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Episode 37: Made For This
As we've seen in the past, Hannah and the Beloits are pretty active in their church. One staple of many churches' summer activities is a fun program for kids known as Vacation Bible School. Of course they are there to help out, but wouldn't it be fun if Hannah and her friends brought some hiccups along too? --The Author
"I was made for this; I live for this..." fifteen-year-old Amanda Beloit absent-mindedly sang as she cleaned up the last few dishes from supper. She and her family had been helping with their church's Vacation Bible School program this week, and she already was constantly finding herself singing the songs. They were above-average songs for children's music, but still had that annoying habit of getting stuck in your head.
Amanda's friend Hannah Jamison had been helping with the program as well; she was supposed to head over to the church with the Beloit's in a few minutes. The past couple days she had come over early: what was taking her so long today?
Finally, Amanda heard the front door open into the living room. "Hannah?" she called.
"Hey Mandy!" Hannah answered, walking into the kitchen. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's ok, we're not quite ready to go anyway," Amanda said, turning from the sink to greet her friend. Noticing the flushed look on Hannah's face and the beads of sweat that ran down her neck onto her shirt, she asked, "What did you do, Hannah? Go for a run before you came over?"
"Well," Hannah explained, "Kind of? My car wouldn't start, and Mr. Davis wasn't back from work yet, so I half walked, half ran here instead."
"Oh my gosh Hannah, it's like ninety degrees out! You could have called us and Mom or Chris would have picked you up!"
Hannah shrugged, "I guess so. At least it gave me time to practice my lines for the skit! And I'm here, anyway. Where are they?"
"Chris is in the shower," Amanda answered, "And Mom is in her room; she's ready to go but supper gave her the hiccups so she's probably either passed out from holding her breath or currently drowning, depending on which cure she's on at the moment."
Hannah laughed. "Oh no, it's a medical emergency!"
Amanda just rolled her eyes. "You know how she gets. I tried to tell her no one would care but she wasn't having it. We tried curing her, too. I tried everything I could think of! I even made up some cures," she added with a giggle.
"Yeah cause you're gonna be stuck with her all night," Hannah teased. Amanda and Mrs. Beloit were operating one of the "stations" that the kids cycled through during the VBS program, while Hannah, along with being part of the humorous nightly skit, was helping Chris lead one of the small crews of children.
"I know, right? I hate having the hiccups but I think I'd rather have them myself than spend the whole time trying to cure her." Amanda had always been very close to her mom, but even she could get a little exasperated with her mom's uptight nature sometimes.
A knowing smile crept across Hannah's face. "You know what she needs?"
"If it's a big glass of water drunk upside-down while plugging her ears, we already tried that."
"No no!" Hannah giggled as she opened the refrigerator and peered inside. "None of that stuff works anyway. Do you have any Coke?"
"Um, maybe?" Amanda replied quizzically, joining Hannah in front of the refrigerator. "Here's some Sprite," she offered, reaching to the back of one of the shelves and producing a pack of miniature Sprite cans.
"That'll do," Hannah said, taking one.
"I don't think that's really gonna..." Amanda started to protest but trailed off as Hannah popped the can open and took a couple big gulps. "Oh, it's for you?" she puzzled.
"Yeah, like you said, I'm hot and sweaty!" Hannah laughed, taking another sip. "No, it's - there we go! See, what your mom needs is *hic* -" she paused for a moment after a sharp hiccup threw her back, before finishing: "Some company."
Amanda giggled. "You are so funny, Hannah!" A big smile made its way across her face as Hannah continued hiccupping. "Oh my gosh, that's exactly what she needs!"
"Right?" Hannah grinned, "She can't be too dra-*huck*-matic over having the hiccups if she's not even *hic* the only person who has them." With that, she started toward the master bedroom. "Wish me luck!" she whispered.
Most people might feel like they ought to get permission before entering an occupied bedroom, but then again, Hannah had never really fallen into the category of "most people". Plus, the door was already slightly ajar, so without so much as a knock, she quietly opened the bedroom door and stepped inside. Through the open door into the master bathroom, she could see Mrs. Beloit standing next to the sink, with a glass of water in her hand. Hannah only had to fight back the mischievous urge to give her a totally unexpected jump-scare for a moment, because a loud hiccup of her own quickly alerted Mrs. Beloit to her presence in the room.
"Oh, hi Hannah," Mrs. Beloit greeted her shakily, clearly a bit startled even without Hannah making any attempt to scare her. "Every-*hup* Everything okay?"
"Hey! Yeah, well almost everything," Hannah answered cheerily. "I could just *huck* really use some help getting rid of th-*hic* of these hiccups before the program tonight!"
A quizzical smile started to creep across Mrs. Beloit's face. "You have th-*hup* You have them too, sweetheart?" She set the glass of water down on the counter and stepped out into the bedroom.
"Yes ma'am," Hannah answered, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "I hadn't pr-*hic*-acticed my lines with the hiccups yet, so I don't know *huck* how I can possibly make it through the sk-*hic*-it."
Mrs. Beloit laughed. "It's a good thing we don't have to do the skit *hup* together! But here, you could try some of the cures that Amanda had me try earlier. *huck* Have you done the thing where you drink while also plugging your nose *hup* your nose and ears?"
"Oh my gosh," Hannah giggled, "th-*hic*-ankfully not! And I'm just kidding about *hic* having you cure me, I'll be just *hic* fine!"
"That's good, I'm obviously not the best at these *hup* cures anyway," Mrs. Beloit admitted. "I am glad this didn't happen at work, though."
"Hiccups at work are pr-*hic*-etty much the worst," Hannah agreed. "How was work today, anyway?"
"It went pretty we—pretty well, actually," Mrs. Beloit answered, seeming to relax a little bit as she stepped back into the bathroom to fix her hair. "It's been very busy lately with *hup* getting this big marketing campaign in gear, but we're st-- starting to see some results now."
Hannah knew how hard Mrs. Beloit - the marketing director for a large local company - had been working on her latest project, although she didn't know exactly what it meant from a business perspective. It definitely sounded like a good thing, though! "Oh that's great! That probably makes the *hic* bosses happy, then."
Mrs. Beloit laughed. "Yes, they look at me a little more po-*hup* positively when they see revenue coming in from all this money I'm *hmk* spending."
"I'm sure! Do you think things will ca-*hmk* calm down a little for you now?" Once she heard herself say that, Hannah realized it was probably a silly thing to ask. She couldn't ever remember a time when Mrs. Beloit wasn't busy with work!
"Well, we're already planning the next *hup* big push, but it's definitely less stressful now. *hup* But how was your day, sweetheart? You were working today, right?"
"Yep," Hannah answered, "I'm working the ear-*hic*-ly shift every day this week since I got evenings off for VBS. *hic* Getting there in time to open wasn't great, but it was good once I w-*huck* was actually awake!"
"Is it slower in the morning?"
"Oh yeah *hic* definitely. I like the evening better cause I like to have more cust-*huck*-omers. It goes faster when we're busy! I'm sure it's *hic* nothing compared to how your work gets though!"
Mrs. Beloit stopped and came to the bathroom door. "Oh don't say that, Hannah," she corrected. "You know, I *hup* worked at K-Mart for a semester or so while I was in college. *hup* Worst four months of my life! Every night after work I *hup* went back to my room and just cried. I think that's what made me so committed to making it through business school: I *hup* wanted to make sure I didn't have to ever work a *hup* retail job again!"
"Awwww really?" Hannah exclaimed. She knew Mrs. Beloit had worked in a store once but had never heard about just how bad the experience was for her.
"Yes, I hated it so much!"
"I've had a few *hic* pretty bad days, but I don't think I've ever h-*uck* hated it," Hannah mused. "Not even when I've had the hiccups!"
"How are your hiccups not just incredibly annoying or embarrassing for you, Hannah?" Mrs. Beloit asked.
"Why would I get *huck* upset about them?" Hannah answered with a shrug.
"Doesn't it drive you crazy sometimes? I swear, I only get them maybe once in a year but when I do it feels so helpless and embarrassing, as if you've lost control of your body! I've been dreading having to go to the church with these -- with the --"
Hannah cocked her head as if she were waiting for Mrs. Beloit to finish her sentence.
Finally Mrs. Beloit gasped, "I think they're gone?"
Hannah grinned. "I *huck* think so! That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"How did you do that?" Mrs. Beloit asked in amazement. "I'd been trying for almost half an hour!"
"Guess you just n-*huck* needed to get your mind off it for a minute."
"Apparently so! But honestly, how does it not drive you crazy?"
Hannah hardly even had to think about her answer. "Don't get me wrong, every *hic* once in a while it does. But for the most *hic* part, I'm just used to it, I guess. There's worse things in life. *huck* Plus, why would I get all worked up about -- like, *hic* about something that's basically a part of my own self, you know? Th-*hic*-ere's a lot of things I don't have control over, and if m-*uck* my breathing is one of them, well, it's a little inconv-*hic*-enient sometimes but that's okay."
There wasn't a lot of deep reasoning behind Hannah's answer, but somehow it still seemed to make sense. "I suppose that's true," Mrs. Beloit conceded, stepping toward the closet for a pair of shoes.
"So now you tell me," Hannah continued with a question of her own. "My *huck* hiccups don't really seem to bother you, but when Sarah gets th-*hic*-em she drives you up the wall. Why is *hic* that?"
Mrs. Beloit chuckled. "I suppose that's true. I think with you it's kind of like you said, it's just a part of your sweet little self so I hardly even pay attention to it! But with her half the time it seems as if she's doing it on purpose and she's always so - so pleased with herself I guess?"
"I can see th-*huck*-at. Like, I was made for this, but with Sarah it seems *hic* like it's just for show. But isn't that kinda part of who *hic* Sarah is, too?" Hannah shrugged.
"Apparently," Mrs. Beloit agreed, looking thoughtful. "Maybe it's not fair of me; I just wish she wasn't so - so crazy sometimes! She's going to end up going down a bad road one of these days just because she won't ever tell herself 'no'."
Hannah frowned. "Yeah, I see what you mean. You must *hic* worry about her a lot. At least you can *hic* know she'll always be loved and forgiven whenever she me-*hic* messes up."
"I do worry. And I know she wants to do what's right. She has a good heart; she could use a little more of her sister's good sense."
"Yeah, you're probably *hic* right about that," Hannah agreed. "A lot more, actually. But who knows, maybe God made her that *hic* way for a reason!"
"Wait, isn't that one of those catchphrases from VBS?"
Hannah laughed. "If it isn't, *hic* it should be!"
* * * * *
Hannah had hoped that her self-induced hiccups would go away before VBS got started, but as the kids started the program with some of those catchy songs, her hiccups showed no sign of letting up. She wasn't very concerned, though. Her character in the skit, "Izzy", was a bumbling and error-prone inventor, so Hannah figured that having the hiccups fit right into the part. In today's episode, she was ready to excitedly demonstrate her newly-designed invention to the program leader. Unfortunately for Izzy, it was not to go according to plan: she would trip on her way up to the stage, crushing the invention into pieces.
As Hannah waited in the foyer of the church for the skit to begin, her friend Serena came bustling in with her little ones. "Hi Jimmy!" Hannah greeted Serena's four-year-old as he ran up to her with his arms outstretched. "Are you rea-*huck*-dy for some fun?"
"Yes!" he answered excitedly, giving Hannah a big hug.
"We're a little late as usual," Serena admitted.
"That's o-*hic* okay," Hannah said with a smile. "You haven't missed too much *hic* yet!"
"Hiccups today?" Serena asked sympathetically.
Hannah nodded. "You *hmk* know it."
"Let's go!" Jimmy called, grabbing Serena's hand and practically dragging her toward the door.
"I guess we're going in now," Serena laughed. "Good luck with the skit."
"Thanks!" Hannah grinned, "It's going to *hic* be a fun one."
Hannah was still smiling after Jimmy, Serena, and the baby went in to join the program. Now that she had been helping with the little kids during church for a while, all the kids loved her and never failed to give her hugs. It was so adorable!
"I wonder how Izzy has been doing with her invention?" the program leader, a friendly mom named Sherry, asked from up front.
"That's my cue," Hannah whispered to herself. Opening the door from the foyer, she dramatically burst down the aisle, half-carrying, half-dragging the large bag containing her invention. "I did it! I *hic* did it!" she yelled. As she reached the couple steps up onto to the stage, she performed her scripted fall, tripping on the first step and crashing recklessly to the floor as the contents of her bag appeared to shatter. Several people in the audience gasped, thinking her fall had been a true accident!
"I'm okay; don't *hic* worry!" she quickly announced, popping back up from the floor and dusting herself off. "Still have the hiccups, though," she ad-libbed.
Sherry laughed. "I see that. But what about your invention? That didn't sound good."
"I'm sure it's fine; it is *hic* tough enough to handle almost anything!" Hannah boasted confidently. After taking a quick peek into her bag, her mood quickly shifted. "Oh no! It's *hic* ruined! All that work and now it's h-*uck* hopeless!" she wailed, her hiccups rising with her voice.
"It's not hopeless, Izzy," Sherry consoled. "I'm sure you can get it fixed right back up."
"No, it's no *hic* use," Hannah moaned, slumping to the floor next to her shattered invention. "I just can't do *hic* anything right. I always end up breaking things... hurting myself... *hic* getting the hiccups..." That comment sent a chuckle through the audience. "And now I finally m-*hic*-ade something amazing - it was go-*hic*-ing to be a birthday gift for my mom! - and I've ruined that *hic* too." With that Hannah put her head in her hands and started sobbing.
Sherry bent down and put her hand on Hannah's shoulder. "Izzy, we all make mistakes. And I know your mom would have loved your invention, but she'll forgive you. In fact, that reminds me of what we have been learning about today. We all do wrong things, but..." she paused for dramatic effect before introducing the catchphrase of the day, "God will always forgive you!"
As was the pattern throughout the week, the kids responded with a loud, "Wow, God!"
Sherry continued. "And our Bible verse today tells us that God is always merciful, and ready to forgive."
"Wow," Hannah commented, standing back up and looking relieved. She brushed her cheek with her hand as if to wipe away the tears. "It's nice to *hic* know that Jesus will forgive me, even when I mess up pr-*hic* pretty bad." She paused, then continued with a little frown, "But what about my *hic* mom's gift?"
"I'm pretty sure you can find a way to fix it," Sherry encouraged.
Hannah looked down into the bag. "Well, *hic* it's worth a try! Maybe it will end up being even more awe-*hic*-some than before!"
"You better get busy, though!"
"Thank you Miss Sherry, I'll *hic* see you guys tomorrow." Hannah said with a big smile.
"Now go drink some water!" Sherry joked as Hannah made her way back down the aisle toward the exit.
Hannah laughed. "Thanks, I'm *huck* going to right now!"
As luck would have it, Hannah's hiccups went away almost as soon as the skit was over. When she joined Chris and their small crew of kids, Chris was surprised to see her breathing normally. "They went away already?" he whispered.
Hannah grinned. "Yes! As soon as I got out to the hall."
"Well you did a great job," he complimented, "You are always so natural up there!"
"Eh, you just liked my hiccups," Hannah teased, giving him a little peck on the cheek.
* * * * *
An hour or so later, Mrs. Beloit and Amanda were busily preparing their activity station for their third group of kids to come through. Their station was a pretty easy one; it simply involved watching a video and then leading a short talk about the video and about a humanitarian project that the church was raising money for throughout the week. Still, many of the kids brought snacks along, so there was invariably a little bit of a mess to clean up after each crew. As Amanda quickly swept up some broken crackers, she heard her mom hiccup sharply from the other side of the room. After a couple more hiccups, Mrs. Beloit sighed. "I think the hiccups are *hup* back."
"Aww, want me to get you some water?" Amanda offered.
"Would you mind?" her mom asked. "I'll finish *hup* sweeping that up."
Amanda skipped out into the hall, and soon returned with a small paper cup full of water. "Hopefully this is enough!"
While refreshing, the water did little for Mrs. Beloit's hiccups. "I don't think that *hup* helped," she admitted wryly.
Amanda was sure her mom would be mortified to give the talk about the video while having the hiccups, so she made another offer. "I can read the talk this time if you want me to."
Mrs. Beloit took a deep breath. "It's okay," she said. "I can make it through; if Hannah could do her *hup* skit with the hiccups, surely I can read a script."
Amanda raised her eyebrows, trying not to act as surprised as she actually was. "You sure?"
"I'm sure. And maybe they'll be gone by the time the v-*hup* by the time the video is done and we do the talk."
"They might!" Amanda encouraged. "That's got a way better chance of being true for you than for Hannah!"
Mrs. Beloit chuckled, "That's so true: the poor girl. *hup* But she dealt with it so well."
"No kidding," Amanda agreed. "She always does."
"I suppose when you've *hup* gone through as much in your life as she has, something as minor as hiccups is no *hup* big deal."
"Yeah; breathing? Who needs it?" Amanda joked. Then she continued, "I think you're right though, she has such a good perspective on everything."
Before Mrs. Beloit could say anything more, a group of kids burst through the door. "Hey kids!" Amanda welcomed them with a excited grin. "Come on in and sit down. We've got a great video today!"
* * * * *
The fourth - and final - group to come through Mrs. Beloit's station included Chris and Hannah's crew. The room was full of the sounds of rowdy, talkative kids, but glancing at Mrs. Beloit as she worked on getting the video back to the right place, Hannah noticed her jolt sharply. "I bet her hiccups came back," Hannah thought.
Stepping up to talk to her, Hannah could tell that her assumption had been correct. "Your hiccups came back, didn't they?" she asked with a knowing frown.
"Yes they did," Mrs. Beloit admitted, "I had them through the whole last r-*hup* the last rotation so I've just been waiting for you to come cure me again!"
Hannah laughed. "I don't know if I can this time!"
"It's ok," Mrs. Beloit said with surprising calm. "You did such a *hup* a great job up front with way worse hiccups than mine, so I figured I could handle this."
Amanda had joined them by this point, and added with a grin, "She even did her part of the talk last round, Hannah, hiccups and all! I'm so proud of her!"
"Such an accomplishment, right?" Hannah teased.
Mrs. Beloit rolled her eyes. "You girls go sit down and *hup* let me hiccup in peace!"
Hannah and Amanda were still giggling as they sat down together next to Chris and the kids. "Really though, whatever you said to her at home really must have helped," Amanda confided.
"You think so?" Hannah didn't feel like she had said anything too earth-shattering.
"Yeah, she really took it in stride this time, and you know she doesn't really take anything in stride!"
Hannah smiled. "I guess that's true; maybe having the hiccups up front was worth it."
"Oh my gosh Hannah, that was the funniest thing ever!" Amanda laughed, "The only thing funnier than Hannah with the hiccups is Izzy with them. Isn't that right, Chris?" she added, reaching past Hannah to nudge her brother.
Chris shrugged, but then put his arm around Hannah and gave her a little squeeze. "I'm pretty okay with either one, actually."
"Whew, that's a good thing," Hannah teased, "Because I don't know about Izzy's but I'm pretty sure Hannah's will be back!"