What I've Done

Hanukkah

Johanna and her family had lit the menorah and enjoyed a very filling delicious dinner. Most foods at dinner were traditional ones and she only ever had them around the holidays, when she saw her father's family. Cinnamon apple cake, soft pretzels, latkes and the classic brisket they'd always spend days slow cooking were some of her favorites. After lighting the menorah and engaging in a prayer, this night's dinner consisted of a roast chicken, potato latkes, noodle kugel, roasted brussels sprouts and for dessert there was hamantaschen cookies with apricot and poppyseed filling. After eating, Johanna got to play dreidel with her cousins for peanuts and gelts and since she was one of the oldest she typically always won. Her cousin David who was only two years older than her liked to show off and pick on her a lot of the time just for fun. And likewise, Johanna liked to beat him when he'd get cocky so she could show him she was stronger than him. Over the years this resulted in many arguments and fights between the two and at more than one point they had to be separated as kids to keep the holidays from becoming an all out brawl.

The thirteen of them had been playing dreidel and David had been winning the most, chuckling to himself arrogantly, raking in the peanuts with a smirk on his face and shooting Johanna smug looks when his luck had been particularly good.

"Alright everyone, put in your peanuts." David urged the many cousins to put in their bid and soon enough, the center of the circle they had formed had a dozen nuts piled high in a messy mound.

Grabbing the dreidel, her cousin Jacob spun the top and watched feverishly as it twirled almost perfectly. Then soon enough, it toppled over and fell on shin. Groaning, the lot once again added one more peanut to the pile and now the pot had been doubled. Her cousin Issac cheerfully grabbed the dreidel and spun it for his turn, watching as it turned around and around until it fell on nun and woefully, everyone added a third peanut to the center pile. David, grabbed up the top and smirked over at Johanna before spinning it skillfully. Feeling herself heat up from anger, Johanna's eyes fixated on the dreidel and wished for something dangerous. Eyes wide with confusion, the lot watched as the dreidel spun excitedly, not slowing down like it should have thirty seconds ago. It was now nearing a full two minutes and the dreidel still hadn't toppled over.

"How hard did you spin it?" David's younger brother Levi asked bewildered by the spinning tops behavior and David shrugged sheepishly as he too stared at the dreidel which had no intention of slowing down.

"I didn't spin it that hard."

"I think you broke it." Jonathan joked and David elbowed him as a warning sign,

"I didn't break anything."

"Dad! Dad come have a look at this!" Elijah called for his father and in the blink of an eye Johanna saw her Uncle and Aunt Rebecca rounding the corner,

"What is it?"

Johanna and everyone else watched as the dreidel finally fell over and onto nun and the whole group laughed as it did so. Even Uncle Dan laughed when he saw this,

"Looks like you get nothing, David."

David scowled at the dreidel and Johanna picked it up gleefully, spinning the top quickly and watching it turn in the most delightful way. Feeling her skin get goosebumps she felt a brilliant feeling well inside herself. Faster than it had last time, the dreidel fell to the floor and landed on gimmel. Her cousins groaned and Johanna's hands stretched forward, pulling in all the peanuts from the pile merrily into her own. She now had the most peanuts of them all. Staring at her pile, David looked over at her, arms crossed over his chest.

"I think she cheated."

"How? There's no way to cheat at dreidel, it's a spinning top. It's not like it's weighted." Caleb exclaimed, clearly amused by David being a sore loser and glaring at Johanna he replied,