Chapter 1:
It was a quiet and ordinary day at Peach Creek Jr. High. The sky was a pale blue, the air was crisp, the grass below was a dull green, the sun glowed, and there was hardly a cloud in the sky. The birds were fluttering in the distance, and the atmosphere was calm and laid back.
All was peaceful, until…
RING! RING! RING! The school bell rung. At that moment, many students rushed out of the building eagerly, while a few others decided to take it slow. Student chatter filled the afternoon sky in the late month of March like baby birds in the nests of many trees.
"I don't believe this!" complained a short, Napoleon like student, crushing a piece of paper into his small hand. "Principal Antonucci gives me 3 weeks of lunch detention, all because I skipped out on Mrs. Smith's class!"
"But, Eddy," another figure responded, taller than his friend, but with a gap in his teeth and a black cap on his head. "You also tried hacking into the school's computer to, not only change the school year's schedule around, but to also change the cafeteria food selections!"
"Hey, it's not my fault that school's too long. The food here's not that much help here, either. Right, Ed?"
Eddy turned to his friend, the tallest of the trio, who was busy behind them, with his head up in the clouds.
"Nope, no beans for me, Eddy!" Ed responded with his usual naiveté.
"You also blew up the science lab, destroyed numerous school text books, and you vandalized the Life Science Room!" Edd went on through the list of his short friend's poor decisions at school.
"And your point is…?" Eddy questioned.
"Eddy, the point is you have to stop getting into so much trouble all the time!" Edd said in a worried tone.
"Double D, you know I can't do that. It's in my nature, dude." Eddy defended his case.
Edd sighed and moved on to the cul-de-sac with his two friends down the sidewalk.
But then, there was a very faint sound in the air.
"Did you say something, Ed?"
"It wasn't me, Eddy. Maybe it was Double D." Responded Ed.
"I didn't say anything."
The sound became louder, but it was still somewhat faint.
Edd put his hand to his ear. "It's coming from that alleyway." He observed, pointing to a gray alley.
The trio decided to investigate the alley to find out where the mysterious noise was coming from. The alley had a mysterious and dark feel to it, with a seemingly vague mist, with various trash left unchecked, even though there was a large garbage bin put off to the side.
"It's probably just a stray cat of something," Eddy said.
"Or maybe The Ghost of The Haunted Alley!" Ed referenced a character from a horror movie he had seen a week ago.
The noise later turned into a light moan. As the trio moved in closer, the noise became louder. Then, at the near end of the alley, the boys saw a basket with a rolled up rose pink blanket inside of it.
"See?" Eddy bragged. "I knew there was nothing here. C'mon, let's go back."
But then, the blanket started to move, and that's where the three friends found out where the noise was coming from.
"It's a ghost!" Ed nearly yelled and hid behind Eddy.
But Double D had the courage to pick up the blanket, only to realize that the blanket had something in it: something alive.
When Double D unwrapped the blanket, he couldn't believe what he saw.
"… Ed, Eddy, I think you need to come see this…"
The two others got themselves to move in a little closer. That's when Ed and Eddy found out what it was.
It was a baby. A girl, with sandy blonde hair, with it's eyes closed.
All three were shocked at their discovery.
"It's a baby, Double D." Ed said in awe.
"Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious." Eddy retorted.
"Now who would leave a baby out here in the open?" Double D said in a concerned voice, showing sympathy for the young child.
"Yeah, now that you think about it, it does sound a bit weird." Eddy agreed with Double D.
Then, as if sensing that someone was there, the infant opened her bright blue eyes to observe the environment around her. Then she caught sight of Double D holding her in his arms, and gave him a curious look.
"Oh, hello there." Double D. started talking to the baby.
The baby then held out her arms toward him and giggled. Edd then allowed her to wrap his finger around her small hands.
"Aww, she thinks you're its daddy, Double D." Ed looked at the sight.
"Hey, she's actually kinda cute. Once you get used to her that is." Eddy followed suit in admiring the baby.
Double D. then started looking around. "But where are her parents?"
Ed then spotted a letter in the basket where the baby layed. "Hey, look at this." Ed handed over the note to Double D., while he handed over the baby to Ed.
"Coochie coochie coo coo." Ed cooed to the baby.
The baby started laughing while in his arms.
Meanwhile, Double D. started reading the found letter aloud:
To whom it may concern,
Whoever finds this child, please give her a home and a family.
John and Edith
"Who would just leave their own child out here in this dump?" Double D. said. "I have the perfect solution: we shall take care of this child ourselves, until we can find suitable parents for her."
"What? Are you out of your mind?" Eddy protested. "There is no way, no how, we are taking care of this baby!" Eddy turned his back on the baby and his friends with his arms crossed.
The little girl started becoming confused and worried, and looked up at two of her caretakers.
"Oh, come now, Eddy. Maybe she might be helpful to us. And besides, you said that you ran out of ideas for scams," Double D. said slyfuly, while Eddy had turned around, with a dreamy glow in his eyes.
Then Eddy looked down at the child in Ed's arms, and a sudden feeling had overcome him. A feeling he wasn't used to feeling. A somewhat maternal instinct has come upon the Napoleon teen.
"Okay, fine. We'll raise her." Eddy finally spoke up, and Ed's, Double D.'s, and the baby's faces lit up with joy.
"But only until we find parents for her," Eddy started walking back on his route, with the others trailing right behind him, and the baby smiling in content.
"That's the spirit, Eddy!" Double D. cheerfully said. "I promise you, you won't regret this!"