TDBB17

"Tear drops on my balance beam" Chapter 17,

Hello people! I'm sorry it took such a long time to do this! I had a ton of school work and had to work hard to work up 2 B's to 2 A's. I know it's been long, and I have so much happening! For one, I turned 14 last Wednesday! And I performed with my dance class last Sunday, you don't know how much I felt like Svetlana! Performing and such ( my teacher told me i was the best dancer out there)Anyway, enough of my chatter! You've been waiting, so here it is!
-----

-Christmas-

"Manitoba, are you sure you don't need any help?"

"Sheila, I'm fine. I can handle these stupid lights."

Svetlana carried another box from her closet and shrugged.

"I just don't want you killing yourself. Everyone has trouble with Christmas lights." She mumbled.

The male ignored her and continued to work with the knotted Christmas lights. Many wires were fused together and just too tangled to unravel. Svetlana just shook her head and  hung more Christmas decorations.

Though these decorations were a hassle, it was all worth it. This was most wonderful time of the year. It seems that the whole world is getting in on the Christmas fun. Kids are getting out of school, adults are taking a break from work, and everyone seems to be spreading the love. Even the young adults at Red Valley have a lot of holiday cheer. If you stay quiet long enough, you can hear Kwanzaa folk songs from a distance. And if someone leaves their door open, you could see a Manora constantly burning. You can also hear the crinkle of tinsel and the smell of baked goods from other rooms as well.

Svetlana and Manitoba had loved Christmas when they were kids. Their families all were together and celebrated the best they could. Svetlana's family would gather by the fire and sing songs, while Mani's family held glorious feasts that would make a poor man explode from over stimulation.

   The two were putting up all their decorations. With Christmas  the next day, they had to work very fast to have everything ready. Svetlana was putting tinsel and pine cone wreaths on the walls, while Manitoba was handling the (ever so annoying) Christmas lights.

"Come on," He grunted in anoyance as he fiddled with the wires, "Come on! Why won't you untangle!"

Svetlana glances to her roommate and giggles.

"I don't think the lights can hear you, Mani," She chuckled with a sassy smirk.

"I wish they could! These little jerks aren't unraveling like I want them too!"

Manitoba rose from the mountain of lights on the floor and threw his pile on the ground. He crossed his arms.

"That's it, I give up! These little balls of light hate me," The male shrieked with pure fury.

The Russian female laughed and rose from her spot near the tree. She grabbed the clump of lights from the floor and started to weave them gently.

"Obviously, you have to work your way through the pile instead of pulling random strings from it," She said calmly.

After weaving the strings for a few moments, the female gives two wires a light tug and they completely unravel. The lights made a long line and lay limply in her hands. She wraps the long line into a large oval and handed it to Manitoba.

The Australian male gawks at the girls' impressive de-knotting system, then rolls his eyes. 

"I just loosened it up for you," He smirked.

Svetlana rolls her eyes as well. She finished her job of hanging the little decorations and checked her work. Tinsel was on the walls. The tree was fully decorated with candy canes, strings, and colorful ornaments. The last thing that made it all perfect was the soft christmas music playing in the background.

"Perfect," She smiled, "How are those lights coming along?"

"Nearly done," Manitoba was holding the last two wires. He slowly clicks the two pieces together and all of the lights flicker on. The bulbs on the tree as well as on the walls fill with brightness. They shine for a few minutes, then start to dim. Within a few minutes, the bulbs completely burn out.

"You've got to be kidding," Manitoba sighed, as well as face-palming with annoyance.

"Oh, don't worry Mani," Svetlana claps simply as the lights come back on. "Forget the lights. I cannot wait for Christmas tommorow! I have the best present for you! I just know you'll love it!"

The girl giggles playfully. She really couldn't wait to surprise her friend with his gift. She was waiting so long for Christmas to come that it seemed months away instead of days. 

Svetlana leaves the room to the sound of her cooking timer. As she left, Manitoba had gotten a worried look.

"Presents?!" He slapped himself on the forehead. "I totally forgot! What am I going to get her?"

The Aussie was very frantic. He had absolutely no clue what to get his roommate. Which was pretty bad considering that she was getting something very special for him. 

The male paced around the room for a few moments. His mind was buzzing like an angry bee. He thought very hard, but nothing came to mind.

"Ugh, what am I going to do? Christmas is in only a few days!"

After hitting himself clumsily in the head, Manitoba decided to do some shopping.

"Hey Svet, I'm goin' out!" He yelled while putting a jacket on.

"Out where?" Asked Svetlana.

"Uh..Just last minute gift shopping."

"Oh, Okay!"

The male quickly dashed out the door and  dragged his brother out of his room. 

"Hey! I don't do shoppin'!" Said Vito arrogantly.

"Too bad! You're the only one I know who has a car, and I need to get Svet a gift." Manitoba replied as he grabbed his brothers colar.

The two brothers race out of the building and head to the nearest mall. Manitoba was the first to sprint out the car. He raced into the Rosewood Malland stopped near the directory.

Vito managed to catch up. He was panting and sweating like crazy.

"Are you..(cough) runnin' a marathon or somethin'?" 

"No, just trying to save time! Now, I need to find something Svetlana will like. Maybe i'll go to Zales? Boscovs? Not steppin' foot in Victoria's Secret..." 


"Just do Zales.." Vito mumbled.

The bros. Get to the giant diamond store. Each shelf was filled with a glorious mineral. From diamonds, to rubies, to sapphires. They were all beautiful and looked extremely expensive.

"You go, I'll wait near the door." Vito said as he quickly left the jewel store.

The other male looked through the store hastily. Though every jewel looked dashing, he still didn't know which one to buy. 

"May I help you, sir?" Asked a helpful employee.

"Uh yeah, do you have any impressive jewels or necklaces?" Asked Manitoba. "It's for one of my closest friends."

"Why of course." 

The employee showed Manitoba many necklaces. Some embroidered with shiny gold and others full of diamonds. They were all glamorous but very expensive. Manitoba only had so much money, and so little time left.
  After rejecting many different models, the male had finally chosen something perfect.

It was a beautiful silver necklace. Well, necklaces. There were three of them connected with three rows of diamonds. There was one circular charm dangling in the middle. Which had a crystal blue sapphire implanted inside.

"Perfect!" Manitoba exclaims with relief. "How much?"

"Only 1,000." Said the employee.

"One thousand?!"

"Don't worry, we had a large black Friday sale. This product was bought so much we lowered it down to $200."

Now $200 wasn't so bad. Manitoba easily paid this and headed out the door. Just as he left, a large man went in. He looked really messed up, and really sloppy.

"Hey pal, got any of those sapphire necklaces left? I gotta get one or my wife's gonna leave me again.." The male burped and scratched himself messily.

"Sorry sir. I gave the last one to that fellow."

The well mannered worker gestured out of the door. Where Manitoba was strolling away with the necklace case in his hand.

The fat, messy guy glared as stomped from the counter. He left the store and stopped Mani. The messy man poked the other male in the chest roughly.

"Listen pal, I need that necklace o' yours!" The messy one said as he reached for the box.

Manitoba moved the case away. 

"No way! I need this more than you do! Back off!" The Aussie snapped.

"I ain't takin' 'no' for an answer!"

The fat man snatches the case from that australlian. He cackles evilly until Manitoba tackles him, takes it back, and makes a run for it.

"Hey!" The fallen man screams. "Gimme that necklace!!"

   Manitoba continues to run. He also starts to notice that the other man was chasing him. And actually getting really close too. The Aussie takes the upper hand and picks up his speed. He thinks it's safe to stop until the running attracts the mall cops.

"Help! That guy stole my wife's necklace!" The fat man lied.

The cops start chasing poor Manitoba throughout the mall. He had to hide behind shelves and dash in stores to avoid them. The austarllian even had to tear out a few diamonds from the necklace to keep them off his tail. Now he was getting tired, and started to lose energy. After stopping for a few moments, Manitoba hears a voice.

"Stop! Theif!"

   This makes him start to run again. After running into the square of the store, the australlian looks up and finds a broken rope connected to the ceiling. It was hanging right above a flight of stairs that were terribly broken. From there, he could see his brother and an open exit.

"Hey, Vito!!!" Manitoba screams over the giant crowds. "Start the car!"

Vito had surprisingly heard this and nodded to show his understanding. He leaves the exit quickly to enter the parking lot. Back inside, Manitoba saw the guards coming closer. He then bravely climbs the mishappen stair case that lead to the top. Many people watched from below as the brave australlian climbed higher and higher until he reached the top of the stairs.

(cue Indiana Jones theme music)

Once reaching the top, Manitoba Adjusted his fedora with a smirk on his face. He grabbed the rope tightly and jumped off the top of the case. People gasped and many women screamed as Manitoba sailed high through the air. He let out a shreik of delight as he flew. 
The poor Aussie was so close to falling when he pulled onto the rope hard. The end unhooked from the ceiling, which have Manitoba the time to snap
it like a whip so it could connect to another part of the ceiling.

   Manitoba tumbled out of the mall and easily ran out. He was still so far ahead from the cops that he could only hear their faint cries of orders. The austallian ran into the car and sped away with his brother by his side.

  When arriving back at Red Valley, the fedora wearing hero thanked his brother and fell fast asleep in his apartment. With a new present under the tree. 

-----Christmas Day------


  The next day, Manitoba woke to the light shaking of his shoulder. A frail hand was moving his shoulder and a soft voice was murmuring him out of his slumber.

"Mani! Mani, wake up!"

This was Svetlana's voice. So the Aussie easily sat up and greeted his roomie with a smile.

"Merry Christmas!" He said cheerfully.

"Merry Christmas!" The girl giggled.

  The two were eager to open up their presents. Since Svetlana looked like she was going to explode with excitement, Manitoba opened his first.

  The sound of torn paper filled the room. This large present was opened to revealed to be a world class fedora. It was a shiny brown color and had and had another strapped wrapped around it. The edges were crisply cut. And even the inside had a smell of freshness and a clean scent.

"No way." Manioba uttered in disbelief. "This is..Awesome!!"

Svetlana could see the smile spread on her roomates face. She knew exactly how she could make it bigger.

"Check the side." She said plainly.

Manitoba flipped the hat over to see some sort of writing. Someones name was written clearly with a black pen and dotted ever so cleany. 

Indiana Jones.

Manitoba had no words to describe how awesome he felt. All he could do is stare at the hat. Stare at it forever and never look at anything else.

"It was a limited edition." Svetlana said. "It was signed by Indiana Jones himself. It took hours on the computer and hours of online bidding but I got it."

"This is amazing, Svet." The male utters. "I don't know how to thank you."

"It's no problem." The girl replied with a smile.

"Now I have something for you." The Aussie reached near the tree to get the necklace when he remembered. He had ripped off some diamonds that day before. He didn't know how the necklace would look or how much damage was done to it.

   Still, he had to try. Manitoba reached for the box and handed it to his friend. Svetlana opened the case and gasped.

"Oh, Mani." She said quietly while starring at her gift.

"I-I'm sorry of it looks messed up. I had trouble yesterday, and-"

"I love it!" The girl shreiks.

"huh?"

Svetlana holds up the necklace. Turns out, it was still in perfect shape. The only thing torn out was the top part and parts of the second layer of diamonds that made the entire thing look prettier. The sapphire even shined brighter and was actually broken into a glamourous diamond shape.

"You really like it?" Manitoba asked.

"I love it! More than anything!" The gymnast held the necklace closer to her body. "Can you help me put it on?"

The Aussie take the necklace and gently straps it around his best friend's neck. It fit perfectly on her and shined just as well with her eyes. The sapphire also went well with her skin tone. 

     After tossing her hair back into place, the gymnast gives Manitoba a tight hug. It seemed thy she would never let go.

    "This is the best gift ever." Svetlana said as she stared into the eyes of her closest friend.

"Yup, in fact, this is the best Christmas ever." The male replies.

  They both continue hugging, and started admiring their gifts even more. Not only were they thoughtful, but they came from the heart.

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Well that is it! You had no clue how long it took to write this, but I got it done!! I know it's a little late, but still! Happy Chanukah! Kwanzaa! Merry Christmas and have a great time with family and friends!!