today.”

“I did, but I enjoyed taking Bubbles around to see the kids. I’m going to see if I can do it more often. You’ll have to drive me there since Mom and Dad won’t get me a car until I graduate. Then you get to see him more often. You see? Part of the plan. This is getting better and better.”

~~0~~

Bubbles and the girls got out of the car with Bubbles nearly dragging a laughing Renee to the door. Alex was speaking with someone at the front desk.

“Right on time,” said Alex. “Hey, Bubbles. Did you have a good time with the girls?” Alex scratched Bubbles behind the ears.

“I think we had a good time with her,” said Renee.

“Renee, give the leash to Sue and she’ll take Bubbles back to the kennel.”

“Can I take her back?” asked Renee.

“Sure you can,” said Sue. “Follow me. Would you like to feed her?”

With Renee off feeding Bubbles, there was a sudden silence. “So,” said Alex, breaking the silence, “It looks like Renee had a good time.”

“We both did. Thanks for letting us take Bubbles to visit the little girl. It cheered her up more than you know.”

“That’s great. Why the interest in this girl? You must have seen quite a few during your elf visits.”

“She…she reminds me of another little girl who was sick the last time I saw her. It seems like another lifetime ago.”

“How is she now?”

“I don’t know. I’ll have to check up on her,” said Rian. She wondered if her parents had received the PET scan results. She shook her head slightly. In this life, her sister was fine. “Oh gosh, look at the time! I’ve got to get Renee home and then get myself to the theater for the show.”

“How about I get your sister home?”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“I insist. After all, you helped me out today. It’s only fair. This way, you don’t have to rush, and… you can stay a little longer.”

“Alright.”

“Stop in the café after the play tonight. I’ll make you a latte. No charge this time,” Alex smiled at her. Rian didn’t know why, but she liked Alex smiling at her. She wondered if the Alex she knew previously felt the same way as she did now when she smiled at her. But she was a guy back then and Alex was a girl and now Alex is a guy and…. Thinking about it was giving her a headache. The only thing to do was to enjoy the moment.

Rian stayed for a short while and left, promising to stop at the café after the play. She started up her car and merged into traffic. “Damn! Renee’s plan might be working.”

~~0~~

Rian sat backstage after another successful performance. After the cast congratulated each other, Rian sat down to take off her makeup and costume. It felt funny taking her costume off. Between wearing the costume for visiting the kids, rehearsals, and performances, it felt like she had been wearing the costume non-stop. Today, there were no pranks or parties.

“Rhiannon Transdale…,” came a voice. “Delivery for Rhianna Transdale.”

“Rian,” said Kimber. “Looks like you have an admirer.”

“I’m Rian Transdale.” No one had ever called her Rhiannon before.

“These are for you.” Rian took the small bouquet. “Sign here, please.”

Rian looked at the bouquet and smelled the flowers. She found the card as the girls gathered around.

“Who’s it from?” asked Amelia.

Rian handed the flowers to Tammy, who had brought over a vase, and read the card aloud. “Break a leg. Alex.”

“Who’s Alex?” asked Ellery.

“An old boyfriend.”

“Sounds like he might want to still be your boyfriend,” said Tammy.

“If he had wanted to get back together, he would have sent roses,” said Ellery. The girls laughed and left Rian with the flowers in the vase on her table. She looked at the flowers and smiled.

Rian changed into a white poplin long shirt-tail hemmed shirt over high-waisted jeans. Keeping half of the shirt hem tucked gave the outfit a nonchalant appearance. She wore black, slouched, low-heeled boots to complete her look. Checking her makeup, she picked up her bag and left with a smile still on her face.

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Thanks for reading. Comments welcome.

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Cover picture Credits:
Photo Created with AI using Gencraft (after many tries)
Photo Composite by Peregrine