That afternoon, we returned from the aquarium in Virginia Beach, and on any other day, I might have been exhausted from a tiring day, but under the circumstances, I was instead made much more invigorated as the day went by, awaiting the arrival back at the house so Lily and I could get out of here.
As soon as Sophia unlocked the front door, I dashed inside.
"That was rude, Claire," my "Mom" groaned. To be fair, she was right; I'd simply ran past both her and Lily in my hurry to get inside. "You know, you've had a bad attitude all day."
"Well, you're not going to have to worry about that much longer," I said, so excited to be home again that I was practically jumping. "Come on, Lily! Let's go!"
"Go where? You two aren't going to the trapdoor again, are you?"
Lily nodded but didn't say anything.
"You better be prepared to suffer the consequences if you do."
"Way to show discipline there, Mom," Lily joked.
"What?" Sophia replied. "Stop calling me that, Lily."
"I think it's already too late to avoid the consequences," I said. "If you really want to stop me, Mom, you're going to have to catch me first." Looking at my cousin, I added, "And Lily, too."
"You're not going anywhere, young lady."
"I know. That's why you're going to have to catch me." And with that said, I dashed off again, zooming through the house, unlocking the back door at lightning speed, and almost jumping into the backyard. Upon reaching the cellar door, I realized I was alone. "Lily!" I shouted, sighing shortly thereafter. "Lily, come out here!" No answer. Hell, my "Mom" wasn't even coming outside to inflict swift justice on a misbehaving child. "Anybody?!"
Was this reverse psychology? It wasn't working.
"Screw this," I said, opening the cellar door. Dust sprang out at me, but as soon as it had settled, I made my way down, and opened the trapdoor once again. I looked back a final time, just in case, but still nobody was coming, not to join me nor to discipline me.
There must have been something really good on TV.
"I'm going down now!" I shouted. I doubted anyone could hear me inside the house from here, but it was worth it just to try and get someone's attention. "The trapdoor's open! I'm about to be a bad, bad girl!"
Nothing.
"You both suck!" I leaped down into the trapdoor and slammed it behind me.
Oh please, let me be back in the real world now.