Tai's Party
This is a short, humorous "what if" type story; just something I threw together on a Thursday evening when I has nothing else to do.
The telephone rang: two short rings, announcing someone at the security door downstairs. Tai ignored it. He and Izzy were well into the Samurai Emperor game and his mother would take the call.
"Tai!" came his mother's voice from the kitchen. "Matt and TK are here!"
"Matt and TK?" yelled Tai from his bedroom.
"Yes. They'll be up in a moment. I'm taking Kari out for her dentist's appointment. You boys have fun, and don't tear the up the place too badly!"
About a minute later they heard the apartment door open, then voices. Tai went to the door. Matt and his little brother TK had just come in, each carrying what appeared to be large teddy bears.
"Hey, Tai!" said Matt. "We made it as soon as we could!"
"We even managed to get Patamon and Gabumon smuggled in here!" said TK excitedly. "We didn't want them to miss out."
"Miss what?" asked Tai, puzzled. "Why are you here?"
TK put his teddy bear on to the floor. "You can start moving now--it's safe. Tai's mom isn't here, so you can run around for a bit."
"All right!" exclaimed the "teddy bear," and in a flash of orange Patamon flew into the air, heading for the living room.
"We came as soon as we heard the message on our answering machine," said Matt, placing Gabumon on the floor. The digimon suddenly came to life and scurried away into the living room.
"What message? Are you sure it wasn't an old one?"
The phone rang and Tai answered it.
"Tai?" came the voice on the other end. "It's Sora and Mimi. We're here!"
"Huh? Here? Oh ... ahh ... Sure, yeah, come on up." Not wanting to be seen as a poor host, Tai them in. "Now will someone explain what's going on ..."
Crash! The noise came from the living room. "Oh, no!" cried Tai, dashing in to see what had happened. The CD rack had toppled over, spilling CDs and knick-knacks all over the floor. Patamon hovered nervously over the mess.
"Sorry," said the little flying digimon, "I didn't see it there and flew right into it."
Matt came over. "Here, Tai, I'll clean that up for you. TK, you'd better help, too -- it was your digimon that caoused this mess."
"Do I have to?" TK put a bit of a whine into his voice. It was useful for getting out of chores.
"Yes, you do," said Matt, putting the case upright again. "Here, you just take the CDs and make sure the spine labels are running the correct way ..."
The doorbell rang. Tai ran to answer it and let in Mimi and Sora. Mimi was one big smile. "Oh, Tai, this was such a nice idea!"
"What was?" He was almost beyond confused.
"Having all of us over for a party," Sora answered. "You know, there often isn't anything to do on a Friday night."
Mimi lifted Palmon out of the large bag she was carrying. "There you go, Palmon. You and Biyomon and go and play in the living room."
"Just watch out for the CD rack!" came Matt's voice. "We're still trying to get all the CDs back in."
"Tai! It's your turn in the game!" called Izzy from the bedroom.
"Not now!" Tai called back. "I'm a little busy right now! Hey, Sora, can you tell me just -"
The telephone rang again. "Yeah? Who's this?" barked Tai into the receiver.
"Whoa! You're a little testy right now," came Joe's voice.
"Sorry, Joe, things are a bit of a zoo here. Hey! Mimi! Get Palmon out of the kitchen! Mom'll go ballistic if anyone touches that cake!"
"So, are you going to let me up, or what?"
"Oh - sorry Joe - sure ..." Tai pressed the button to unlock the block's security door.
Music blasted from the stereo, very loud. Tai nearly jumped out of his skin. Dashing back to the living room, he snapped off the stereo. The blaring cacophany vanished.
"Sorry," said Sora. "I was trying to put in this CD and didn't know how to adjust the sound level."
"Tai," came Mimi's voice from the kitchem, "Do you have any milk, or are there just soft drinks in here?"
"Uh, Mimi, I think you and Palmon should get out of the kitchen right now," Tai replied. "Someone close the balcony door! It's hot enough in here as it is!"
"Where's Patamon?" asked TK.
Sora answered. "I think he's out on the balcony. I opened the door so I could go out there and he flew outside."
TK burst into tears. "Oh no! I've lost Patamon! I'll never see him again."
"Don't cry, TK," said Tai. "Patamon's a smart little digimon -- he'll be back in a few minutes."
"He didn't even fly away," said Sora. "Look, he's just out there sitting on the balcony railing." She turned on the stereo again, this time making sure the volume was at a sane level.
There came a loud knock at the door. Tai ran back to open it. Joe was there with Gomomon.
"Hey, Tai! Sounds like the party's going OK. When are the pizzas going to be here? I'm starving!"
"Pizza?" spluttered Tai. "Who said anything about pizza?"
"My Dad said you were having a pizza party tonight."
"Your Dad? Where on earth did he get that idea?"
"You left a message on my answering machine."
"No I didn't!" Then came a flash: the explanation suddenly dawned on him. Running back to his bedroom, he found Agumon and Izzy playing a card game on his computer.
"Agumon," asked Tai, "did you just learn how to use the telephone today?"
Agumon was all bubbly. "Yeah! I saw Kari using it and asked her what she was doing. She showed me how it works."
"So did you call all my friends and invite them over?"
"No--I called all my digimon friends. But mostly I had to leave messages because all you guys were in school."
The telephone rang again--two short rings. "I'll get it," said Izzy.
"And what's this about pizza?"
"I hope you like cheddar cheese and sausage," said Agumon. "I ordered it especially for you."
Izzy set the receiver down beside the phone. "Tai, the delivery guy's here with fifteen pizzas. Do you know where we can get a hundred and fourteen dollars and thirty-five cents?"
He didn't get an answer. Tai had fainted dead away.