Freeze

It was dark when Callie padded into her grandmother's kitchen. She knew it was way past her bedtime. Way way past her bedtime, she thought sleepily to herself, as her eyelids grated against her eyes like sandpaper. Every step felt like she was wading through liquid lead. Still, she was determined that tonight would be the night. It had to be. Her parents were coming back from their getaway tomorrow morning. She had to know what was in the freezer. For the animals' sake, if not her own.

Cracking open her tiny play oven, she whispered, "Are you ready?"

"Ready?" a caramel giraffe peered up at her. "We've been waiting for hours! Where have you been?"

"Sorry," Callie apologized. She held out her hand and the giraffe hopped onto it. "I had to wait for my grandparents to go to sleep. It was Bridge Night, so it took a little longer than normal."

"It's not like an event like this happens everyday," the giraffe sniffed, stretching out his long neck in disapproval. "The freezer solstice will end as soon as the sun rises. If there are any creatures in the freezer, we'll never find out by the way we're moving along!"

"Now don't be rude," a pink hippo admonished him, hopping onto Callie's still outstretched hand. "I'm sure we'll find out soon. Besides, what are we going to do if the stories aren't true?"

A baby blue elephant followed, trumpeting his trunk in delight. Pink bubbles streamed from his trunk as he hopped onto Callie's palm. "I hope they are true," he chirped. "I'd love to find some new friends to join our little group." He squealed and bubbles filled the air.

"Oh no!" Callie cried, patting the elephant's sticky head gingerly with her pinkie. "Are you upset?"

"On the contrary, I'm exhilarated!" the elephant cried, spinning in circles and tripping over her thumb. "Why would I be upset?"

"Because you're blowing bubbles," Callie said, her head wrinkled in confusion. "The pink hippo"--

"My name is Sassafrilla," the hippo interrupted, curtsying on Callie's wrist. "I thought we told you our names already."

"Not yet," Callie said as she tried to make sense of the conversation. "But anyway"--

"My name is George Hambleton Leafton the Third," the giraffe proclaimed, flinging his tiny head into the air with a haughty toss.

"And mine is Bubbles," the elephant giggled, "For obvious reasons." With every giggle, a large pink bubble popped from his trunk. "Why did you think I was upset, again?"

"Because Sassafrilla said when you get excited you blow Bubbles," Callie stuttered.

"He blows bubbles for any reason," Sassafrilla said dismissively. "When he's excited, when he's happy, when he's sad....bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles!"

"I think you're underestimating the bubbles," the giraffe said, peering at Callie as he lumbered up her forearm. "There's lots of bubbles. All the time."

"It's true!" Bubbles giggled. "I love bubbles!" As if to prove his point, pink bubblegum bubbles filled the air. Callie giggled as they floated around her face, gently drifting around her.

George Hambleton Leafton the Third huffed and bobbed his tiny head. "Are we going to stand around and blow bubbles all day or are we going to open the freezer?"

"You're such a spoilsport," Sassafrilla grumbled.

"Do you really think that the freezer will have candy creatures in it?" Bubbles asked. He blushed as a bubble popped from his other end. "Excuse me," he murmured.

"There's only one way to find out," Callie said. Taking a deep breath, she padded to the tiny freezer her aunt had given her. Like most of her kitchen, it was either old appliances no one wanted or that her grandfather had built, like her oven and kitchen set. The freezer was one of Callie's favorite things in her kitchen for two reasons. The first was that her aunt had given it to her. The second was that if you plugged it in, a little green light blinked on the front. It never got cold of course, because it was broken. But just the fact it could plug in and had a light delighted Callie.

"Ready?" Callie whispered. Gripping the plastic handle, she swung the freezer door open. Her eyes grew large and she drew in her breath.

"What is it?" Bubbles asked.

"Are there animals?" Sassafrilla asked.

"For God's sake, let us see it!" George Hambleton Leafton the Third snapped. Callie raised her arm up to the edge of the freezer. The animals gasped, their eyes wide.

The freezer was filled with creatures. In one corner bounced chocolate fudge balls. They giggled as they hopped onto one another, piling up like brown snowmen with pecan eyes before they tumbled down again. In another corner, Popsicles danced a jig with fudge bars and rolled along with the ice cream cakes.

"Look!" Sassafrilla whispered, nudging Callie. It was all she could do not to clap her hands in delight. Tiny polar bears lounged on glaciers of vanilla ice cream, as chocolate whales splashed in the frozen ocean of Kool-Aid. Penguins quacked as they scuttled over ice cubes and a group of reindeer scuttled right over Callie's fingers as they chased a ball thrown by the polar bears.

Callie burst out laughing as the reindeer crashed into the freezer wall, sprawling all over the floor with their gangly limbs everywhere. The animals all froze in place. They stared at Callie, taking in the sight of a baby blue elephant, pink hippo and caramel giraffe watching them.

Clearing her throat, Sassafrilla stepped forward and broke the silence. "Hello," she said. "We're the candy creatures. We heard you were having a Fall Freezer party and thought we'd stop by..."

"We just wanted to make new friends," Bubbles burst out as bubbles poured from his trunk.

The polar bears scratched their heads as the reindeer scrambled to their feet. A tiny black penguin scuttled this way. He held out his flipper to Sassafrilla.

"Hello," he said, shaking her pink hoof. "We've been looking forward to meeting you! Won't you join us? We're about to have a ice skating race."

The animals turned back to look at Callie. She grinned and nodded.

After all, it was already past her bedtime.