Disclaimer: I own nothing Transformers related. Though I wish I did. Everything here real or reel is for the purpose of non-profit entertainment.
The Figure that Roared
Saturday in Tranquilty
Sarah asked me to bring donuts at the last minute since Annabelle asked for them.
The Frosted mini donuts. To be specific. The same ones you can get at the store. Kids obviously like them. But I thought Annabelle was on some sort of healthy diet? The first time I met Sarah she mentioned having a family doctor who was, well, a little strict on the dietary guidelines.
Don't be surprised if Annabelle eats broccoli, she said. She still eats junk food but she's not fussy on vegetables.
So Annabelle's probably just getting an occasional treat. At least that made meal plans easier.
So I pulled up to the Lennoxe's home, filled with the usual anticipation and a little worry. I've babysat for a lot of kids before in my neighborhood. I've encountered fussy kids, kids with some sort of ADD to the sweetest ones who'd agree to anything. All you need are some coloring pads or a blank sheet, markers and crayons.
I was hoping Annabelle wouldn't turn out like little Austin, who was four when I sat for him in junior year. His favorite meal was supposed to be mac and cheese. Nobody mentioned that his favorite platter was his babysitter's shirt.
Thankfully, Annabelle sounds like a more well-adjusted kid than Austin or the ADD kids.
The Lennoxe's garage was open and in it sat a gleaming black truck. A slightly built and tanned guy was leaning in to the truck's passenger door window. I guessed someone was still sitting inside the truck. As I walked up with the donuts and my bag over the shoulder, he looked up, whispered something to the passenger then came striding towards me.
"Hey," said the guy, smiling. "You must be Carly. My wife Sarah said you were coming. Just call me Will," He struck out a handshake.
Will? The Lennoxe's were starting to feel like my next-door neighbors already. "Nice to meet you, M- Will," I shifted the box of donuts on one hand.
"Here, I'll take it, " Mr. Lennox, I mean Will led me towards the garage. " Annie 's in the yard with her pets. She's really excited to – Aaron!"
He was a big, burly man compared to Will that stepped out of the truck. I was so surprised for a minute when the truck door suddenly swung open so close to us. I found myself staring at a pair of heavy, deep blue eyes. He wasn't smiling but didn't seem unfriendly.
"Carly, this is my, ah, brother Aaron,"
"Uhm. Nice to meet you, Aaron, " I murmured.
"Nice to meet you too, " He replied gruffly.
"Carly's babysitting Annie for a couple weeks, Aaron, " Will said somewhat hurriedly. " So everything's settled and that's that,"
The pair of blue eyes settled on me. It was a little unnerving. "There's nothing to worry about. I'll be around if you need anything,"
Huh? Well, okay. I followed Will into the house from the garage doorway. Once I found myself looking around the Lennoxe's comfy family room. There was a small rocking chair off to the side, a widescreen TV and no carpeting.
"Sarah? Annie? Carly's here,"
As if on cue, Sarah Lennox came into view. For once she didn't look like the housewife I met months ago. Dressed in jeans and a clean collared shirt, she looked like she was going somewhere casual but important.
And right behind Sarah came a soft skittering noise, a small circular disc smoothly zooming across the floor.
Ooh. roomba the vaccum cleaner!
Sarah and Will must have noticed my delighted expression. They both exchanged knowing smiles. "That's a Roomba. The robot vacuum cleaner you see on TV,"
"Yeah, " I was grinning in spite of myself. "Must be really handy,"
''ROLLER!" came a girl's high-pitched voice. I knew that had to be Annabelle.
The little girl that appeared was definitely Annabelle and an adorable mix of her parents. She had all of Sarah's dark brown hair capped by a sparkly hairband and Will's eyes . She stopped short at the sight of me, though, looking down at the Roomba and back to me again.
"Hi Annabelle. I'm Carly," I smiled at her gently " Your Mom tells me you like smoothies too. Guess what? We can make smoothies today if you like,"
Annabelle looked up at me with her bright, dark eyes.
"Annie, sweetheart, why don't you show Carly Mr. Pig in the garden? "Will suggested. He mouthed something to me that sounded like pets.
"Mr Pig? You got a pig in the garden? Can I see him?" I asked Annabelle playfully as Will excused himself.
"He's a not a pig, he's a bunny, " Annabelle giggled. "We call him Mr. Pig cause he's fat!"
"He is kinda fatso, " said Sarah mirthfully. "But I don't think it's fat. He was like that when we got him because Annie wanted a pet for Christmas and the Doctor advised against dogs,"
Advise against dogs. Hmm. So Annabelle is allergic to fur or something? Sarah insisted on getting snacks ready in the kitchen and with Annabelle skipping all the way behind us, I followed with the roomba close behind.
Annabelle promptly sat at the small kitchen table as I offered to help Sarah with the snacks. I poured out the fresh lemonade and Sarah started to repeat the instructions she said over the phone while she served bitesize chicken tacos.
There was a bright yellow note on the fridge door that Sarah pointed out. It was a list of all the numbers I had to contact in case of emergencies. 911. That much was helpful. But there was another number right next to it that said - Failure to contact Sarah/Will - 1711 Aaron's cell.
That had me stumped for a while. Annabelle's Uncle most likely lived in the neighborhood or not too far away. It seemed to make sense if he was close family member yet at the same it didn't. If Annabelle was ever in critical condition (and I would do all in my power to keep her safe), I would be calling 911 first before texting or calling Aaron. Whether I got hold of Sarah and Will or not.
My babysitting charges are a first priority.
Will entered the kitchen soon enough. "We're all set, Sarah. Aaron's dropping us off," Will turned to me then. "He'll be back by evening to leave the truck. Around 6 or 7,"
I nodded. I always appreciate it when parents inform me of details like that. I tend to get jumpy or suspicious at the sudden noises.
Annabelle sprang off her seat and clung to Will's hip. " Don't forget my so-sovaneer!"
"Another one?" Will grinned at his daughter. "Didn't the Doc get you some pretty shells from Waikiki beach last time? I'll try, sweetheart, but we ain't going to a picnic,"
Annabelle hugged her Mom at the same time Sarah bent down to kiss her. Then we gathered together at the garage, Annabelle standing shyly next to me as we waved off her parents and Uncle. Aaron was in the driver's seat, Will next to him and Sarah sitting in the passenger cab.
We watched the garage doors silently close until it was time to head back inside. For the first time, I noticed Annabelle was holding my hand.
"So, Annie, "I gave her another playful grin. "Shall we go see Mr Pig or you wanna make smoothies?"
"Lemonade! We got lotsa lemons, " Annabelle piped up. "Oh can we feed Mr Pig carrots first? He's lonely,"
Lonely and hungry. I get it.
"and we can hop around with Mr Pig!"
Doing the bunny hop across the garden. This was gonna be interesting.
Saturday, five-thirty p.m.
So bunnies can be cute and fluffy, er bunchy.
They do make good pets.
If you like slightly boring yet cute ones, that is.
All they ever do is make a series of hops around and eat.
I do have to admit that the bunny hop can be tiring.
As it got late, Annabelle retreated to her room to play. Her bedroom was every little girl's favorite. Pink flowery drapes, her favorite stuffed toys scattered around her bed. There was a sparkly pink and purple stuffed Pony among them. Sparkles, I guessed. Since I never really played with My Little Pony, I never knew all their names.
"Carly, look! " Annabelle held up a silver glitter nail polish. "Can we play teenager?"
Actually, Annabelle. We can play adult instead. Wait, that sounds so wrong.
I stepped further in to the room for a closer look and oops! There was a bit of crunching noise. I looked down to see a small greyish car. I had stepped on its tiny fender and it almost came off.
"Aww," Annabelle giggled. "You stepped on Jazz,"
But that wasn't the only one. There were other toy cars, er, vehicles across the room. A yellow and black striped one that reminded me of Sam's car, a red sports car that looked suspiciously like a Lamborghini and blue and white semi?
"Annie, you like playing with cars?" I asked in amazement. There weren't many little girls who played with toy trucks and cars. Maybe she was being influenced by her dad or another male relative. That's usually the case.
"Yeah!" Annabelle's expression seemed to light up. "Dad and Uncle Aaron play with me sometimes. We like to race them around... and the red one always loses," Annabelle giggled again.
I checked my watch. I had to prepare Annie's dinner in a few minutes. I gave her the chance to play teenager and she jumped in right away. Pretty soon, we were covered in curlers, messy glitter nail polish and even a pale pink gloss. She held up her own mirror for me to see the monster I had become.
"Pretty!"
I left Annabelle still quietly playing in her room to make her dinner. As I was in the kitchen scrubbing the nail polish off , another worry came to me: What if I was wrong in turning down Sarah's request for me to sleep overnight with Annabelle? Was she having a hard time finding last minute caretakers for the night or didn't she trust their relatives?
Get a grip, Carly I told myself. You're watching too many unsolved mysteries. Nothing is gonna happen.
Annabelle was in the bathroom brushing her teeth. I happened to pass by sliding glass doors that peeked out in the lawn when something caught my eye. Over the bunny hutch, there was an eerily shaped shadowy figure.
Huh? I stood there for like a few minutes, trying to figure out if my mind was playing tricks or some sort of an optical illusion in the dark. The shadow never moved, though so I started to breathe easy.
Whir.
I stared down at the floor. It was the Roomba. Now I was slightly confused. Was this thing supposed to be on all day? The battery was going to die soon.
I bent down to look closely at the Roomba. I noticed tiny strobe lights running around it. It was still humming. I tried to find a switch and when I couldn't, tried to flip it over…
Almost immediately, a spark of electricity shot through my arm. I almost dropped it in surprise.
"Carly?" It was Annabelle's voice. "Carly? Did you see Sparkles?"
"Just a second, Annie, " I sighed. I must have touched something by accident. That or the roomba was overheating somewhat. I decided to give it up.
I soon found Sparkles the Pony amongst the clan of stuffed toys in her bedroom. It was nice to see all her toys that were on the floor neatly arranged in the boxes and drawers for a change. Sarah and Will are at least teaching their daughter well.
"Would you like a story, Annie?" I asked as I browsed the books that were lying around top of the drawer. Aside from the usual Dr. Seuss books, she had a complete Disney fairytale collection. "So how about –
Crash.
I almost shrieked. Annabelle who was sitting up on her pillow, hugging her pony tightly suddenly had a look of fright. I gave her a reassuring look. "Wait here, Annie, " Probably a cat or something toppling over.
The crash came from where I was earlier so something … I stopped dead.
Half of the sliding glass was broken. Roomba the vacuum cleaner was repeatedly banging against the other parts. The humming sounded even more persistent. Cold fear snatched my throat. Someone was trying to break in.
I didn't try to call out. I turned and fled back to Annie's bedroom. I had to get her first then call the police –
Another Crash. I heard the glass break and shards flying. Then there was a ripping, growling noise. I caught sight of the figure standing on the broken glass.
It was the black shadowy figure. On all fours. Eyes glowing and staring right at me.
I froze.
Out of the blue, the Roomba skittered right across from me.
And the panther pounced.
"Carly!"
Annabelle came running out of the room and straight into my arms. I scooped her up. Now looking positively terrified, she was screaming and crying into my hair, "ROLLER! ROLLER! Come!"
I was almost afraid to look. My bag was in the kitchen where my cell phone was. If only I could reach the Lennoxes's wall phone in the family room –
The panther bounded towards me and its eyes seemed to lock on mine. Growling angrily again and again as Annabelle continued to cry silently.
My knees were starting to buckle. Instincts told me to run. But I couldn't move. I was trapped.
In one swift leap, we could be dead.
Author's Note: All G1 bots will stick to their original paintjob save for Jazz, Ironhide and Ratchet. I've decided that their colors suit them anyway.
Annabelle in this chapter is somewhat dedicated to my cousin who's almost sixteen today. I can still remember the day she asked me, " Can we play teenager?"
