(FICTION) (This is Part 3. Part 1 of this story can be found here, and Part 2 can be found here.)

“Mom?” little Susie Smith said out of the corner of her stick mouth.

“Yes, dear?”

“What’s going to happen when we melt?”

It was an excellent question, Mrs. Smith thought. But she had no idea what the answer might be. All she knew was that her bottom ball was getting tired, and she wanted to lay down and go to sleep for a while. She had a headache because she’d missed her morning coffee.

“I suppose we’ll have to wait until the lady comes out and ask her,” Mrs. Smith told her daughter. Fortunately, the didn’t have to wait long.

When they heard the lock in the front door turn, Mr. Smith Sr. said, using the middle button of his button mouth, “Let me do the talking.”

Mrs. Smith had her misgivings—her father-in-law could be abrasive when he was angry, but in the absence of any comment by her husband, she said nothing. It wasn’t until the lady of the house came out in a woolen coat, furry hat, and ankle boots that Mrs. Smith thought to wonder whether her husband had a mouth at all. She couldn’t turn around far enough to look.

“What have we here?” the lady cackled, facing them with her hands on her hips.

“What you have,” Mr. Smith Sr. said, “is a sextuplet of disgruntled snowmen. And I demand you change us back so we can go home.”

The lady dropped her hands from her hips and stepped back. Her mouth formed a perfect “o” before she exclaimed, “You can talk?”

“Yes!” Mr. Smith Sr. yelled. “And we demand—”

The lady reached out and removed the middle button from Mr. Smith Sr.’s mouth, leaving him to angrily, but now quietly, lisp something out of his right two buttons. Mrs. Smith thought she heard a swear word and hoped the children hadn’t been able to hear.

“That’s better,” the lady said with a nod of satisfaction. “Anyone else have anything to say?”

“Could you read us a story?” little Susie Smith asked.

The lady snorted and without another word, went back into the house.

(To be continued.)

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