❝ To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all. ❞

— Anatole France

"Good morning Billy!" Grandpa was preparing breakfast. The sun was shining and there were no clouds in the horizon. The boy wanted to sing along with the birds. Today would be a great day.

Following with his resolution to behave positively, to spend time with his grandfather and not to think too much about his ankle in a cast, Billy decided to not let anything darken his day.

"By the way," Grandpa was flipping pancakes into a plate, "Tom's aunt called this morning. She asked me if little Tom could stay the day with us as she needs to run an errand that will take a good part of the day. I told her, sure," he continued, looking at the bright smile on Billy's face, "Tom is welcomed to stay as long as needed." Nodding toward Billy, he added, how about you call the rest of the gang and ask them to visit?"

"It's sunny, today," Billy observed as if it explained anything.

"What about it?" Grandpa did not see the logic or where the boy was going with the remark about the weather.

"Well, if it's sunny and all, they'll want to go to the park..." Billy explained, a bit down at the idea. "I won't be able to follow. Why is it not raining today!"

The resolution to enjoy life and not brood was at risk of being forgotten. Grandpa quickly needed an idea to brighten Billy's mood.

"How about I prepare a picnic and I see if the inflatable pool is still alive? We can set it in the garden, and you'll be able to play in the water together with your friend?"

The idea of an outing in the garden won Billy. The boy started to plan the menu for the picnic and to prepare his swimming trunks.

"Billy," the old man said between his laughing, looking at the boy flat on his bottom after he tripped, so excited he forgot he needed his crutches to move around, "are you not forgetting anything?"

The boy, a bit ashamed at his mishap, stood up and took its walking aid.

"I was not talking about your sticks," Grandpa explained. "If you want your friends to come, you better call them. Tom's mom will bring him around eleven. Ask the other to come for lunch."

Blushing, Billy agreed with Grandpa and went to take the phone in the living room. Pete and Lola's grandparents agreed for them to come later in the morning, by eleven o'clock, and to spend the afternoon at Billy's Grandpa's house. When he called Olivia, there had been no answers. He hoped the girl would be able to join him as well. He did not remember whether she had said anything about leaving early, or maybe a day trip during the week. He would call later, he decided.

✧✧✧

"Do you forgive me, Billy?"

Olivia had feared Billy would be crossed with her. When he had phoned her earlier, she had been hesitant, waiting for angry words. None came. Only the usual laughing Billy was on the line, inviting her for an afternoon of fun at his Grandpa's.

When she arrived, she had cried her heart. Billy's grandfather had taken her on the side, comforted her in the way so special to him. Quiet, listening to the girl's sobs, he stayed beside her, holding her hand, not saying a word. When the tear flow had stopped, Grandpa had explained to her that Billy was not mad at all, that her choice of words had been just a bit clumsy, but she had reason to be worried for her friend.

"I told you already, Vivy! Stop saying sorry!" Billy laughed, enjoying the sun, the water, and the friendship. Grandpa had put a plastic bag over his cast, so it wouldn't get water inside. The old man had joked about the foot rotting with if the water stayed there, and Billy had believed him, for a whole thirty seconds, before he shouted his displeasure at being once more on the receiving side of Grandpa teasing.

"So, Vivy, you stop saying sorry, and you come and play in the water with everyone!"

The girl's relief clear on her face, she shyly joined the group of rowdy kids in the pool.

Billy enjoyed himself greatly, surrounded by his friends.

After the picnic, the water in the plastic kiddy pool was the best thing. Sure, the pool was a bit on the small side, but that did not matter. With Pete and Lola to invent new games every ten minutes or so, everything was fun.

✧✧✧

By tea time, the group of children was gathered in Grandpa's kitchen, holding each a cup of hot cocoa. The drink warmed them more than the afternoon sun. Even more, now that the sun was hidden behind thick dark clouds unloading buckets of rain in the garden.

"Here, kids," Grandpa said in his usual teasing tone, "the ice cream I promised you earlier has melted a bit."

Billy laughed a bit at the remark and laughed more at the stunned expressions of his friends. They were not used to Grandpa teasing.

"Take your time. Drink your cup and eat those cupcakes. And if you have more room in your full stomachs, I'll bring the cookies. They are just out of the oven, warm and heavenly.

"When will you have the cast removed?" Lola asked Billy.

"I don't know. I think one more week," the boy answered, searching Grandpa with his eyes. The old man nodded, confirming the boy's answer.

"One more week? Yeah!" Pete pumped his arm in the air. "We'll go to the park and try the new slide they opened. It's really great, super long and crazy high. You'll see, it's so scary! You'll fly even higher than last time," he added with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Hum," Grandpa smiled gently at the boy, "one week is a bit early to plan the great adventure, kids. Billy will have to be careful with his ankle, and he will need to do some exercises," he explained.

"Yes," Olivia acquiesced, "you will need to do some kinesoliorapy..., kinioserapie..., I don't remember the word," she said, blushing. "Well, you will have to do exercises every day to get back in shape," she continued. "I remember my dad had to do it. It took him almost three months to walk again..."

"Grandpa?" Billy asked anxiously, "it will take so long to be able to walk and run again?"

"I don't think so, Billy," the old man reassured the worried boy. "In your case, it is only a sprained ankle, so it shall be faster to fully recuperate."

"Are you sure?" The boy was still troubled by the possibility he would not be able to walk well anymore. "Can you ask the doctor when we see him next? He will know better than you..."

"That is an excellent idea," Grandpa agreed with a big smile. "Now, shush, kids! Go play some in the bedroom and let this old man clear the table. Look at that! You seldom left any cookies to me. Shoo! Shoo!" he shook his hands in front of the laughing children. Grandpa surely was glad to see this group of kids so lively in the house. 

✧✧✧

"Boring!" Pete lied on Billy's bed, turning the pages on a comics book. "Why is it raining outside? We were supposed to play and have fun in the water. Not get kicked inside by it falling on us," he continued his litany, complaining about being closed up in the house, waiting for the rain to let down.

"You could have checked the weather before inviting us, Billy" he continued, not realising the silliness of his words, "get sure there would be nor rain over your house..."

"Stop being a crybaby," Lola, her sister, chided him. We can play inside, have some fun if you stop annoying everyone with your groans."

Pouting, Pete turned his back to the girl and the others and looked down on the bed. He let his hands and his eyes remaining, tuning out the chatter behind him.

"You didn't start the puzzle," Olivia remarked to Billy, the box in her hands. "Do you mind if I open it?"

"Go on," the boy shrugged his shoulders, "would you help me?" He added. Billy had wanted to open the puzzle box and to assemble the pieces, but he was afraid it would take too long.

Olivia set the puzzle pieces on the desk in a corner of the room. With Billy, their heads down, they started to sort them, the sides, the colours, making small piles here and there.

Lola, on her side, was reading one of the comic books Billy had chosen on his trip to the library with Grandpa. She seemed bored also, turning the pages without really reading.

Besides the two working on the puzzle, the children did not share much fun. 

"What's that book?" Pete was laughing, shoving a book in the air.

Billy looked at him and recognized it. The book had probably slid on the ground, under the bed, when he fell asleep the night before.

"What is funny?" the boy asked his friend, confused.

"That's just a stupid story," Pete told him, curtly.

The remark got the attention of the other kids. Billy's friends gathered closer to the bed, following the exchange between Pete and him.

"Stop being nasty, Pete," Lola chided her brother. "It's not because you're bored that you can say whatever. You have really no filter," she continued shaking her head.

"It's okay, Lola," Billy shrugged. "I also thought the story was silly when I started the book..."

"What's it about?" Tom enquired?

"It's a stupid story of a knight fighting a dragon," Pete laughed, "I didn't know you liked this kind of stories, Billy," he continued, unkind to his friend.

"You know nothing," Billy was not liking the way this was going. He did not want to fight with his friend, but Pete could be mean sometime.

"If you want to know, it's not a stupid story with a dragon and a knight. Plenty of things happen. There are also dinosaurs. Isn't that cool? Dinosaurs fighting dragons?"

"Hum," Tom cleared his throat, "it does sound a bit silly, said like that, Billy."

The boy looked at the other children. He could see they shared the same opinion about the story. Thinking about it, it did sound silly, though. Billy laughed at the idea. It was true that having dinosaurs in a fairy-tale-like story was not what one would expect.

"Okay, then," he asked his friends. "What would be the best story for you?"

The question unleashed a torrent of ideas. They all started to talk at the same time. A joyful cacophony reigned in the bedroom.

Grandpa who had been listening by the door as he had come to check on the children sighed with relief. The tension had raised a bit, and he was glad the boys didn't come to fight each other. Quietly, Grandpa left the door and returned to the kitchen. The group of kids would be just fine now, he thought, and left, whistling a light tune.