Clean Slate

Succos vacation!

Rikki sniffed the air. Even from her bedroom she could smell it: a glorious mixture of chicken soup and meats and stir-fried vegetables and yummy, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake. Ima must have been up even earlier than usual.

And Abba? Rikki hopped to the window and looked out. Just last night, after the long fast, Abba had started putting up the succah boards in their special place in the backyard. Now, though, the entire succah was standing, and Rikki’s older brothers were climbing on ladders to put up the sechach. Rikki’s little brother, Benny, pranced around them, getting in the way and narrowly missing knocking into one of the ladders.

Pinchas looked up and caught her staring. “Hey, good morning, sleepyhead! Coming to help?”

Rikki giggled and shook her head. It was fun watching the boys climb and build, but she had other plans. And all her craft supplies were laid out on the dining room table, waiting.