The Delightful Children were bored and Father didn't come home from work until late at night. Drinking tea and listening to their nanny read them stories was nice, but after a while of the same old routine they longed for a bit of change.
"Nanny...It's such a nice day out. May we please go out for a stroll in the park?"
But the old woman only gave them a flat "No. Your father's rules, not mine."
The Children only sighed and went back to drawing pictures and staring at the ceiling.
Feeling dejected, and unsatisfied, the 5 Children came up with a plan together, to get out of the house while the old crone wasn't looking. They would sneak out one of the windows and then...they'd be free.
The tallest child propped the others upon his shoulders and they pulled the window handle tightly but ended up knocking each other over. They quickly clamored to their feet, making sure they hadn't made too much noise. Then they decided that they needed to find a better way to get the window open.
Father let them own a few jumpropes, claiming it would help them get exercise, but he never let them use them outside. After tying some jumpropes together, they tied them to the window doors, and gave a big pull. The handle budged a smidgen but they needed more power. Giving all their might, all five Children pulled tightly and the door opened just a crack. With one last pull, they braced for impact, and the window doors flew open. The second tallest child fell backwards.
"Lenny!" the other Children rushed to his side "Are you alright?"
"Yeah..." he coughed and spat a bit, and a small tooth fell out of his mouth.
"Neat...a souvenir," the child grabbed his tooth and stuffed it into a shorts pocket.
"Lenny...that is disgusting" David admonished him.
"Better get rid of that before Father sees it," the blonde girl teased, elbowing her brother in the chest.
The shorter girl only grunted in annoyance at her siblings' immaturity.
The Children quickly got back up and scouted the area to make sure their guardian hadn't seen anything. They were surprised at how bad her hearing was, but went along their way, before they had a chance to get caught.
The Children quickly pushed through the window, short children first. It would have been ideal if they tried going through one at a time, but some siblings proved to be more impatient than others.
"Connie move over!" Bruce shouted at his sister. Constance only spat and hissed, and tried pushing past her annoying brother. "Bruce. Constance. If you can't behave we can always stay at home," David stated in a stern voice.
If it was his choice they wouldn't have disobeyed the rules at all. But one child could not fight back against four. The two smaller siblings begrudgingly grunted and slowly pushed through the doorway.
As soon as they stepped out of the mansion, sunlight softly cradled the five Children. It was so warm and pretty. In the 5-6 years of their existence, they had never felt the feeling of sunlight upon their skin.
"So...what now?" they asked themselves. They were finally outside but they didn't know anything about the outside world. Only those terrible stories the adults always told them. They didn't know what to do or where to go.
They could go back to the mansion but...no. They were free. They should explore this new world.
But they only made their way a short way down the sidewalk before their nanny came running up to them and started dragging them away by the hand.
"How dare you disobey Father's orders!" She shouted at them. "Do you know how lucky you are to have clothes and food and a bed? Anything could have happened to you out there!"
"We just wanted to pla-" Bruce started but was interrupted by a smack to the face.
"You are not to disobey your elders and that is final," she stared down at them with menacing eyes, as she dialed Father's work number.
Bruce started shaking, and his siblings hugged him tightly as they watched the woman tattle on them.
Once Father arrived they heard the two adults yelling back and forth outside.
Father stormed into the mansion in a rage that night. The children did not know what happened but their nanny never showed up at the mansion again.
Father gave them a stern talking-to after finding out what they'd done.
"Things are going to change around here," he started. The children gulped when they saw the fire in his eyes. "You are to complete all your house chores no less than three times a day. You are not to go outside, without the company of an adult. You are not to associate with the neighborhood children. You are not to disobey your adult superiors at any cost. If you fail to abide by these rules you will face punishment. Do you hear me?"
The children only trembled beneath his wrathful gaze.
"Do you hear me?" he repeated louder this time.
"Y-yes, Father!" They stammered and refused to make eye contact with the man.
"Good. You're to stay inside your bedchamber and you are not to leave until I say so."
"Yes, Father..."
The children were confined to their bedroom until further notice. This was their first punishment for disobeying Father. One of the more mild ones, to say the least.
They still weren't allowed to go outside but that rule was now reinforced, and security measures were put into place so that it would not be so easy for them to sneak out again.
Father got a stay-at-home job so that he could monitor their every move and punish them accordingly when they disobeyed him.
It had been a long time since the incident. It felt like forever. But the children mostly kept to their bedroom and didn't come out unless Father had some chore for them to do. They didn't say much. What was there to say? And they didn't do much. They mostly just watched the snow fall and the rain drip down their bedroom window.
Until one autumn day, Bruce's 6th birthday to be exact.
"Suit up," Father shouted at the children and threw them some fancy-looking outfits. "You're going to school!"