This is a sequel to Goosebumps Aftermath. Read that first.

This is a prompt from Rick and Maggie.

EPISODE: CUCKOO CLOCK OF DOOM

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Tara Webster didn't expect anything strange to happen that night, but the strangest things happen when we least expect it.

Tara closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in the silence of her bedroom. Instantaneously, a dream- more like a vision- developed in her mind.

She was in an utterly white world. There was nothing except for the sheer, blinding white color that stretched on for miles. She'd never had a dream like this before.

"Hello, Tara," a female voice said from behind her, and Tara turned to see two people standing behind her. They were both wearing white clothes. The girl was in her early twenties and was wearing a dress; curly brown hair was pulled over her shoulder. The boy beside her was a few years younger and was wearing a white suit; he had a curly head of black hair and blue eyes. But the strangest thing was that they both had wings.

"Wh-Who are you?" Tara stammered, taking a startled step backwards.

"We're angels," the girl giggled. "I'm your guardian angel, and this is Michael's guardian angel."

"Who is Michael?" Tara questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Your brother," the boy answered.

Tara laughed. "What are you talking about? I don't have a brother!"

"You did," the boy told her. "In fact, you're supposed to still have a brother."

Tara frowned. "I don't understand."

"Let us show you," the girl offered, waving a hand.

An image appeared to Tara's left, making her jump, and she turned to see a young boy, maybe twelve, with blonde hair sitting on the sofa in Tara's living room. He was surrounded by other kids his age.

"This is your brother Michael at his twelfth birthday," the boy said before the image fast forwarded to show Michael carrying a cake into the living room.

Tara watched as the image version of herself stuck her foot out, tripping Michael and causing him to fall to the ground, his face sinking into the cake.

"You were always mean to him, so when your father got that cuckoo clock and specifically told you two not to touch it, he messed with it, intending to blame it on you. Revenge for all the teasing and pranks you pulled on him," the girl told her.

"But turns out, the clock really is magic. By twisting the cuckoo bird's head to face backwards, Michael ended up making time go backwards. He came close to deaging himself out of existence, but he managed to twist the bird's head back around and return to the present. Unfortunately, he knocked the year 2004 off of the clock, which resulted in you never being born," the boy finished.

The girl continued, "Michael could've left it like that, could've been an only child, but he chose to go back and save you. This resulted in him never being born, but you need Michael in your life. The minute God realized what had happened, he sent the two of us to tell you about Michael and tell you that the only one that can save Michael is you."

The world started to fade around Tara.

"Please, Tara," the boy murmured. "You're Michael's only hope."

The angels vanished from view, and Tara sat bolt up right in her bed. She glanced out the window and saw darkness; it couldn't have been after two in the morning.

You're Michael's only hope.

Tara leaped out of bed and crept down the stairs until she reached the den, where the cuckoo loomed ahead of her.

By twisting the cuckoo bird's head to face backwards, Michael ended up making time go backwards.

Tara watched as the clock struck two am, and the bird sprung out of the clock. Tara twisted the bird's head backwards and watched as it vanished back into its tiny compartment.

Tara blinked, and when she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the brightly lit living room, and she glanced around.

A banner hung from the wall, and it read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL! Under that, in smaller letters, The Big Twelve was written.

"Why does Tara have to be at my party?" she heard a male voice complain from the next room.

"Michael, be nice to your sister," her mother admonished.

Within seconds, it all came rushing back. All the memories she had of Michael reappeared in her brain in a single moment.

You're Michael's only hope.

"It's okay, Michael!" Tara exclaimed, walking into the room. "I promise to be nice."

"See?" her mother muttered to her brother before exiting the room.

"Michael, I'm sorry I've been so mean. I promise that I'll be better and nicer," Tara told him. "In fact, I'm going to go make you an extra special card."

Michael watched his sister skip out of the room.

Tara… being nice. Had he stepped into an alternate universe?

Michael opted to stay on his toes for the rest of the day. There was no doubt about it: Tara the Terror was up to something.

Or so Michael thought. But the party passed without incident. Tara didn't trip Michael. Tara didn't ruin his party or humiliate him. It was so shocking, Michael almost passed out then and there.

Since Tara started acting nice to Michael, Michael didn't mess with the cuckoo clock to get her in the trouble. The whole time-going-backwards mishap was entirely avoided (and Tara snuck out and went to the antique shop to turn the bird's head back around to avoid time going back any further).

Tara glanced over Michael's shoulder, staring out the window.

A girl and boy with wings on their backs smiled, giving her two thumbs up, before fading from view as Tara handed Michael his birthday card.

Across the front were the words thank you, and Michael wondered why she'd written that until he opened the card.

Michael almost cried when he read what she'd written inside the card.

A Girl Needs Her Big Brother.

Tara had realized something after losing Michael. She loved and needed her big brother. She needed him to protect her, to guide her. Her life was better with her big brother, even if she hadn't realized it before. She needed her big brother.

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