Fiasol and the snug

Fíasól is a seven year old explosion of joy who lives in the gruesome room in Green Grove in Grasby. She lives here with her mum, dad, sister Pippa, who is eleven, and sister Bidda, who is a teenager. There are also the bone idle poodles Hansína and Jensína. They are so lazy that they can hardly be bothered to eat their food. They definitely never want to go out in the rain, and they drag themselves out of bed just before noon. They are so terribly lazy that they only bother to chase cats when they’re asleep. This is why they sometimes lie there fast asleep, barking at invisible cats that only exist in the land of Nod. Once, Fíasól thought that pink was the loveliest colour in the whole world. She wanted to paint all the houses in Green Grove pink, and she thought that the Icelandic flag should be pink. Now she has packed all her pink clothes away in a box. She only wants to wear blue and brown clothes because then you can’t really see that they are dirty. Ingo lives in the house diagonally opposite Fíasól. He is nine years old and is Fíasól’s best friend. “We can never move away from Green Grove,” Fíasól says from time to time. “Why not?” askes Mum. “Well, because we always have to live close to Ingo.” Then she has a little think about this. “Mum, if Ingo’s mum and dad decide to move away, then we’d have to move too. However far away.” “I see,” mumbles Mum absent-mindedly. “In that case let’s hope they never decide to move, because I really love living in Green Grove.” “Yeah, me too,” says Fíasól. “I’m happiest when I’m at home in my snug.” “What’s a snug?” Ingo asked in surprise one time when Fíasól said she was going home to the snug. “Ingo, a snug is a small and cosy place where everyone is safe and happy,” Fíasól replied and ran back home to the snug.