Hannah woke up with a start as she heard a loud noise from the kitchen, she sat up immediately and looked at the other side of the bed, expecting to find Penelope but she was not on the bed.
Hannah panicked and wondered if something had happened to the girl and she immediately stood up from the bed and made her way to the kitchen. The sight that welcomed her when she got to the kitchen left her in shock.
Little Penelope was trying to pour milk into a glass and she had already broken two glasses! And as though she hadn't done enough damage, penelope was still trying to pour milk in another glass and like the others, the cup fell and broke.
Hannah stood shocked and speechless at the door of the kitchen. Well who could blame her? she has always been a well-organised person and this is the first time she has to wake up to a child in the kitchen. She finally got out of her shock and massaged her temple with two of her fingers and sighed. She walked towards Penelope, who was trying to take another glass from the rack. She did not know that Hannah had entered the kitchen.
"Penelope?" Hannah called her name to gain the child's attention, when the child turned to her, she spoke, " what are you trying to do Penelope, if you wanted milk, you could have woken me up and I would have helped you. Now look, you have broken three glass cups and you might get your feet wounded if step on the glass piece on the floor. Now tell me, would you want that?" Hannah asked Penelope who now had her eyes facing the floor. Hannah puts her finger on the little girl's chin and made Penelope meet her eye.
"I'm very sorry aunt, but I wanted to give you a glass of milk. Mommy always does that for me when she wakes up". Hannah felt her heart go warm when she heard this. She didn't scold Penelope anymore, she just rubbed her hair. She carried Penelope and placed her on the slab so that she would not step on the broken glass on the floor. She picked up a broom and swept the floor of the kitchen clean of any glass pieces. She placed Penelope back on the floor and said to her, "Next time, don't do this okay, I will do this by myself. Now tell me what you would like to have for breakfast". Penelope rubbed her chin like she was thinking hard and after a few seconds she said, " I want scrambled eggs". Hannah nodded when she heard this. Even though she had never touched kitchen utensils in her life, she was sure that she would learn how to make a proper breakfast in minutes. " Okay Penelope, go freshen up and your breakfast will be ready when you get back". Penelope just nodded and left the kitchen. Hannah looked around and when she was sure that everything she needed was available, she started 'cooking'.
After forty-five minutes of 'cooking', Hannah grunted in frustration. It was her fourth try and she made sure to read the instructions well, but she still couldn't get it right. It's either the butter gets too hot or the eggs were not whisked well. The whole kitchen was messed up and she knows it would take a couple of hours to get it cleaned. The only thing she could think of was how to make a proper breakfast for Penelope. On that thought, she realised that Penelope was taking too long in freshening up. 'I will check on her later. She thought and continued cooking. This time, she watched a short video and followed the instructions exactly the way she saw them and she finally got it right. Maybe not perfectly, but for a beginner, it was a great start. After inspecting the food one last time, she left the kitchen and went to check on Penelope.
Ahe saw Penelope sitting on the bedside stool with her eyes on her feet which were moving around in circles. She went to Penelope and asked, "why are you not ready yet Penelope? Do you plan to stay like this all day? Come on, let's get you dressed". Penelope raised her head and looked at Hannah.
"But I don't have any clothes aunt." She said but Hannah just took her hand that was resting on her lap and pulled her up. She took Penelope to the bathroom and helped her take a bath after which she wore Penelope one of her clothes.
Hannah and Penelope made their way to the kitchen for breakfast and Hannah served Penelope breakfast. Penelope ate silently and Hannah just sat there watching her in case she would need anything. Hannah reached for the glass of water to offer Penelope when she noticed that her wrist looked quite different. She didn't know what had happened but when she woke up, she had been feeling a little out of the normal but she chose to ignore it, but now, she could no longer turn a blind eye to it. She thought hard about it but when she couldn't figure it out, she dismissed the thought and continued watching Penelope.
A few minutes later, Penelope finished eating and Hannah packed the used dishes into the kitchen. She had already decided that once Penelope finished eating, she would get the kitchen cleaned. She turned on the tap but as her hand touched the water, she withdrew her hand quickly as her annunciator was not waterproof.
'My annunciator!!!', she screamed in her head and the event of the previous day started playing in her head like a slide show as realisation dawned on her. She ran out of the kitchen to her room in haste and Penelope just stared at her in amusement. It seems like aunt always forgets something, she thought.
Hannah hurriedly took her bath and got ready to go to the company. She didn't want that crazy CEO to destroy her annunciator, or else she would be in big trouble. She walked out of the room and saw Penelope standing by the door. She squats down to meet Penelope's eyes and said, "Penelope, I will be going out for some work, okay? I will come back as soon as I can and I will get you something on my way back. Be a good girl and wait for me, okay?" Penelope nodded and Hannah walked past her and left the house, locking her inside.