TK's interestingly bad day
By Celestra (Les)
Hello, people! It is your darling Celestra here who is about to be hit over the head by Les... (bang, slumps down) Hi! Les here, here to tell you about this fanfic Celestra made but I'm taking the credit for... Ignore the last phrase. Anyhoo, Celestra and I decided to write this up after reading a book and after I gave Celestra too much sugar gum. (She thought it was sugarless ^_^) Little Sister fans, I don't hate that book but it gave us a good story with many changes and we hope you won't get mad. It IS funny, though. DISCLAIMER: Here we go. THIS STORY IS MINE (AND CELESTRA'S) AND WHOEVER TAKES IT FOR THEIR STORY WILL GO DOWN! (EXEPT FOR DEBBIE (DAI-CHAN). (dusts hands in a satisfied way.) Debbie, you can mist this if you want. Now this is how it will work. TK is narrating throughout Saturday. Takes place some time in the real world.
(TK's POV) Setting: Friday night.
" Mommy!" I called. "Mommy!"
Mom was at my door in a flash." TK, what's wrong?" she exclaimed. "Are you sick? Did you fall out of bed?"
"No," I answered. " I can't fall asleep. I can't sleep at all. I've been lying here for hours and hours."
" Honey, I put you to bed twenty minutes ago," Mom told me.
" Really?" I said. "Well, it seems like hours. Besides, I can see the new witch that just moved here out my apartment window. And she's up to something."
There is a witch that just moved into Kawada, Odaiba. And she just HAD to move in the apartment building next to mine. Why couldn't she have moved over near Matt? He would take care of her. She's got a herb garden in her balcony; I can see it. She grows things with strange names like dill and fennel and basil. Maybe she even grows broccoli. Yuck.
The witch has a black cat called Bateye. Mom told me so. His eyes are round and yellow, like what a bat's might look like if you saw them. I can see her apartment perfectly clear because the apartment she moved into is especially close to ours. Our kitty, Mouser, does not like Bateye. It was clear when they first met in an alley. I saw it all. Now I know the meaning of the saying 'catfight'.
I've seen a broom on her balcony. I bet that the balcony is perfect for her to fly off into the night. And when she's on the balcony, I can hear her cackling like this, "Heh, heh, heh." I've heard her talk to Bateye, too. Either that or she's crazy cause she talks to herself.
" TK," said Mom," how many times do I have to tell you? Mrs. Potter is not a witch. She-"
"Mrs. Potter is too a witch! If you read Harry Potter, you would know about that."
(So what? The kid reads Harry Potter. Every DD might have to in my fics.)
Mom sighed. Then she pulled down my window shades. "No more spying on Mrs. Potter," she said.
"Me? Spying? If anyone, its probably her who is spying!"
" If you stop thinking about her, you will fall asleep much faster."
"Okay."
" Think pleasant thoughts and you will have pleasant dreams." Mom kissed my nose and left my room.
After she left the room, I thought pleasant thoughts. Mostly about Matt in karate suit, beating up anyone who asked me for my lunch money. And I did go to sleep. But I kept waking up. Each time I did, I looked at my clock. Eleven-thirty, 1:28, 3:44, 5:16, 6:59 . . . .
After 6:59, I was running out of pleasant thoughts. I had already thought of Matt, karate suits, Tai cutting his hair, Joe not complaining about his allergies, soccer, ice cream, cartoons, pets, new shoes, and birthdays. What was left? . . . Oh! What I really, really, really wanted . . . roller skates and roller-skating.
I closed my eyes. I pictured myself in fancy green skates, skating up and down the sidewalk with Matt at my side.
My mind began to float away, and soon I was skating in a dream.
In the dream, I reached the end of our sidewalk and saw that I had come up to a hill. If I could just skate up that hill, I thought, then I could go zooming down the other side. The hill was very steep, but a rabbit came along and said," I will help you reach the top." And he did. He pushed me right up.
"Thank you," I said, but the rabbit was already gone.
I peeked over the hill to see what the road looked like on the other side. There was no road – just a cliff!
Oh, well, I thought. I will turn around and coast down the way I came up. I turned around, and there was the rabbit that helped me up. But he was all weird and evil looking and demented. He pushed me off the cliff!
I was falling, falling, falling . . . .
"Aughhh!" I screamed.
I had landed on the rocky ground. No, I wasn't outdoors. I was in my own bedroom. The skates were gone, the hill was gone, and somehow or other, I had landed under my bed.
I crawled out.
I had fallen out of bed. My pillow was with me.
"TK!" Mom burst into my room. She was wearing her nightgown but she looked wide-awake. That was when I realized that the long night was finally over. Sunshine was peeking around my window shades. My clock said 8:15.
Eight-fifteen! The last time I had looked at my clock it had said 6:59.
"What happened?" Mom cried. She ran to me and sat n my bed. I crawled into her lap. How did you fall out of bed?" she asked. " Are you okay?"
It was scary falling out of bed and finding myself under it like some monster was trying to pull me in, but my dream had been even scarier. " I am fine," I told her." But I didn't just fall, I fell off a cliff."
"Demented rabbit," I added under my breath.
"You were dreaming."
"I know. It seemed real, though."
"Tell me about your dream."
So I told my mom about the roller skates and the evilly demented rabbit and the hill and the cliff. "There was no other side of the hill," I explained. " So when I tried to turn around, the dementedly evil carrot-eater pushed me off, and I fell."
" Right out of bed," Mom added. "Poor TK."
" That's right. Poor TK." I said, laughing.
Mom laughed, too.
"Did I wake you up?" I asked. "I'm sorry if I did."
Mom shook her head. " I was still in bed, but I was reading. Even if you had woken me up, I wouldn't have mined. Every one has bad dreams sometimes."
I nodded and got to my feet. I pulled up one of my window shades and sunshine streamed into the room.
" It's a gorgeous day," said Mom. " It started off badly for you, but I'm sure things will get better now."
I nodded.
Then I remembered something. " Matt is visiting today! Yeah!" Mom nodded.
Mom left my room. I got dressed and looked around for my lucky green hat with the blue thing in the middle. I couldn't find it. " Mommy! I can't find my green hat!" I yelled.
" Did you have it yesterday?" she called back.
"No. . . " I said.
"Then you must've left it at school."
"Darn."
I made my bed and walked downstairs for breakfast, still missing my hat.
"I'm starving," I announced. " And I know just what I want to eat – Sugar-Crunch cereal."
Mom rummaged around in the cupboard while I got my bowl and spoon and milk and sat down. At last she put a Sugar-Crunch cereal box in front of me.
"Can I search around for the prize?" I asked. "After you eat," She replied. I gulped a bowl down and looked imploringly at my mom. She sighed and handed me a bowl to pour the cereal and the prize in. I poured all the cereal into the bowl – and at last the prize package slid out. I reached for it. I was about to open it when I realized something. Mom had been awfully nice. I should help her pour the cereal back into the box.
So I held the box while Mom carefully poured the cereal in it. I opened the prize package.
It was empty!
"It's empty!" I cried.
"Oh, no. Someone at the cereal company must have made a mistake," said Mom.
I stared at the empty package in dismay. "Those mean cereal people," I said. I felt bad. I didn't have a prize, or my lucky hat. So far, my day wasn't very good. In fact, it was half bad. What would it be like if it was all bad? I wondered.
When breakfast was over, I wandered into the den. I sat in a chair and pulled my knees up. So far, Saturday did not seem like a very good day. I looked at the clock. Nine twenty-five. It was still early! There was plenty of time for the bad day to turn into a good one.
Maybe a funny TV show is on right now, I thought. And that was when I remembered Mr. Ed. Mr. Ed is an old black-and-white show about a talking horse. A man sings a song like this:" A horse is a horse, of course, of course." And then Mr. Ed says," I am Mr. Ed."
Mr. Ed makes me giggle.
And Mr. Ed reruns come on our TV every Saturday and Sunday morning at nine-thirty. I switched on the TV set. I switched it just in time to hear an announcer say," In order that we may bring you the following special program, Mr. Ed will not be seen this morning. It will return tomorrow at the regularly scheduled time."
"Oh, no!" I cried. "Darn it. Mr. Ed isn't on. The only thing on is Pokemon." Even TV people are giving me bad luck.
Author's Note: I don't hate Pokemon. Just telling you because of TK's previous statement.
I looked at the clock again. Nine thirty-one. There was till time for the bad day to turn into a good day.
I asked Mom if I could go outside. She let me. I wandered down to the street. The morning was cool and fresh. With the sun shining down, I wouldn't need to go back and get my jacket.
I watched a squirrel chase another squirrel around and around, up a tree trunk, until they both disappeared in the branches. Squirrels, I thought, are cute, but nuts. Then I watched two birds swoop low over the sidewalk. The animals seemed to be having fun.
Oh! Maybe that was what I needed – a pet. An animal can be a very good friend on a bad day. I jumped up. I was all set to give the day another try. It was still only around 9:45. I began to smile as I raced back inside the apartment building to find Mouser. Maybe now would be the beginning of the good part of the day.
I found Shanna, a boy named Yomershi Taosu's dog, dozing outside, under a tree. I woke her and scooped her up and took her with me.
"Come on, Shanna! Chase me!" I cried. Shanna chased after me. Then I threw a stick and she fetched it. I threw a tennis ball and she fetched that, too.
Then I threw the stick again, but Shanna couldn't find it. She looked and looked. "That's okay, Shanna," I called. "You don't have to find that stick. I'll throw another one for you. But Shanna would not stop snuffling around, looking for the stick.
Well, this was no fun.
Then Eric came outside. "Shanna!" he called. Shanna ran to him. She forgot all about the stick and me.
I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I blinked them back. I'll just go and get Mouser, I thought. So I did. I went inside to get him and I took him outside. "Okay, let's play," I said to Mouser. Mouser did not look at me. He was staring at . . . Mrs. Potter, the witch! She was in herb garden, above us on her balcony.
Mouser hissed and he ran up a nearby tree. The boy, Eric, laughed at me and my kitty. But I did not laugh. Nothing seemed funny to me any more.
I ran to the tree that Mouser had climbed. "Mouser!" I called. "Mouser! Come on down."
Mouser was not listening. He had reached a high branch in the tree and was balancing on it. I looked over at Eric. He was throwing the ball for Shanna. They were having lots of fun. Eric had forgotten about Mouser and me. So had Shanna.
Well, I could have fun, too. If I could just get Mouser to come down, we could play and have a good time . . . couldn't we?
"Mouser!" I called again. " Come down from there!" Then I added very softly," Mrs. Potter the witch isn't going to hurt you. Nor will Bateye." (I didn't want the witch to hear me, even if she was higher up."
Mouser didn't even look at me. Ah-ha! I thought. Cat food! That always works. On TV, when a cat is up a tree, someone puts a dish of food on the ground, and the cat comes down to eat. Simple!
I ran inside and poured Mouser's favorite crunchy food into a saucer. Mouser had just eaten breakfast, but so what. He had not eaten his crunchy food. He would want a treat.
I ran outside and over to Mouser' tree.
"Hey, Mouser!" I called. " Look what I have for you!" I held up the dish of cat food so Mouser could see it.
He blinked his eyes. He stayed put.
I set the dish on the ground and waited. Nothing happened. Mouser looked like he might be getting ready to doze off. There was only one thing to do. I began to climb the tree. There were lots of limbs to climb on.
Mouser woke up. He watched me climb toward him. He moved away from me.
Then," Takeru Takaishi! You come down from that tree this instant!" It was Mom. She was shouting at me from the balcony. I backed down off the tree. I hadn't gotten very far anyway.
"Mouser!" I called one more time. And then I gave up. I sat down next to the cat food. Right away, Mouser began edging down the tree. All right! I thought. But I did not say anything. I knew that if I did, Mouser would stay in the tree, just to make me mad. Instead, I watched the witch work in her balcony-garden. She looked very busy.
Suddenly, something happened. Mouser jumped to the ground. And in her garden, the witch exclaimed crossly," Fiddlesticks!" She began waving a rake around. Mouser took one look at her and ran into the apartment, through his cat flap. Fiddlesticks. Was that a magic witch word? A spell for kitties? Had Mrs. Potter put a spell on Mouser?
I didn't stay aorund to find out. I ran after Mouser. If Eric had any sense, he would follow us into our apartment. And he would Shanna with him. The witch was on the loose!
Eric did run inside. And he did bring Shanna with him. But I think he waited too long. I think the witch put a spell on him because he got really mean. The first thing he said after he had closed the door behind him after running into my apartment was," Sorry to barge in on you, Mrs. Takaishi, but I needed to duck in here for a moment. If my mom wants me, I'm gonna be over at Lin's house."
Lin was Eric's good friend. He and his family live in a apartment across the street from us. His real name is Kolinro. He has a little brother named Mikata. He is nicknamed Mike. They have a little sister named Sari.
Suddenly I felt like playing with Mike. Maybe that would make my day better. "I'm going with Eric!" I called.
"No, you're not," he replied just as Mom said," Okay, but stay in the building. No going outside or biking or roller-skating."
"Yes, I am."
"No, you're not." (See how mean Eric is being?)
Yes, I am. I want to see Mike. I can go there if I want."
"Okay, but don't go with me."
Ding-dong
Our bell rang. Eric and I both ran for the door. We reached it at the same time. We had a fight over who would get to open it. Eric won. (I bet he wouldn't have won if I was bigger and if Matt was here.)
Standing at the door was Lin and Mike.
"Hi!" I said. "Guess what. We were just coming over to see you."
" You were?" said Mike. "Good. That means you're free."
" Free?" I repeated.
"To go bike riding."
"Yeah," said Lin." We're riding to James's Brook. We're going to look for water spiders, and catch minnows and crayfish. We even brought sandwiches for lunch."
"And cookies!" Mike added. "A real picnic!"
"Neat!" exclaimed Eric. "Let me ask Mom if I can go."
Eric ran off, but I just stood there. I glared at Mike. Finally I said," Well thanks a lot."
"What's wrong?" asked Mike.
"What's wrong?" I repeated. "What's wrong?! You know I can't go bike riding. That's what's wrong. I'm not allowed to ride my bike until my mom finishes work or something. And if I wad in brooks, my mom is gonna get super-angry. How could you be so mean, Mike? You are a toad!" Mike was mean, too. Maybe he was under the witch's spell.
"I am not!" yelled Mike.
"Are so!"
" Am not so!"
"Am not so too!"
" Okay! I can go!" Eric had come back. He was holding a bag of apples. "Mom gave me these for the picnic," he said. " Let's get our bikes."
Eric and Lin left, but Mike stayed behind. "You called me a toad," he said. "I'm glad you can't come with us. We wouldn't want you."
"Well, I wouldn't want to go on a picnic with a toad. So there!" I replied.
Mike turned his back on me. I closed the door.
The doorbell rang again. I opened it, and saw Matt with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder." Matt!"
"Hello, Matt. Have a nice trip?" Mom called. "Uh, fine. Hey, kiddo!" He said to me. "How ya doin'?"
"Good."
"Wanna play a game?"
"Sure, just let me drop my bag somewhere." He went into the guestroom and dumped the contents of his bag onto the bed. That done, he walked back to me." So, what did you have in mind?"
"Checkers?"
"Sure."
We found the checkers and set the game in the den.
" You go first," Matt said.
I smiled. "Thanks!" That was nice of him. The game began. I did a lot of jumping. Once, I got a triple jump. Three of Matt's pieces became mine. And my pieces were slowly crowned. They were made kings. I gave Matt what I hoped was a stern look. "Don't let me win," I said to him. " I hate when big people do that."
Matt blushed. "Sorry, TK. Okay. I'll play my best from now on. I promise."
The next thing I knew, Matt got a triple jump. Then two of his pieces became kings. And the next thing I knew, Matt had won the game.
" You beat me!" I exclaimed.
"Well, you said not to let you win. So I didn't."
"But I'm a good checkers player!" I protested.
"Yes, you are," agreed Matt.
"Then how come I didn't win?"
"Do you want to play again?" he asked.
"Okay," I said.
We set up the board for a second game. Then we started to play. Matt played very badly. But I got jumps and double jumps and triple jumps. "King me! King me!" I said each time on my pieces reached Matt's side of the board.
After a while, all of my pieces were kings and none of Matt's was. Plus, I had jumped half of his pieces.
"You're letting me win again, aren't you?" I asked.
"Well, I – I, um . . ."
"You are! You are letting me win!" I cried.
"But you were upset when I beat you."
"But I didn't want you to let me win!" I cried.
" TK, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," Matt began. I didn't hear what he said next though. I had run out of the room.
"TK, what's the matter?"
I knew I shouldn't have yelled at Mom, but I was furious about my stupid bad day.
"I hate today! I hate everything about my day! I hate everything in my day! I hate all the people and pets! I hate you and Matt and Eric and Mike and Lin and Mouser and everything!"
"TK, that's quite enough from you!"
"I don't care!"
"TK, go up to your room NOW!"
"Fine!" I stamped up to my room making as much noise as I could. I knew and she knew that what I had said was not true, but we got mad at each other just the same.
No fair.
It was not fair that I got sent to my room for having a bad day. I thought I had been very patient about it. The bad day was not my fault. I didn't mean to have a day that made me act like a baby. It was probably the witch's fault.
I went to my mirror and made the saddest face I could make. I stuck out my lower lip and pretended I was going to cry.
Everybody doesn't like me anymore," I said. "Matt doesn't like me because I acted like a baby. Mike doesn't like me because I called him a toad.
I remembered I song I heard somewhere. "Nobody likes me," I sang sadly." Everybody hates me. Guess I'll go eat worms . . . ."
Yucky. Worms are gross.
I sang the worm song ten times at the top of my lungs before Mom knocked on my door. She said my punishment was over. I had only been in my room for about ten minutes. I think she just wanted me to stop singing the worm song.
As I was leaving my room, I thought I heard a noise. It sounded like bells. I ran back into my room and looked out my window. Mr. Tastee the ice-cream man was coming!
I grabbed some change I had hid under my bed. Good luck at last! Mr. Tastee was coming just when my punishment was over, and I had enough money for an ice-cream.
I ran downstairs.
"Here comes Mr. Tastee!" I shouted to whomever might be listening.
"Cool." Replied Matt.
He followed me outside. We ran to the sidewalk and waved our hands. Mr. Tastee was driving slowly up our street, bells clanging. Guess who was coming down the street in the other direction? Lin, Mike and Eric. Their picnic was over. They threw their bikes down on the sidewalk waited with Matt and me. Amma and Max Deluka joined us. They live in Mike's building.
While we waited for Mr. Tastee, I glanced at Mike. We smiled tiny smiles at each other. Since we smiled, our fight was over.
Ding-ding-ding-ding
Mr. Tastee had arrived!
He stopped his truck at the curb and got out.
"Hello, kids," he said.
"Hi, Mr. Tastee!" we answered.
We all crowded around his truck.
"Okay, okay! Form a line," said Mr. Tastee. "That will be much easier." We made a line. Matt was at the front. I was at the back. But I didn't care. I had ice-cream money. And in a few minutes, I would have a treat.
"Well, Matt, what would you like?" asked Mr. Tastee.
"A double chocolate Popsicle, please."
"Sure."
That reminded me. What did I want? I leaned to look at the ice cream pictures on the truck. I saw a chocolate éclair Popsicle and a Nutty-Buddy cone and a rocket Popsicle and a Creamsicle and . . . sundaes!
A butterscotch sundae. That was what I wanted. I was so busy deciding; I didn't hear the other orders.
The lines was growing shorter and at last – my turn.
" I'll have a butterscotch sundae, please," I said to Mr. Tastee.
"Right-o." Mr. Tastee rummaged around in the freezer in his truck. He looked and looked. At last he said," I'm sorry, TK. I'm out of butterscotch."
"No butterscotch?!" I cried.
"No. But there's lemon and fudge and-"
"I wanted butterscotch!"
"I'm very sorry, TK.''
I couldn't help it. I burst into tears and ran back inside.
When I got to my room, Matt was in the kitchen, helping to prepare dinner. "TK! Dinnertime!"
Matt was calling me. I was not a bit hungry.
"I'm not hungry!" I called back. A few moments later, Mom called to me. "TK, we'd like you to come to dinner, please."
"But I'm not hungry," I replied. I had not even had a butterscotch sundae and I still wasn't hungry.
"Please come anyway."
I slogged downstairs. I dragged myself into the dining room. I slumped into my chair. There was a plate of food at my place. There was a hamburger and a baked potato and salad. I like all of those things. But I put my chin in my hands. I don't want to eat. My bad day had tired me out. I was too tired to eat.
"Guess you had a bad day, huh TK?" Mom asked.
I nodded.
"Well, once my chair tipped over in English class and I forgot my lunch money and my locker got stuck so I couldn't open it and I missed the bus home."
"Really?"
"Yup."
"But you know what?" I said suddenly. " I had a worse worst day. More things happened to me. Let me count up mine." I used my fingers to help me. " I had a bad dream. I fell out of bed. I couldn't find my hat. No cereal prize. No Mr. Ed. Shanna wouldn't play with me. Neither would Mouser. I had a fight with Mike. I sort of had a fight with Matt. I was sent to my room. There were no butterscotch sundaes. Eleven bad things . . . Eleven! (I left out the part about Mrs. Potter casting a spell. Matt would believe me, but not Mom. )
After dinner, it would be time for bed.
* * *
Mrs. Potter cackled gleefully. She had managed to jinx the only person who knew her true identity as a witch. The boy had had a bad day, as planned.