Also posted to my Tumblr under tagged/spend-the-day-with-someone-you-love
Ch 1- The Trouble with Couches and Giant Holes
"Got the checklist?" Sara asked, excitedly clicking her pen.
"Right here!" Milo said cheerfully, pulling out a crumpled sheet of paper with a brown stain on it. "Sorry about the stain, I knocked over the coffee pot and the liquid got on the paper."
"Don't worry about it, Milo. Stuff happens. What's more important is making sure we have everything we need for our annual viewing of the Dr. Zone Valentine's Day special!" Sara threw out her arms for emphasis. "Let the checkoff begin! Exclamation point!"
"Clothing and accessories: Time Ape t-shirt, stopwatch hat, Dr. Zone hat, and Diogee's Time Ape collar," Milo read.
"Check, check, check," Sara said, pulling the clothing out of a nearby cabinet. "Diogee's collar isn't here though."
Milo set the checklist carefully on the table and began searching on his hands and knees. A small glimmer caught his attention, and he found the collar hiding underneath the couch. "I found it!" he called, squeezing into the small space in between the couch and floor. Unfortunately, the collar was against the wall, so Milo had to awkwardly snake his arm toward it. He was so close, he just needed to get fingers on the strap. "Come on," he grunted, inching closer. This action caused Milo's head to knock against the couch, and he moaned in pain.
"You okay, Milo?" Sara sounded anxious. "Do I need to get the pain relief? Or maybe some butter?"
"I'm okay," Milo grunted, sighing with relief when he managed to hook two fingertips on the strap. Milo's fist closed around the collar, and he wiggled backwards. Only to stir up the dust mites. Milo sneezed, once again smacking his head on the couch frame. "I need help!" he called, mentally adding an ice pack to the checklist.
"I'll save you, Milo!" Sara exclaimed dramatically. Milo felt her hands clamp down on his feet.
"It's a good thing I'm not ticklish on my feet," Milo remarked, feeling his lower leg coming free. "I still can't move though."
Sara tugged again, adjusting her grip several times to no avail. "Might want to lay off the pistachios for a while," she joked, sighing.
"Not gonna happen," Milo replied, chuckling. "This would be a lot faster if we had butter."
"I'll grab it. Stay put," Sara paused. "Not that you can move because you're stuck." Milo waited, toying with the latch of the collar. Thirty seconds later, Sara was back, reaching underneath the couch to apply butter to his sides. Milo giggled, shivering at the cold, slippery feel of the butter. He squirmed backwards again, gasping when two butter-coated hands grabbed his lower legs and gave one harsh yank.
"Freedom!" Milo pumped his fist once he was free, turning over so he was lying on his back. His sweatervest was stained dark red, dust clinging to his hair and clothes. "Someone should really clean under there."
"Diogee's collar, check," Sara said, marking the box on the paper. "Change of clothes, check pending. It's a good thing I've got a million of these Time Ape shirts." She looked down, yellow butter stains sprinkled all over her shirt and pants.
They walked upstairs together, heading to their separate bedrooms for a set of clean clothes. "Which one should I wear?" Milo asked himself, browsing through his closet. "Too red, not red enough, maybe this one?" He shook his head. "Nah, too many stripes. This one looks fine." He tossed his dirty clothes into a nearby laundry basket and changed into a clean, identical outfit. "Much better," Milo smiled.
The floor shook, and Milo quickly ran to the door frame of his bedroom. He dug around in his bag for a coil of rope just in case, keeping one hand on the wall. There were several loud crashes coming from downstairs, followed by Diogee barking. Milo thought he heard men yelling at each other too, but decided that the neighborhood was already used to his presence and any disturbances wouldn't affect the neighbors as long as their lives weren't in danger. After several tense minutes, the shaking finally stopped and all was quiet again.
"Diogee!" Milo shouted. When he didn't come, Milo blew a bone-shaped dog whistle several times. There was still no sign of him. Milo frowned. While incidents of Diogee escaping the house and being in places he shouldn't be were common, Milo still couldn't help but worry for his safety every time Diogee was loose.
"Milo! Are you all right?" Sara burst out of her bedroom, her clover hairclip hanging by a few blonde strands. Sara chewed her lip, eyes flickering between Milo and the stairs. "Do you know what all that shaking was? A tree? Runaway car? Earthquake? Have the llamas come back for revenge?"
"No, a possibility, the other houses look fine so I doubt it's an earthquake, and I'm pretty sure the llamas don't have any idea where we live," Milo grabbed his backpack. "I think we might need to find Diogee though. You should probably secure that clip." Sara took his suggestion.
"Guess our plans have to wait. I was thinking of picking up some pillows and blankets at the mall to make this annual tradition even better! After we find Diogee of course," Sara said as they approached the front door.
"Oh, hold on a second. Let me grab the checklist so that we can be sure we have everything," then Milo caught a glimpse of the kitchen as he picked up the list, mostly intact except for a bottom corner missing. "Sara, you need to see this!" Milo ran toward the kitchen, staring at a giant hole where part of the counter used to be.
Sara grabbed his shoulder. "Stay back, Milo! You never know what could fall from the sky!" As she spoke, bits of plaster rained down from the ceiling. Many eating utensils were scattered on the floor, and flour was everywhere. Nuts and bolts lay strewn among the wrecked wall.
Outside, a small set of dog footprints led away from the house, appearing to follow many large circular indents on the street and the grass."Yeah, you're right," Milo stared at the footprints, wondering if whatever made the hole also kidnapped Diogee. "Like random green lasers."
"Or like in Episode 46 when Queen Macadamia kidnaps Dr. Zone from his house in the dead of night." She and Milo grimaced. "Thank heavens it's non-canon anyway." Sara gasped, suddenly rummaging through the cupboards and pantry. "Milo, the chocolate I saved for today is gone! I left it on the counter." She huffed in disappointment. "Three boxes of gourmet chocolate can't just get up and walk away."
"We can pick up more on the way at the mall, " Milo reassured her. "And if you want a break from Murphy's Law just let me know."
"It's not your fault, Milo," Sara ruffled his cowlick. "Now, are we gonna let a giant hole, a runaway pooch, and missing chocolate stop us from partaking in a Murphy sibling tradition?"
"Never!" Milo cheered.
"That's the spirit! Now let's find Diogee and make this the best Valentine's yet!"
"Quick question. What if Mom and Dad see this hole?" Milo asked.
"We blame the llamas," Sara replied. "Just kidding! I'll tell them Safety Protocol 83 is now active." She fired off a quick text, adding sad emoticons to her explanation as to why there was a gaping hole in the house.
"With or without the extra revision in case of molasses?"
"With. Can never be too sure, little bro."
"I'll text Melissa and Zack," Milo pulled out his phone and made a new group text. "We can pick them up on the way so they can help out. Also, they haven't seen the Valentine's special of Dr. Zone! "
Sara nodded. "We'll have to correct that. So what are we waiting for? Time for danger!"
"Time for action!"
"Time for Dr. Zone after we find Diogee and get everything we need at the mall!"