Hazelnut

Eileen, Figurine, Tangerine and Hazelnut are sisters.

Eileen is the eldest. She has yellow hair.

Yellow is also the colour of Figurine’s favourite dancing dress.

The sisters live in an enchanted little house with their moms, whose names are Corine and Florine.

Eileen likes to have tea parties in the backyard. She invites all her sisters and their stuffed friends.

Tangerine’s hair is red. And Hazelnut’s hair is dark brown. She calls it “walnut”. Hazelnut is the youngest of the sisters.

Her favourite pastime is exploring different neighbourhoods. She loves to run her fingers through bowls of sparkly beads and jingly trinkets.

She also likes to perch in a tall chestnut tree in her backyard.

Sometimes, she sits on a branch to sing a song, just like a bird. And if Eileen has a tea party beneath the chestnut tree, Hazelnut makes it rain. Not the kind of rain that requires an umbrella to keep from getting wet.

But a rainfall of candy-coated seeds or green lentils or brightly-coloured confetti or sparkly beads. Sometimes adzuki beans drop one by one, making tinkling sounds on the teacups.

One summery day, Hazelnut went to Chinatown with her sister Figurine.

Figurine danced a fandango while Hazelnut gazed at shiny coins and colourful paper lanterns. Both girls fancied the sweet and sour and gingery aromas and the sounds of laughter and chatter and music.

The next day -

It rained Chinese fans. One fan landed on Eileen’s head as she went to pour some tea.

Eileen took the fan from her head and waved it back and forth to cool herself.

Each time she waved the fan she saw a beautiful golden bird flying through the air. It was surrounded by pink blossoms.

Another fan dropped on the tablecloth next to Tangerine. It was an exquisite paper fan covered in orange and turquoise birds. She too used her fan to cool off.

And finally, Figurine reached out to catch a plastic fan with gold trim and bubble-gum pink blossoms. Fluttering the fan in the air, she danced the flamenco.

Lounging in her favourite tree, Hazelnut munched on candied ginger, and created a cool breeze with a sapphire-blue fan decorated with gold stars.

When the party was over, the tired little girls went off to bed. Each put her special fan under her pillow and dreamt of golden birds and pink flowers, sapphires and gold stars -

- and many other magical things.

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Thanks for reading! All artwork created by Diane Peterson.