Kids in the Museum

An Inauspicious Start

Melanie woke up by the sound of the birds singing. She sat up in her bed and tried to remember what she was going to do that day. She remembered. She was going to the museum with her younger brother Cameron!

She quickly slipped off her nightgown and put on her pink dress with buttons. She tied her hair to a braid and walked down the hall to her brother's room.

She opened the door and found Cameron still lying in bed. "Cameron! Wake up!"

"Nnnnngh," Cameron groaned. He opened his eyes and sat up. "Hi. Oh, it's the morning. Hey, Mel, I wrote a song, want to hear it?"

"Another song?" Melanie said as she crossed her arms. "Besides, how can you just wake up and think of a song?"

Cameron jumped up and grabbed his guitar. "But this one is a good one." He started sing a song:

Wake up in the morning and start to fly,

every day just flows on by,

we are off to the museum to see some stuff

But without any money, it's gonna be rough

So get some from mom before we say bye

Melanie liked the song and joined in.

The museum's downtown and we'll take the bus,

But we're not so adventurous

We'll check the schedule on the phone

Just as we will on our way home

My brother and me, the two of us!

The siblings both had dark brown hair and dark blue eyes and rosy cheeks. Melanie was 16, and Cameron was 15. Cameron quickly threw on some clothes (shirt and pants) and they sang their way to the kitchen table where their dad had set out their breakfast. "What has got you two in such a good mood?"

"Daddy dearest!" Cameron said, jokingly. "Can I please have some bacon?"

"Yes, daddy dear, I would like some bacon!" said Melanie.

"Well, I didn't make bacon, I made eggs and toast and berries," dad said as he put their plates down. "But I can make some bacon while you get started on that."

"OH THANK YOU, DADDY DEAREST!" they said in unison before starting their breakfast with a laugh.

"Dad, did you remember that today's the day Cameron and I are taking the bus to the Metropolitan Museum," Melanie said.

"Oh, well, you'll need some money, won't ya?" Dad said as he brought out the bacon and put two strips each on their plates. "I got a bit of cash in my wallet."

"No, dad, mommy said she was going to give us - wait for it - one hundred dollars each because we got straight A's on our report cards!" Melanie said. She and Cameron exchanged high fives.

"One hundred each?" dad said. "Well, you are gonna have to ask your mom for that. I don't carry around that kind of money."

After the siblings finished their breakfast, they went upstairs to see their mother. She was a very sassy mother, and if anything was not perfect she would get so angry and make it all dad's fault. Melanie and Cameron were nervous when they got to their mother's room.

Melanie knocked on the door as Cameron straightened his shirt. Mother was strict about everything.

"U-um, mommy dearest?" Melanie called, her voice a little shaking. "May we come in?"