I bet you guys are probably wondering what bought this story on. Well, I had recently binge-watched Animaniacs after I bought the Complete Series on DVD (all four seasons and the Wakko's Wish movie), and after watching it, I found myself enjoying the show more than I did as a kid! Then again, I guess anybody who watched this show after a long while would get that feeling. But yeah, last time I did something Animaniacs related was a Chicken Boo piece which... doesn't hold up as much as I liked it to. I'm still keeping the Chicken Boo story up there because it helps me reflect. But this story won't be about Chicken Boo. Oh no, instead, I'm thinking about focusing on another minor character that had her own shorts on the show... but doesn't get the attention as much as the main stars...
This short story (which won't last too long, I say about four or five chapters at best) is about a certain teenage girl known as Katie Kaboom! Why am I writing for her in particular? Well, the shorts, I'm sure most will agree, were mostly showing us how being a teenager can be a pain in most circumstances. But Katie Kaboom sort of takes it to the extreme... but what if she... looked at herself after a while, what if she realizes that getting upset over every single thing might hurt their parents and her little brother? Well, that's what I want to focus on today! So, sit back and relax! Anyway, enjoy!
In the quiet, little peaceful town of Pleasantville, California, not too far from the busy streets of Hollywood and Los Angeles, inside a quiet little house with a garden in full bloom, lived a family, known as the 'Kabooms'. An unusual last name for a family like this one, but for the eldest sibling of the family, the last name fit her personality to a tee...
KABOOM!
The sound of an explosion was heard as the nice little house had once again, had a wall collapsing from one end. And deep inside the house, hiding behind the couch were three nervous people looking out, wondering if the teenage girl's bouts of behavior were over and done with.
"Is it over..." A little boy in a light blue shirt, blue shorts, a red hat and white shoes whispered nervously as he peeked out from behind the couch.
Two adults, a brown haired young man with a large blue shirt, brown jeans and black shoes and a light brunette woman with a teal shirt, black jeans and black slip-on shoes looked out nervously as they looked at the target of suspicion who had by now, went back to normal, unaware that something had even happened.
This figure, in question, was a teenage girl, a blonde haired girl wearing a light blue shirt, pink pants and blue shoes was taking a deep breath as she looked over at a calander on the other wall and gave a smile. "Oh. I guess you were right, Daddy. Today IS Friday. And here I was, worrying about my date for nothing. Well, I guess I have some time tonight. I may as well get started on my homework then."
"Uh... sure, that's great, princess." The older man smiled nervously as the teenage girl, known as Katie Kaboom, came over and kissed him on the cheek, before heading upstairs... but not before she noted the fallen wall.
"By the way, Daddy, I think those construction workers you hired last week did a terrible job at repairing the wall. I don't know what's causing it to fall, but you should probably get new workers. Just a suggestion." Katie smiled.
"Uh... I'll look into it, Katie." Katie's father grinned nervously as the three watched Katie go upstairs. As soon as they were sure she was out of earshot, they all sighed in relief.
"I swear, there should be a law against overemotional teenagers..." Katie's mom groaned as she held her head.
"Well..." Tinker sighed in relief as he went over and picked up a nearby camera that was on the table, which had surprisingly escaped harm. "At least she didn't harm the video camera..."
The mother and father looked at each other in concern as he said, "Uh, Tinker, how much of this did it record?"
"Hang on..." Tinker said as he fiddled with the camera and rewound the footage... before his eyes widened. The little boy gulped nervously. "All of it. I don't think I want my teachers to think we're afraid of my sister."
"Probably a good thing..." The mother sighed in relief.
"Trust me, Tinker, you might want to throw that tape away." The father said. "Just throw the old casette out and we can make a new one, start from the top."
"Good idea." Tinker smiled as he quickly ran upstairs. "I'm getting rid of this tape right now..."
The mother and father nodded as Tinker quickly ran upstairs. As soon as he was out of earshot, the father looked over towards the down wall as he gave a sigh. "Another wall broken down... at this rate, our insurance rate is probably going to be non-existent."
"Well, what do you really expect, honey?" The mother asked, raising an eyebrow.
Meanwhile, inside her bedroom, Katie was humming to herself happily as she started to set up her pencils, paper and textbooks, humming to herself as she happily giggled, daydreaming a little about what her recent date tomorrow would entail with her recent boyfriend. She sighed happily as she couldn't help but imagine a day out at the movies, followed by a romantic walk in the park, then dinner at a fancy French restaurant... she couldn't but swoon at the idea.
As she did so, she stopped as she covered her mouth. Maybe she could ask for money from her parents, just a little bit... maybe fifty bucks. She grinned as she got up and started to head out of her room.
As she did so, before she could call down to her father as she started to head downstairs, she heard his voice.
"Sheesh, I'm afraid we may be going to the poorhouse if this keeps up."
Katie stopped shortly as the girl raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering what her father could possibly mean by that. She peeked out and noticed her father and mother examining the wall as Katie's mother groaned. "How does one teenager do THIS much damage in under two minutes?"
The sweet girl blinked in confusion as her eyes narrowed, wondering what her mother was insinuating. Before she could march downstairs to tell her off, she heard her father speak up.
"Now, honey, maybe we shouldn't be too hard on Katie." The father said as Katie raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't know what she's doing..."
"But every time she goes into a fiery temper and turns into these... abominations, she wrecks the place and won't stop until she gets it out of her system, OR we agree to her ways!" Katie's mother groaned. "This is no way to live!"
"It's not her fault, though. She can't help those erratic... mood swings." Katie's father frowned. "After all, she's only a teenager."
"Yeah, a teenager that turns into a literal monster. That's just how it goes, our baby girl wants something, we refuse it, then she gets angry, we dive down in fear, and no matter how much we try to talk her down, she'll just keep getting angrier and angrier until... well, kaboom! Either the house or the car gets destroyed, and we have to call a repairman to rebuild the entire place... and we lost more of our bank account. All because our little girl either has a boyfriend we don't approve of, or if we don't her clothing, or if we pressure her into driving or if we forget who called her or if her boyfriend is late and..."
"...and what just... happened recently?" The father asked as Katie just watched, trying to make heads or tails with this conversation.
"Exactly. It's a good thing I told Tinker to get rid of that tape showing that temper of hers. Otherwise, I don't know what we would do." Katie's mom groaned.
The part of the tape caught her attention as she raised an eyebrow. She curiously wondered what tape she was referring to, until she noted the door to Tinker's room opening. Katie yelped as she got up and headed back to her room as she left it open a crack as she watched her brother come out of her room, looking around warily as he was taking the video camera with him as he called out, "Okay, I got rid of the tape. I threw it in my trash bin!"
This information was enough to let Katie know to investigate. She couldn't help but be curious as she snuck out of her room and quickly entered Tinker's room as she looked around at the typical little boy stuff that was laying around... before finally spotting the trash bin and a video tape poking out of it. Quickly, she grabbed the tape and ran out of the room as she overheard Tinker say, "How bad is the wall?"
"I think a few nails might do the trick..." Katie's father said as Katie watched the three discuss among themselves. "But we'll have to go to the repairmen to discuss another wall fixing."
"Should we call them?" Katie's mom asked.
"After what happened last time they came over? No, they blocked our number. They told me that if we want repairs done, we'd have to meet them face to face." Katie's father sighed. "I suppose we don't have much of a choice."
Katie paused as she was about to head downstairs before her mother noticed her. "Katie? I thought you were doing your homework."
"Oh, uh..." Katie yelped as she hid the tape behind her back. "I am, I just... forgot to get a pencil downstairs."
"Oh... okay." Katie's mother smiled as she, her father and Tinker nodded. "Honey, we'll be going out for a little while, but we'll be back before dinner. Do you want anything?"
"Uh... bring me a small salad from Antonio's." Katie smiled nervously.
"Are you sure, princess?" Katie's father asked.
"Y-yes, I'm sure. I don't need anything more, just... a small salad." Katie said, looking like she was about to lose it again.
Upon noticing the young woman's looks, Katie's mother whispered, "Maybe we better go."
"Uh... small salad it is. We'll see you later, Princess." Katie's father said as he motioned for the mother and Tinker to go out and go along with them. "I'm sure you know the rules of the household by now, no need for a reminder."
"Yes, Daddy." Katie said, feeling a little calmer. "I'll be upstairs the whole time."
"See you later, Katie." The father smiled as he and the other two quietly slipped out of the house. Katie sighed in relief as she pulled the tape out from behind her back, relieved that they didn't see or question it. Before she could think any further though, she could have sworn she heard the slight screeching of tires as she heard her parents back out. She frowned a little, not helping but noticing that her parents have a tendency to do that lately...
But she wasn't going to be deterred by this. She frowned as she turned on the TV and the cassette player as she put the tape in, and rewound it. "All right, Mom, Dad... just what do you mean by a fiery temper? Just how is it my fault that I destroyed a wall? That doesn't make any sense at all!"
As soon as she was sure the tape had rewound, she hit the Play button... and the minute she did, the next three minutes that she was about to watch was about to change her perspective on life... forever.
And the first chapter is done! How did you guys like it? Next time, we'll look at what happened earlier today that caused Katie to destroy the wall... AND see her own reaction! There is more to come, so don't miss out! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!