Big, fake Smiles

Mrs Ribbon knocked on her neighbors door and heard a dog barking almost immediately.

"Charlie, go away!" she heard someone call. She heard the slamming of doors and then put on a big, fake smile to hide her concern when Mrs Timothy opened the door.

"Eleanor," she said when she saw Mrs Ribbon, "How are you?"

"I'm quite fine," Mrs Ribbon said, "and yourself?"

"Yes, yes, I'm good," there was something about Mrs Timothy's voice that said she was in a rush so Mrs Ribbon hurried to what she had come over to say. However, just as she was about to speak a voice from inside screamed.

"Mum! Eloise kicked me!"

"I did not!"

Clearly embarrassed Mrs Timothy turned away, signaling with her finger to Mrs Ribbon she would only be a second. She stepped into the hall and saw two of her children fighting on the staircase.

"The two of you!" she said, cross, "Grow up!"

But one of them screamed, "He pushed me into a wall and almost broke that expensive frame!"

"I did not! It was you that hid my pencils in the fridge! She almost blew it up!" the other one fought back. Her eldest daughter then came down the stairs, eating a chocolate bar.

"Hey!" the youngest child whined, "You said I couldn't have a chocolate!" Mrs Timothy sighed.

"Whatever, whatever! I'm trying to talk to Mrs Ribbon, be quiet!" She stepped back out the door and they both put on big, fake smiles to both hide their concern.

The seriousness of the squashed Carrot

My little brother Cody and I ran through Grandma's garden.
"Be careful of the lettuce," she had warned, "Sitting by the fence."
Cody and I lifted our legs high and tiptoed carefully across the path.
"Remember there's potatoes there too," Grandma had told us.
We watched our steps as we walked past the potatoes, only just visible above the soil.
"And the carrots, petals, especially careful with the carrots. They've taken their time to come up!"
"Yes Grandma," we had said in unison. Cody and I stepped past the carrots. I watched his as carefully as mine but his foot slipped on the path and came right down on a carrot. Cody turned to me with alarmed eyes. They watered and I told him it was alright. I pulled up the mangled, squashed carrot.
"What are you doing?" he asked in a panicked voice, "Grandma can't know. We should just get out of the garden and play in the sandpit where she said we didn't have to be careful of squashing anything." I opened the small gate that was old and rusty and Cody followed behind. I heard his footsteps stop when we walked past the sandpit. I turned to face him. He was standing slouched, and visibly upset. He threw his hands up in the air, as if in surrender.
"I'm not having anything to do with this!" he shouted. But it was too late. We were caught red-handed by Grandma who was coming up the path. She was smiling but shaking her head. Like, she did when we told her silly jokes. I was terrified and the expression on Cody's face said he was too. I knew she would be mad. She said to be careful of the carrots. I looked down to her feet where a grey rabbit was passing.
"The rabbit got into the garden, did he?" she asked. I nodded, feeling saved and my heart slowing down.
"It's happened before," she said, "they just trample right over the carrots to get to the lettuce." She clicked her tongue, "Those mishcevious rabbits."
"Are you cross?"Cody asked her.
"Not much we can do about it now, is there?" she said to us as we shook our heads.
"Well, c'mon," she said, waving us over, "You might as well put that bad carrot in the compost. The muffins we baked are ready, so come back to the house." I looked at the squashed carrot in my hand and couldn't help feeling slightly guilty. We followed behind Grandma back to the house. Cody leant over close to me and whispered quietly, "I won't say nuffin' if you don't!"