Nora’s experiment had failed– no, she could not cut out a perfect paper snowflake while twirling around to the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. She might give it another try a bit later, but in any case– you win some, you lose some. Nora definitely seemed to be on a winning streak tonight, and Maureen had a lot to do with it. The blonde’s presence always had a therapeutic effect on her; and the little projects they took on took her mind off her troubles, not to mention encouraged her creativity. With the Christmas season approaching, there was no doubt about what they’d do tonight. The cookies were already in the oven (their work was far from done, however, they all had to be decorated). “How are your snowmen– snowpeople(?)– coming along? I stil don’t understand, is this research for an article? Or have you just embraced the Christmas spirit?” Nora dancing over to Maureen’s side as another Christmas song had begun. “Have we decided on what we’re going to do with those? I mean we can put some on the windows for sure,” Ibrahim would like it as well, for some reason he liked to go all out for Christmas. And her loft was enormous, so there was a lot of empty space, even with all Nora’s souvenirs proudly displayed. “Hang some…” she pursed her lips n thought. “What else could we do?”
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Maureen had enjoyed the holidays for as long as she could remember - there was something wonderful about getting to celebrate with those who you loved, and there was a certain indescribable magic around the holidays - she figured that it had to do at least in part with the chillier days, the way that the world seemed to simultaneously come alive and quiet down, all at once. She was absolutely and utterly pleased to spend tonight - or at least part of tonight - with Nora - the two hadn’t found as much time to see one another as she would have liked in the past couple of months, and Maureen figured that there was no better time to rectify that than the present.
So tonight they had made cookies and put them in the oven, and were now onto the arts and crafts portion of the evening while the cookies were baking. “They are coming along fairly well,” Maureen grinned over to Nora, holding up a string of snowmen, all holding hands. Oh - no - it’s just because I like the holidays. No work work being done here.” She glanced over at her, “and yes, deciding on where to hang them is a critical step.” She tapped a finger on her chin, “windows would be lovely - we could put them on the walls, I’ll take some to give to my dad... if you wanted, and if your building allows, we could hang them on the outside of your door - bring cheer to anyone who passes by? Put them on the fridge?” She grabbed another pair of scissors and began cutting into a folded piece of paper.
