Olivia didn't want to admit how much fun she was having with the Gazillion Bubbles Cannon. She was just glad no one was around to see her playing with it.
She decided that if someone caught her, she'd say she was testing it to make sure it was safe for Jake and Ella. After all, no one could be sure what was actually in the included green and blue Bubble Solution, right? What if it was something scary? Better the oldest child play with it first, just to be sure. Olivia liked the sound of that argument and assumed her mother would too. Michelle was always saying that Olivia had to be responsible.
Olivia had found a little space beside the garage where no one could really see her. Every time she pulled the lever, a new wave of bubbles came flying out. She'd refill and reset to make different sizes and different colors and then she'd watch them rise until they'd pop.
Once or twice she'd hear a noise and she'd freeze. It never really occurred to her that anyone who cared could follow the trail of bubbles right to her hiding place. But no one did, because everyone else had their own thing to do. Jake was playing with his helicopter, Ella was taking a nap, Tim was at work, Michelle was busy in the living room. And if any one of them were to have been asked...
...it wasn't that they didn't care about Olivia, they all loved her. It was just that no one would have been concerned that she was playing with bubbles. Even Jake, who probably would have tried to take the Gazillion Bubbles Cannon for himself, would never have dreamed of teasing his sister for that reason. Too old to play with bubbles? Was that even possible?
But Olivia was grown up in her own mind, and so she felt she had to be serious all the time. Great literature, great thoughts, stoic and misunderstood ideas. To her, the Gazillion Bubbles Cannon was a symbol of the childhood she was rebelling against, and she felt it was a waste of her potential.
And that's why she had to hide when she wanted to play with it. Because, honestly, it was just too darn fun to walk away from.
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