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-- This is one I wrote, so I'm not adding much of anything here -- I'm pretty pleased with it, the story of how all of "the kids" decided to go shopping.

Well, the kids were just sure, just sure, that the Saturday market was going to be the biggest shopping even in the history of the world.  Why if the everyday mall was so impressive, and the supermarket so bursting with surprises, what must the market be like!  I kept trying to explain to them ... but Amber just smiled as she and her parents took Parakyle and left for Seattle, leaving me with the kids to watch.

Well, the side market is the best place I know of for finding interesting threads, and I figured they could all eat cotton candy and stay out of trouble, so they could eat cotton candy and I could buy thread and it would be trouble free and easy.

Boy was I mistaken.

There was trouble.

Ok, but it wasn't "real" trouble -- more like funny trouble.

First thing, while I'm looking at thread, they are casing out the velvet paintings of Elvis.  They each decided they needed a picture of "the king"  of their very own (I keep telling them about the Queen of England and Prince Charles, and they just don't believe me).  Then, as I was negotiating for some bottled frost sprites, they decided to buy a couch.

It was hideous, like someone had made it out of a rug.  Turns out someone had re-upholstered an old, old couch with a rug, and put the tassels around the bottom.  Next thing I know, they all want me to call my brother to bring his truck over to take the monstrosity home.  He no sooner gets there than Thalia (Indigo) starts hitting on him.  She's only fifteen (though she has decided that April 1 is her birthday) and he just turned twenty-one.  Should have seen him blush when he realized what she was doing.  Not to mention the way he blanched when he saw that couch.

So there we are, enough cotton candy that no one can carry almost anything else -- except some fudge and carmel corn -- a couch that looks like someone made it out of a persian rug, I've got an arm full of bottles (those sprites need to be freed carefully or they can get pretty irritable) and a pocket full of white-gold and blue-gold threads and my brother is trying to load the couch with the help of Jean-Robert while trying to keep some distance between himself and Thalia (Indigo).

Well, we got them all home and it turns out that three of the sprites aren't frost sprites, they are wind sprites and they decide they want to live in the couch.  While the kids put their artwork up (my brother is still asking me if I couldn't have done something to keep them out of the velvet Elvis paintings),  my brother and I start working on getting the couch in the house (this will serve Amber right for leaving me to babysit).  Suddenly, the couch starts to float for us.  Turns out that was a magic rug that it was made out of.  When the sprites moved in, the couch woke up. The sprites pop out with gold cord rings from within the tassels and the kids each get one. The cord rings will let them find, direct and summon their new "flying couch."

My brother decides they need a rail across the front (even though the thing flies sideways) just for safety.  I can see Amber's parents now when they see that thing.  We put it in the storage shed instead of the house, and the Elvis paintings go in each kid's room.

I should note that Indigo offered to watch everyone, even if she is one of the kids. She tagged everyone with one of her marks and would cycle between locations.  Other than surprising Jean-Robert in the shower (he had decided to sneak off and try it, and told everyone he was going to the library -- he still can't believe how often everyone uses the shower and I think he had decided it was a guilty pleasure -- though not any more).

You know, I could use one of those marks on me now, maybe Indigo would find me.  Maybe someone would.  Maybe.