A/N: No, I have not abandoned this story! I think I just ... forgot about it for a while? Well, it doesn't matter. I am back now and I pledge there will be more consistent updates from now on! Anyhoo ... *sigh* So much to do, and so little time to do it! Well, here we are again, back in the Keeper universe. Now presenting ... Finn Whitman!
Finn: MK, can you let me go?
Me: Do my disclaimer first.
Finn: NEVER!
Me: Wow, you're more stubborn than Maybeck. I thought it was the other way around.
Finn: True.
Me: Please? *bats eyelashes*
Finn: *sighs and rolls eyes* Fine. MK does not own the Kingdom Keepers. Mr. Ridley Pearson and Disney hold that title.
Me: Just like Disney owns everything else ... -_-
Finn: Yeah. At first, she was happy when Disney announced they were making more Star Wars movies, but now she hates them for ending Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Me: It's true! BRING BACK AHSOKA!
Finn: You said I could go.
Me: *blinks* Oh, yeah. There's the door.
Finn: *waves and walks out*
Amanda's POV
We finally calmed down from our hysterical laughter, and Finn went to get some drinks. He came back and handed us all some Dr. Pepper bottles before he sat back down next to me. I smiled at him, and he put his arm around me. I handed the book to Jess and snuggled up to Finn, waiting for the first question.
Jess smirked at us, then she read the first word needed. "Okay. Gimme a verb ending in 'ing'."
"Slurping!" Philby cried. He slurped his Dr. Pepper to punctuate his choice.
Jess raised an eyebrow. "O…kay?" she said, scribbling it down. "Next word: foreign country."
"Estonia," Willa said promptly.
I raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of that country," I said.
Willa shrugged. "We're writing to pen pals for school. Mine is from Estonia."
"Yeah, and I got one from boring old Texas," Philby grumbled.
"Oh, okay," I said, looking at Finn. He seemed just as clueless about Estonia as I was. I just decided to drop it. "What's the next word, Jess?"
Jess looked up from writing on the pad. "Oh, um, I need a funny sound."
Maybeck crunched up his Dr. Pepper can. "Crunch," he said.
Jess jotted it down. "I need a verb." She wrote something else on the page that I couldn't see.
"Draw," I said. I had a feeling Jess was doodling on the page around the words.
"Okay." Jess made a note. "Now I need a number."
Charlene spoke up. "Thirty-six million, four hundred ninety-three thousand, eight hundred twenty," she said, grinning madly.
Finn whistled. "That's a big number," he said.
"It was completely random," Charlene said. She was obviously proud of herself.
Jess shrugged helplessly and put her pencil to paper. "What was it again, Charlene? Say it slower this time."
"It's thirty-six million, four hundred ninety-three thousand, eight hundred twenty."
Jess nodded to show she had it down. "I need a plural noun," she said.
"Letters!" said Willa, smiling.
This time, it was Jess's turn to stare at her. "You really like this pen pal of yours, don't you?" she asked.
Willa nodded. "Yeah, I do. She sounds really sweet."
"Okay, we're off topic here. Can we get back to the madlib now?" Maybeck said impatiently.
Willa, Jess, Charlene and I all turned to stare at him. At the same time, we all yelled, "Rude!"
Maybeck raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry! Just asking," he defended himself.
Jess shook her head and wrote down Willa's choice. "Now it's Finn's turn. I need a verb in past tense."
Finn stared at her. "What does a verb in past tense even mean!?"
"IT MEANS A VERB THAT ENDS IN 'ED', STUPID!" Philby yelled, throwing pickles at Finn. Finn covered his head and ducked to avoid the flying pickles.
Willa grabbed Philby's arm and held it down. "Someone take the pickle jar!" she said. I obediently got up, grabbed the jar, and took it to the kitchen. I quickly stuffed it in a cabinet. "All clear!" I shouted as I returned to the living room and reclaimed my seat.
Jess rolled her eyes. "Please state your choice, Finn," she said.
"Um, poked?"
"Close enough." Jess wrote it down. "We need an adjective."
"Spindly," I said.
"Like you?" Maybeck teased.
I glared at him. "What are you talking about? I'm not spindly!"
Maybeck shrugged, grinning at me. "You are so."
I responded by levitating Maybeck up near the ceiling. "Admit I'm not super thin or else," I threatened.
Maybeck crossed his arms. "Never."
"Suit yourself," I said, grinning. I banged his head against the ceiling.
"OUCH!" Maybeck shouted. My friends watched in amusement. I smirked. "Admit it," I ordered.
"No!"
I banged him again. "Ow!" And again. "Ow!" And again. "Stop it!"
"Not until you admit I'm not spindly," I said, enjoying this.
"Fine! You're not spindly," Maybeck said.
I smirked. "Thank you." I levitated him over a bunch of pillows and dropped him. "OW!" Everyone but Maybeck burst out laughing. He scowled at me. I only smirked and shrugged.
Jess calmed down enough to write down the answer. "Okay," she said, still laughing. "Someone give me a type of event."
"Um …" I thought for a minute.
Charlene beat me to it. "A softball game," she said.
I stared at her. "Why softball?"
Charlene shrugged. "I just joined the team at school. I've got a game on Saturday."
"Oh, okay," I said. Jess wrote down "softball game". "Now I need an adverb," she said.
"Painfully," Maybeck said, his words a little slurred. Willa rolled her eyes. "Aren't you being a little dramatic?" she said.
"No," was the answer.
Jess rolled her eyes as well and wrote Maybeck's answer. "All right, now give me a noun."
Finn raised his hand. "Trombone," he said with a goofy grin on his face. I smirked and tickled him. He yelled in surprise and tickled me back.
Jess smirked and wrote it down. "Another noun."
Philby beat us all with his usual crazy cry of "PICKLES!"
Charlene threw her hands up in frustration. "Are you kidding me!? I thought we were done with that!" she cried.
"You will never stop the power of pickles!" Philby stated loudly.
Jess sighed and complied. "Last time, Philby."
"NEVER!"
Willa sighed. "Just deal with it."
Jess finished writing. "Now I need an adverb."
"Stupidly," I said, staring pointedly at Maybeck, who stared right back and gave me an innocent look.
Jess jotted it down. "Mmm … Finn!" Finn jumped at his name. "I want a verb ending in 'ing'."
Finn looked at me and put his arm around my shoulder. "Dancing," he said. I sighed contentedly.
The girls, except for me, awwwed. I rolled my eyes. "Let's just finish the madlib," I said, blushing madly.
Jess shook her head at me and Finn before turning back to the page. "Another noun, por favor," she said.
"Corpse," said Maybeck. We all stared at him, and he shrugged. "What?"
Charlene shuddered. "That's a creepy word."
"You're giving me the shivers," Willa agreed.
"Me, too," I said.
Jess rolled her eyes once again. "You guys are wimps," she said, jotting down the word. I tackled her before she could finish. "AAH!" she yelled.
I smirked. "Don't call me a wimp. I've been through just as much as you have."
Jess thought for a minute. "That's true. Okay, you're not a wimp," she said.
I settled back next to Finn, satisfied. "Thank you," I said, smirking.
Jess sat back down on the floor, the book in her lap. "I need a part of the body."
"Thigh!" said Philby, who was suddenly eating a fried chicken thigh.
Jess looked at him strangely. "Okay?" she said, writing it down. "Now I need another verb ending in 'ing'."
"How about … swinging?" Willa volunteered.
Jess nodded and wrote it down. "Last one! I need one more verb."
"Bounce! Bounce, bounce, bounce," I said, bouncing excitedly in my seat.
Jess wrote it down and held up the book triumphantly. "Time for the result!" she said dramatically. She read the finished madlib.
How to Survive an Avalanche
What would you do if you were out slurping on a mountain in Estonia and suddenly heard a loud crunch as the ground started to draw? Before you know it, you've been buried under 36,493,820 pounds of letters! You've just been poked by an avalanche, a spindly phenomenon that occurs when there is a softball game on a mountaintop. You need to dig yourself out as painfully as possible. If you can reach a ski trombone or a long, thin pickle, use it to poke around and determine which way is up. Stupidly begin dancing in that direction as if your corpse depended on it — it does! When you get to the surface, move your thigh to stay on top of the snow as if you are swinging freestyle. With any luck, you will make your way to safety before you bounce to death!
It was silent for a moment after Jess finished reading. We all stared at each other, having no clue what to make of the result.
Willa finally spoke. "That's an awkward situation."
And we all burst into laughter once again.
