Reunion!

Sep 8, 2016 | Travel

Her Authorship and The King of Forbearance got onto a smaller, commuter train bound for Sitges. There, they would catch a taxi to their home away from home for the week to come. Once a year or so, The King’s family got together for something they called a “reunion.” Plot Bunny and Herman just thought of it as an adventure, for as close as this particular family is, it’s like they never parted – and if they never parted, how could they have “reunions”? But the little critters supposed a “reunion” meant “living together for a little while, all under one roof,” which is not very practical to do, year round. Humans are funny creatures. They have things called “school” and “work” and they run around doing those things in various places all over the world until finally – FINALLY!! – they can take themselves and their little critters on something called “vacation.” It was remarkable how The King’s family always managed to take this “vacation” at the same time – and often in the same place!

Plot Bunny and Herman Hootabout had already braced themselves; Masia Victoria couldn’t possibly look as nice in person as it did in its VRBO listing. It is described as “a 15th Century Catalan manor” that “offers every modern creature comforts you could dream of, but it has been carefully renovated in order to preserve its original character and beauty. The upstairs bedrooms offer some magnificent views to the hills and vineyards surrounding the village. Sleeps up to 32 guests, and is perfect for any type of celebration.”

“What’s ’15th century’?” asked Plot Bunny.

“Old,” answered Herman Hootabout. “Really, really, really old.”

“Oh,” sighed the bunny. “But it says it has all the modern creature comforts we could imagine. Does that mean it’s equipped with a hydroponic carrot garden?”

“I think it means it has indoor plumbing and the beds aren’t stuffed with horsehair and reeking of 500 year old sweat,” answered Herman rather grimly.

“Well, that’s something,” said PB. “It’ll be an adventure, anyway!”

As Her Authorship and The King of Forbearance climbed from their little taxi, everyone but The King seemed confused. To one side, there was what appeared to be a small hotel. But they walked to the other side, towards an odd little wooden door set in a larger wooden door. The small door was the proper height for a tallish dwarf, at least by 15th century standards. The King knocked on the door. Her Authorship looked skeptical. The taxi drove away, leaving them in front of a plain white wall with an odd door in what appeared to be the middle of Nowhere Much. But before two shakes of a lamb’s tail had passed (and please don’t ask exactly how long that is), the door swung open and they all ducked down (being rather tall people by 21st century standards) to enter a large and welcoming courtyard that looked exactly like it does on the website!

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It was here that Her Authorship, The King of Forbearance, and a great many of their family members would spend the next week. Plot Bunny was quite happy and began to wriggle his ears at the sight of the crystal clear blue water in their own private pool!

“Yes, fine, Plot Bunny, you may go swimming,” said Her Authorship, setting her bags down and greeting the other humans.

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After sunbathing for a bit, Plot Bunny dipped his toes into the icy cold water and decided he was more of a Sun Bunny than a Pool Bunny. He began to hop around and explore the rest of the house.

He found an extraordinary room – one that looked like it had been stolen from the Sistine Chapel.

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fb_img_1469338441529There was a lovely little kitchen, bafflingly small for such a large home, but beautifully equipped with about four large refrigerators, two ovens, and two gas ranges. Only one small dishwasher and a giant sink, but it did the job. The kitchen was guarded by the Stairs of the Devil – magical, disappearing stone steps that lay in wait for the unwary on all sides. By the end of the week, the family had proven themselves infinitely more clever than the devilish trap stairs; not one of them had fallen face first onto the 15th century paving stones of the outer courtyard!

Finally, Her Authorship took Plot Bunny and Herman up to their room. Neither wanted to admit it, but both were ready for a nap. They entered through the doors you see at the left – doors that made them all happy to be spending the week with family, not strangers, as the doors never did close properly and couldn’t be latched, even though there was a great skeleton key with a fancy tassel stuck into the keyhole for decoration – or perhaps it was meant to serve as a door knob, since there wasn’t one of those, either.

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The room was lovely, though – quite ample for two adults and two critters. And the bed… oh, Plot Bunny was more than happy to test out the pillow for Her Authorship, and later pronounced it quite suitable for her head.

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How are your summer adventures going? Hop on over to BlogHop with Plot Bunny and Friends to add your tales!

Holly Jahangiri

Holly Jahangiri is the author of Trockle, illustrated by Jordan Vinyard; A Puppy, Not a Guppy, illustrated by Ryan Shaw; and the newest release: A New Leaf for Lyle, illustrated by Carrie Salazar. She draws inspiration from her family, from her own childhood adventures (some of which only happened in her overactive imagination), and from readers both young and young-at-heart. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, J.J., whose love and encouragement make writing books twice the fun.

2 Comments

  1. Marian Allen

    Oh, it looks WONDERFUL! Lucky little critters! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Bellybytes

    What a wonderful holiday that must have been! I was trying to look for your latest post and came upon this old one which is just as fresh. Love your adventures with your little critters. Children are such a joy to spend holidays with. And family reunions can be a lot of fun…..

    Reply

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