Alvin and the Chipmunks
Sorrow: A Debt Repaid
"Noah, wanna come to a movie with the Chipettes, Alvin, Theo, and I?" my brother, Simon asked. "No thanks, Simon. I just want to be alone right now." I said. I was dealing with some serious pain right now. "Okay, Noah, but remember, If you want to talk to me, or anyone, it's okay." Simon said.
That night, I had the same nightmare that I had since I arrived here one year ago today. I was falling down from a tree that was covered in flames. As I fell, I saw the forms of my mother and father disappear in the inferno.
I woke up in a cold sweat. My parent's death over and over. That's all I ever see. The next morning, my brothers and our girlfriends, the Chipettes noticed that I was kinda tired. "Another nightmare, I'm guessing?" Simon said. I sluggishly nodded. "Wanna talk about it?" Alvin asked. I shook my head. "You wouldn't understand. Death it's...it's too painful to talk about." I said.
"Death... oh, I see. You're still greiving over your parent's death." Jeanette said. "It's that obvious?" I asked. "Totally. Noah, you and I may not be the best of friends, but I will give you this peice of advice: To help with pain, talk about it with your loved ones." Brittany said.
I sighed. "Alright, I guess Brittany's right." I took a deep breath before continuing. "As I told you before, a forest fire wiped out all of Blarney Forest, killing everyone except me. What you don't know is how the fire started. At about dawn, I woke up, ready for a day of nut collecting. As I picked off a couple, I was aware of a smoker walking around. I covered my nose. In a clear voice, well, as clear as a chipmunk's voice is with an Irish Brogue, I said, ' Sir, I'm sorry t' tell ya that smokin' is forbidden in th' forest.' The man snuffed out his light. But as he did so, a spark lit up the brush and... well, I'm guessing the rest is clear." I said, a tear running down my cheek.
My brother pulled me into a group hug. "That is a sad tale, little brother. But you have a new home now." Alvin said. "Um, not to spoil this moment, but can I ask what happened to the smoker?" Eleanor asked.
"At the memorial service for the forest, the smoker approached me, told me how sorry he was, and directed me to the Orphanage. He even quit smoking, as a way of showing how bad he felt. In the end, he died of lung cancer as soon as I got settled into the Orphanage. I blamed him not." I said.
Because my family helped me deal with my pain, I took it upon myself to return the favor. The first debt that I paid was to Simon and Jeanette. As I walked by their lab, I heard arguing. I sighed. I went down to the lab. "Hey, you two need any help?" I asked.
"We're trying to come up with an idea for our History Project. Jeanette wants to do a rap, I want to sing. The only agreement we came to was that it would be on the American Revolution." Simon said. "Oh, I can fix that, simply." I said.
On the day of the presentations, Simon and Jeanette did a song that had rap lyrics to it. It was featured in the 90's Chipmunks episode, "Food for Thought"
The next debt i paid was to Alvin and Brittany. I had noticed that they were looking sad lately. They didn't play video games, sing, or even argue! "Are you alright?" I asked. Alvin shook his head. "Something bothering you?" I asked. Brittany nodded. "The other jocks and cheerleaders are making fun of us because we "live with 4 nerds" as they called it. They said that we just aren't cool anymore" she said.
"C'mere, you two," I said, pulling them into a hug, "don't you dare think that that is true. You two are the coolest of all eight of us. Remember that always." I said. Alvin smiled. "No matter what I say, you are seriously a saint." he said.
The final debt I paid comes with a bit of a prologue. About 1 week before I told my family what was bothering me, Theodore wanted me to test a bowl of Irish Stew he made for a pot luck. When I tasted it, I noticed that it tasted like the way my mum made it... exactly. "Theodore... were did you get this recipe?" I asked.
Theodore looked down at the floor. "I...er... found the recipe in your drawer... and thought that I should... test it out." Theodore said. "Theodore... you just found the Jagers family recipe! It was supposed to be a secret! What were you thinking?" I yelled. Then I stormed off, leaving Theodore sobbing in the kitchen.
Fast foward to the present day. Theodore took the Stew to the pot luck. He told me that someone asked him for the recipe, and he said no. "Noah, d-do you hate me?" he asked, his eyes brimming with tears. I hugged him. "Oh, Theodore, of course I don't hate you. I was just mad that you found my secret recipe. I didn't think you were ready for such a big secret. I see now that I was wrong. I'm sorry I snapped at you." I said.
Theodore smiled and wiped away his tears. "Do you have any other recipes you'll be wiling to share?" he asked. "Yes baby brother, I do." I said. Though I will not put down the recipes in this story, I will say that Theo and I had fun cooking them.