Three weeks later…

Three hard working boy, two happy and affectionate girls and one whole family had never lost their smiles or their happy giggling. At first glance, they might seem like normal happy children in the neighborhood, having fun and enjoying each others company. That is, if anybody were to come by, that was what they would see.

Each of the children had their own roles in the family.

The oldest, Flippy, was the farmer of the group. He was in charge of tending to their field of crops and picking vegetables from them to add to their food supply, and picking fruit from their fruit trees.

The second oldest, Cuddles, was the groups scavenger. He was the one who went to the nearby city and gathered their supplies using their money. He usually went every other day, and normally went with Lammy so she could beg for money.

Handy was the groups builder and maintenance. For having only one hand, he was actually very well known in carpentry and building. He pounded nails, built furniture from kits that have been bought, and kept their beds sturdy and filled with straw.

The oldest girl, Lammy, was the money maker of the group. She was the one was usually sat on the sidewalk and did her best job in acting like a poor girl, weakly shaking a cup and begging walking people for money. Sometimes she would even bring her little sister, and both of them combined would usually take in a good amount of money for the group.

And the youngest of the all, the adorable Flaky, was mainly the apprentice of the group, slowly learning how to do everything her brothers and sisters did. And she kept her loving smile all day, every day, while in the presence of her new family.

And on this day, they were all crowded around their newly bought item. Finally, after a month of getting dirty and complaining about their stench and appearance, they managed to get a washtub and a weeks worth of soap. The tub was underneath the spigot located in the wall on one of the sides of the barn, which they used to clean their dishes with. Next to the tub was another barrel, filled with clean, folded towels and on the top was a red hairbrush.

The clear water was filling the metal tub as Flippy spoke.

"We should go by order. Youngest to oldest, maybe. I'm pretty sure Flaky's the youngest."

The little girl smiled, but then Handy spoke out.

"Hey! Maybe she's just short. I think I'm the youngest, since I'm 7 going on 8 in a few weeks."

Flaky spoke.

"I'm only…"

She barely knew how to count, so she folded her fingers into a ball and slowly counted them as she unbent them. When she raised her fourth finger, she raised her hand.

"Four."

Cuddles spoke.

"Well… Okay. I'm 8. Lammy?"

She spoke.

"7."

Flippy nodded.

"And I'm 9. Figured I was the oldest. Okay, then it's settled. Flaky goes first, then Lammy, then Handy, then Cuddles, and I'll go last. Hope we got enough soap."

Flaky grew a huge smile.

"Bathtime for Flaky! Yay!"

And without hesitation, they watched as she sat on her bottom and pulled of her red shoes, then stand on her feet and pull off her shirt. Lammy tried stopping her, but she was too excited, and the boys watched as she dropped her pants.

The boys began to shake and blush as Lammy spoke.

"Uh, Flaky?"

She did not lose her smile as she did the unthinkable; in front of the boys, she pulled down her bright pink underwear, and dove into the full tub. And the boys began shaking and blushing from the sight of her being completely nude, as she rose from the water.

"Yay! Bathtime!"

The boys were muttering strangely, as Lammy spoke.

"You guys okay?"

Flippy spoke, blushing the brightest.

"Y-Y-Yeah… C-C-Come on… B-B-Boys…"

Flaky gave a confused look as she sat in the water, and the boys were all staring at her as they walked around the corner, out of her sight. She turned her head to Lammy, who was giving a worried look to her. She reached down to grab the hairbrush as she continued to stare at the little girl.

"Flaky. You can't just take your clothes off in front of boys."

She tilted her naive head.

"Why not?"

Lammy spoke, embarrassed.

"Uh… Because they're different than us. They… Don't have… You know…"

Flaky raised her eyebrows.

"You mean they don't got gineys?"

Lammy shook her head.

"No."

"Then what do they have?"

The brunette started sweating beads, trying to find the best answer. Flaky saw no harm in getting ready for a bath, even if it means she had to get naked. She was so focused on getting clean, and getting the flakes out of her hair.

But her image burned in the brains of the three boys, who were sitting in the barn, all sweating, blushing and shaking in embarrassment.

Handy spoke.

"Oh… Oh god… They… They were gone…"

Cuddles shook.

"I… I think I'm blind…"

Flippy spoke.

"N-N-None of this e-e-ever happened… O-O-Okay, guys?"

He stood up, staggering to his feet.

"Let's… Let's go get some dinner…"

Cuddles got up as well, and the two boys began walking towards the barn door. But they turned to see that the crippled boy was not joining them, and he was rocking his body back and forth, shaken from the sight of the nude little girl.

Flippy spoke.

"Handy? You coming?"

He still shook in shock.

"It… It was inside out, man…"

The two other boys left the cripple to bask in his own sorrow, as they went to gather some fruits and vegetable for their dinner, both of them try to shake the image of the naked Flaky out of their heads.

Meanwhile, Lammy was carefully brushing Flakys long red hair, with long and slow strokes. Flaky was happily using one of the soap bars on her tiny body, sliding it along her arms and legs and making big circles on her belly.

She was enjoying her bath, and her newly found big sister was having a good time bonding with the little girl. Lammy never admitted it, but every waking moment around her was excellent. She never had a sister either, and she loved having a younger one. She loved being a friend to Flaky, and having her around when she needed care. She showed her care with how gently she brushed the little girls hair.

Lammy spoke as she noticed the soapy water had a snowy covering.

"Well… Guess I found out why you're called Flaky. You made the water all snowy."

Flaky turned her body around, allowing Lammy seeing the streaks of foam along her body, and the giant smile on her face.

The little girl spoke, thinking about the only boy that has ever touched her heart.

"Well, if you wanna know, my real name is Autumn. Autumn last name is Thorne. But when Flippy found me, he called me Flaky, and now my name is Flaky."

Lammy smiled, running the hairbrush down the side of the girls head.

"He sure is a nice boy, isn't he?"

She nodded.

"Yup. And Flaky love Flippy!"

Lammy became confused.

"You… Love him? Well, isn't he your brother?"

She shook her head, still smiling.

"Nope. Cuddle Bunny and Handy are my bubbies. Flippy is my boyfriend!"

The older girl was becoming confused.

"Uh… Boyfriend?"

Flaky nodded, and she dove her head underwater and came back out, once again rinsing her hair so the flakes can get out. She playfully spat the water out of her mouth and smiled.

"I love him so much! He gave me his teddy, and a new home, and two nice bubbies and a really good sissy! And no more mean daddy!"

She splashed the water around as she spun her body around like a washing machine.

"Flippy, Flippy, Flippy! Flaky love Flippy!"

Lammy stopped her to look at face.

"You mean… You're… IN love with him?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh!"

Lammy shook her head.

"Well… He's a nice boy and all, but… Love? Already?"

But she grew a smile, thinking it was just her childish nature that brought on these sudden feelings.

"I don't really get it, but it's cute. You know, for a little girl, you're adorable."

Flaky opened her mouth in a large smile and giggled a cute laugh.

"Flippy thinks so too."

Her cheeks began to glow a bright red at the thought of the green haired boy.

"Flippy… I can't stop thinking about him…"

Lammy watched as she turned back around and began humming and tilting her head side to side, obviously love struck. And the whole time she was humming, Lammy kept a confused look. She had no idea what love meant, or what it felt like. And this little girl knew how it felt, from a boy that was twice her age.

And Lammy was a bit jealous.

"Um… Flaky?"

She turned around.

"Yes, sissy?"

Lammy bowed her head.

"How… How long have you known Flippy?"

Flaky dropped her smile and put a finger on her chin, thinking just how long she had known the boy.

"Hmm… I don't know… A month?"

Lammy nodded.

"And… Well… Have you kissed him yet?"

Flaky shook her head, rather sadly.

"He won't kiss me on the mouth, sissy. And Flaky want to. Flaky want Flippy to be her first kiss."

Lammy wanted to help the little girl, but this was somewhat a strange conversation for them to have. But then again, a big sisters job was to look out for the little sister, and Lammy had to think of something to tell Flaky.

Lammy put her hands on the girls head, so they can stare at each other.

"Maybe he just needs to be… In the moment."

Flaky blinked a few times.

"In… The moment?"

Lammy nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe he needs to be ready. You need to do something really nice for him. Maybe give him a present. Just something nice to show you love him."

Flakys tiny brain was thinking about what to give to Flippy. She thought for sure that she showed him how much she did love him a few weeks ago, when she kissed his forehead, which made him happy and resulted in him kissing her cheek. But maybe she did need to do something more. After all, she figured that he was very miserable, especially since she knew about his family.

And above everything, she knew he needed love. And she thought she was giving him all the love she could give, what with all her hugs and kisses. She always told him she loves him, and he said the same, but the look on his non-smiling face must have meant it was just retaliation. He still barely smiled.

But then, she thought of something. She remembered her coloring supplies that Lammy bought her. Her sketch pad was filled with childish sketches, mostly of flowers and pretty messed up looking animals. But she had completely forgotten to do what she planned to do with the things in the first place.

And now she had a good idea.

She raised her hands out of the tub, and saw her fingers looked like little pink raisins.

"I'm all pruny now. Now it's your turn, Lammy."

Lammy nodded and reached into the barrel and brought out one of the clean towels. Flaky reached her arms in the air, and Lammy wrapped the towel around her tiny body and lifted her out of the tub, which was hard to do since the girl was a bit heavy for her weak arms. But Flaky was quick to wrap her arms around Lammys neck, hugging her tightly as she carried Flaky over to the barrel.

She put the girl down and reached into the barrel, then brought out her bright pink underwear, which they had yet to clean. But Flaky did not care, as she grabbed her underwear and was quick to step into the two holes and pull them up her legs and up to her crotch. Lammy also pulled out her nightgown, and Flaky was happy to raise it over her head and pull it down, covering her body once again.

They exchanged a smile as Flaky spoke.

"I'm gonna go color now. You can take your bath now, sissy!"

She pushed herself into Lammy and hugged her tightly, and the little girl quickly skipped off to the front of the barn and ran for the ladder. Handy had finally snapped out of his insanity and joined the other boys in eating their dinner of fruits and vegetables, as well a few candy bars they had bought in the city.

But they all instantly began staring and blushing at the little girl as she ran inside the barn. She stopped before she climbed the ladder, and she gave a slight childish wave with a friendly smile, as she quickly climbed up the ladder.

And she ran over to her bed, which was built on the day they bought their bed frames. She looked underneath the bed, and found her sketch pad. She smiled as she ran over to the Flippys knapsack, where she kept her crayons in. She unzipped the blue bag and reached inside, bringing out the pack of wax coloring utensils.

She laid down on her bed, with the bed in front of her, and then by the light of the moon shining down from the hole in the barns wall, she began drawing with the crayons, something she thought would make the boy she loved happy.

More than an hour later, after they all took turns bathing, Flippy suddenly became sad, and the other two watched as he bowed his head and slowly walked outside. Cuddles saw that he looked rather sad, while Handy paid no attention and only dug his teeth into a tomato.

He had something on his mind all night. Not Flakys body, or even Flaky herself. He had someone completely different on his mind. Someone who he had not thought about in literally months. Someone he had so many feelings for, and wished was alive with him again.

He began to think about his mother. And he had no idea why.

He sat down on the hill a ways away from the barn, and he looked up at the sky as he spoke silently.

"Mom… I hope you can hear me… I miss you. A whole lot. I still remember… seeing you die. I hated seeing you die, Mom. And… I hope your looking down on us right now."

He bowed his head, yet he never shed a tear. He had never cried in some time, ever since the night he became a monster. And his mind began to recall the event once again, as he saw the bloodshed, heard the screams, smelled the gore. It began to become intoxicating, but he struggled and strained to keep Fliqpy in his head. He had no intention to reveal his secret to his family.

But it was so hard not to think of his mother. She was the one parent that ever cared for him, and never stopped. Even on her deathbed, she begged him never to change who he was. But what exactly was he, he kept wondering? To Flaky, though, he felt important. To his brothers, he just felt as a friend. And he had no idea what Lammy thought about him.

He stood up, looking at the sky.

"I love you… And I hope you still love me…"

He kept his eyes on the clouds.

"And… Big brother… Big sissy… I won't leave them… I'm gonna spend the rest of my life, right here. Next to them all… And I'm… Gonna… I'm gonna ask her…"

But then, he heard something behind him; the sound of soft footsteps that stopped right behind him. He turned around, and there she was. There stood the little girl that fell in love with him. She was standing so still, with a caring look on her face, a bright red line across her cheeks, her hair flowing in the blowing wind, and a single sheet of paper folded in her hand.

He looked at her closely.

"Hi Flaky."

She smiled and handed him the paper. He raised his eyebrows.

"You… Drew me a picture?"

She nodded, and he carefully took the paper and sat back down on the ground. She did make a sound, only waiting for him to open the paper. And finally, he unfolded the paper, seeing what was on the page. His jaw dropped as heart began to warm as well as his face, which was turning red. And she could just tell by the look on his face that he liked it.

On the paper was a scribbly portrait of a green stick figure, and a red stick figure half its height with long red hair, and they were both holding hands. And they were in the center of a large pink heart, surrounded by smaller red hearts.

And underneath the heart, in scribbly black writing, was her heartfelt statement.

Flaky Love Flippy

And he kept looking back at the girl, and then at the drawing. He felt so much heart into the colors, and so much thought into the words. She poured her entire soul into every line and curve of the art, and it showed with how proud she was. She had the biggest smile she has ever given on her face, as she saw Flippy looking so happy.

He finally looked at her, and gave a warm smile, and she could see just a few tears in his eyes. And he got up on one knee and he gently pulled her into an affectionate hug, with her hugging back gently as well. And Flippys heart has never felt happier, nor has he felt so much love from someone he was not related to.

He stood up while still hugging her, so he lifted her off her feet. He pulled her up to that he can hug her while holding her against his collarbone, and she kept her arms around his neck as well. She lowered her head onto his shoulder, and she let out a long and heavy sigh, happy that he likes her drawing.

He whispered silently.

"I… Love you too… Flaky… Thank you so much…"

She spoke.

"You're welcome, sweetie pie…"

He carefully lowered her down to her feet, and he took her hands into his own.

"I… I love it. You… Really did this for me?"

She nodded.

"Uh huh… Flaky wanted to."

He smiled greater.

"Well… I'm happy. I'm… So happy I met you, Flaky…"

He bowed his head, and finally whispered to her.

"Can… I ask you something?"

She tilted her head.

"What?"

He finally lost his smile, and right before her, while still holding one of her hands, he slowly got down on one of his knees, still blushing as well. He was finally going to ask her something so important, and so hard to ask, a child would not even dream of asking it.

But she was worth it.

"Flaky… I can't really… Give you much else… Than I already have. I mean, I'm not an angel. I'm not a hero. But… I am a boy. And… Well… I'm happy with just being a boy… With a good home, and good family… But you… I want to be something more… Even more than a boyfriend… And… So…"

He bowed his head, and he held his heart with one hand, with the other still holding hers.

"Do you… Do you wanna get married?"

Her eyes widened as he kept staring at her with his eyes filled with emotion. And she spoke silently.

"What?"

He bowed his head again.

"Do… You… Wanna marry me?"

She tilted her head.

"Marry? You mean like hubbie and wife?"

He nodded.

"Yeah… You wanna?"

Her head was filled with confusion, but her heart was filled with the same kind of love any woman would feel after being asked to be engaged. But at such a young age, her being only 4 and him twice her age, it would only take the power of true love to ask so quickly. She could feel it in his sincere expression, and the warmth in his palm on hers.

She grew a smile.

"Okay!"

He smiled as well.

"Really?"

She nodded quickly.

"Flaky wanna be a wifey!"

They both giggled as she jumped up into his body, once again latching herself to his body by wrapping her legs around his torso. He smiled and planted a small kiss on her head, making her snap her eyes open and smile again. She loved getting pecks on her head; it was like he was planting a happy seed into her brain.

She unwrapped her legs and stood back onto the ground, and she quickly clasped her hands onto his once again, seeing him still smiling and having red cheeks.

He spoke.

"Wanna go to bed now?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Flaky kinda sleepy."

He offered to carry her to bed, and she raised her arms up for him to carry her. He gently grabbed her by the underside of her arms, and he hoisted her up again onto his chest, with her body from the ribs up pressing onto his shoulder.

And however many times he picked her up, Flippy just could not find anything to complain about holding her like a baby. She barely weighed anything to him, and he loved making her feel so warm and comfortable. And that was exactly how she felt. Warm and comfortable every time he held her.

And now that they were engaged, he could hold her all the time. And she never had to be sad and scared ever again; she had a husband.

She was already practically asleep as he carried her into the barn. They all watched as she looked so very happy being carried. The boys were on their beds while Lammy was enjoying one of the carrots they had just picked. Lammy was in her newly bought nightwear, a bright white long sleeve, made of cotton of course, with several red ladybugs plastered all along it, and dark purple fuzzy pajama pants.

Flippy put her down so she can climb the ladder. She climbed up first, and Flippy turned his head to his family, still smiling just a bit.

"Night, guys. Hey, big plans just came up. Me and Flaky are getting married."

They all dropped their jaws as he started climbing the ladder, as Cuddles looked at his siblings with a very confused look.

"Uh… Did he just say married?"

They both nodded as Lammy bowed her head.

"Guess he was in the moment…"

Handy turned to her.

"Huh?"

She shook her head.

"I'll tell ya in the morning. Night."

Lammys bed was on the top floor, joining Flippy and Flakys bed as well. Feeling a bit drowsy, she decided to go bed herself. Of course, she hated to sleep, afraid of nightmares like any other child at night. But hers were justified, as she had a dark secret; her imaginary friend, which lived in her mind, and was free to roam and torture in mid slumber.

She climbed to the top, through the hole in the floor that allows the climber to either enter or exit, and stood on the floor above the actual ground. She saw her empty bed, which was pressed up against the wall to her left. Lammy walked over and climbed into her bed, letting her legs dig under the covers, but her back still sat up as she watched her two siblings.

Flippy walked the little red head over to her own bed, which was placed with the head against the back wall, below the hole where they saw the sun. She climbed up onto the mattress, filled with straw, and instantly dug her head into her newly bought pillow. Flippy smiled and carefully pulled her soft blanket over her body.

Looking already asleep, Flippy walked over to his knapsack and unzipped the bag. He reached inside and brought out his old teddy bear, and he walked it over to her, who had one eye open as well as her arms. He chuckled as he handed her the bear, and she closed her arms on the stuffed animal and let out a long, warm sigh.

Flippy bent down and planted one small kiss on her forehead, making her smile and open her eyes again. She spoke silently.

"Night night, hubbie…"

He nodded.

"Goodnight… honey…"

She quietly giggled as she shuffled her body to a comfortable position. Flippy walked slowly over to his bed, which was on the wall opposite of Lammys, same position as well. And the whole time, Lammy felt a bit jealous of the boys behavior towards the little girl. How affectionate and loving he was to her, like she was a the love of his life.

But what confused her the most was their actual relationship, and their future according to him.

While still sitting up, and right when Flippy was passing her bed, she spoke to him.

"So wait…"

He turned his head to her.

"You two are getting married… For real?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. That's right."

She raised an eyebrow.

"You're… You're serious…"

He nodded again.

"Yeah. I love her, and she loves me. Why not get married?"

Lammy just could not understand.

"But… But why-"

She went silent at the sound of his violent 'shush'.

"Quiet. She's trying to sleep."

He pointed to Flaky, who had not made a sound yet, then pointed to Lammy.

"You should to."

She nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah…"

He nodded as well and slowly walked to his own bed. And she could not help but feel left out, without a goodnight kiss. She loved getting goodnight kisses from her parents, and they usually ridded her of nightmares. But ever since one fateful day, all of her dreams were horrible, and she just wished for something to ease her mental pain.

As he sat down on his mattress, she spoke again.

"Flippy?"

He looked at her.

"Yeah?"

She was about to speak, but then shook her head.

"Nothin'."

He tilted his head.

"What is it?"

She finally took a deep breath, and carefully spoke again.

"I… I was just wondering… If I could get a kiss too.."

His eyes went every which way in awkwardness.

"Uh…"

She shook her head again, this time shaking her hand in disagreement as well. And she pulled her white hat off of her head and threw it underneath her bed, revealing the crown of her long auburn hair.

"Forget it. Whatever. Goodnight."

She huffed in anger and threw her blanket over her body, then forcefully slammed her head into her pillow. Flippy could just feel the loneliness radiating from her presence underneath the covers, and could almost hear her silent crying. He knew the magic of goodnight kisses all too well, when he received one on his forehead every night from his big sister.

He remembered every single emotion from that one single peck on the center of his head; love, comfort, safety and the deliverance of a good dream inside of his mind. And he could tell that she needed that just as much as he, and the little girl he loved, needed.

So, with a comforting look, but still no smile, he slowly got off of his bed and walked to the other side of the room to her bed. Lammy was lying on her side, facing the wall, and just a bit of her forehead was visible past her bangs. When he reached her bed, he carefully ran his finger across her head and ran her hair back, then slowly bent down.

And she snapped her eyes open when she felt a slight kiss on her head.

She turned over, seeing him smiling and looking down at her.

"Night Lammy."

He walked back over to his bed, with her staring at him the whole time. And underneath her covers, her cheeks were beginning to turn a slight red from his affection. And she gave a slight smile and carefully closed her eyes, the last thing she saw being him crawling under the covers of his own bed.

And inside her mind, as it was beginning to sleep, she felt warm and happy. She felt running and skipping through a field of daisies, with a beating sunshine giving warmth to her. And she kept giggling, happy as can be. She could feel the soft petals of the flowers brushing against her ankles and toes, and the feeling of the cool breeze mixing with the heat of the giant orange star behind her.

It was a good dream, finally.

But suddenly, she dropped her smile once again at the sound of a familiar voice, one that has haunted her dreams for months.

"Nope. You ain't having a good dream while I'm still around. No little punk's gonna stop me either."

And suddenly, she saw as the sun began to turn a dark red color, and the once orange sky beginning to turn black. The flowers around her were starting to wither and die, and the wind began flowing more and more fiercely.

And suddenly, arriving in a big flash in front of her, was the bane of her existence. The evil imaginary friend she created out of shame. Her evil conscience, the force behind her being lost and hungry for so long. The real monster.

And he was barely even a foot tall.

His skin was an ugly shade of dark green. His hair, as well as the handlebar mustache below the two holes resembling his nostrils, were colored pitch black. His eyes were a horrifying cyber lime color, and he had no eyelids to cover them. And his attire was even more treacherous; a black tuxedo and a black top hat to cover his evil nature with the appearance of a gentleman.

This was her worst enemy, and for the longest time, her only friend.

She shuddered his name in fright, as he began to evilly chuckle.

"Mr. Pickles…"