Disclaimer: I do not own Goosebumps/The Cuckoo Clock of Doom or any of RL Stine's original characters. I do not own the original idea for this fic, I am writing this fic on a request for retro mania. I only own a few of my own original ideas that are in here. I also used the original book as a guide and put in a few episode references.
I hope you enjoy! (and reviews are always welcome!)
Thank you to all of you who have been waiting for an update
Chapter 25
There was a ringing in my ears and my head throbbed. I felt dizzy as if I had just gotten off the whirl ride at the amusement park. I felt light on my feet as if the ground had disappeared, but I didn't feel like I was falling; I felt as if I was floating.
The floating feeling only lasted a few seconds, before I finally felt grounded again. I waited a few seconds before opening my eyes as my legs gave out.
I landed hard on the ground, dazed. It took a few minutes for me to recognize where I was.
We weren't in my house anymore. Instead, we were in Anthony's Antique Shop. I looked at Michael and blinked hard. He didn't look like himself.
His hair was a few inches longer, he wasn't as broad, and he looked younger. He was wearing a Green Day t-shirt and torn jeans.
I looked down at myself. I was a lot smaller and was wearing a yellow dress with little red flowers sewn on the hems.
Michael looked down at me. "Wow, this really did a number on you. How old are you now?"
"Five, I think. Maybe four," I said, cringing at my babyish voice. "What about you?"
"Sixteen," he replied.
I rolled my eyes. "Must be nice."
As I began to stand up, I felt a nasty sharp pain stab at my ankle and I yelped. I looked down at my throbbing ankle, which was in a brace.
I groaned and Michael looked at me questioningly.
"Four," I said. "Definitely four. I broke my ankle after falling out of a tree in nursery school."
He snickered and made his way through the store.
As we exited through the store's exit, we went over the plan. It was simple. Maybe too simple. But time is fragile, any little thing can change it. So that's what we were going to do. We just had to play the parts right.
It was barely getting dark. Michael and I walked through town towards my house. When we grew closer, I heard my mother's voice calling my name.
"Shelly! Michelle! It's time to come inside!" she was saying.
"Great. Curfew," I muttered.
Michael suddenly reached down and picked me up.
I shrieked. "What the heck are you doing?"
"You're a tiny four-year-old with tiny legs, one which is injured. We're wasting time if we keep walking this slowly," he said. "Besides, we can use this to our advantage."
He made a good point. With him carrying me, we were able to travel at a faster pace and we covered more ground. We made it up to my driveway in minutes.
My mother spotted us from the porch.
"Oh, Michael! What a lovely surprise!" she exclaimed.
She seemed to always say that every time she saw Michael.
"Hey Aunt Diane," Michael said casually. "It's good to see you."
"I see you found my daughter," Mother said.
"Yeah, she was hobbling up the street and I recognized her. I thought she could use a hand getting back up here when I noticed her brace," Michael said.
He carefully set me back down on the ground.
"I'm surprised she even recognized you," Mother said.
"She's a smart kid," he replied, nudging me a little.
I grinned as brightly as I could at my mother.
"Michael is really nice," I said. "He's like a big brother."
My mother smiled at the two of us. "Sounds like you two have a special bond."
"Yup! I wanna have a little brother so that I can be nice to him like Michael is to me," I said.
Mother paused. "You want a what?"
"A little brother!" I repeated, smiling brightly.
She blinked but gave me a little smile. Then she looked at Michael, who just shrugged.
"As an only child, I can guarantee that being an only child can get pretty lonely," he said.
Mother smiled at him before turning back to me.
"Well Shelly, it's time for you to get ready for bed," she said. "Have a good night Michael. Thank you for helping her get back home."
"No problem," Michael said. "Bye Michelle. See you later."
He winked at me and made his way down the street.
Mother took me by the hand and walked me into the house.
After she got me readied up for bed, she tucked me in and said good night. Before she could walk out the door, I spoke up.
"Mommy?"
"Yes?" she asked, pausing.
"When my brother gets here, you should name him Thomas," I said.
"Thomas? Why Thomas?" she asked, puzzled.
"So that we can call him Tommy," I said. "I like that name a lot."
Mother blinked again and gave me another little smile. "Sweet dreams honey."
She turned and left the room.
I laid in bed, waiting.
I waited for about ten minutes before I got out of bed. I tiptoed carefully to the door and made my way down the hall to my parent's bedroom. I paused outside their door, listening very carefully as my parents spoke.
"You alright Diane?" my father asked. "You look a bit spaced out."
"Yes, I was just thinking about Michelle. She just asked me for something," Mother said.
"What did she ask for? A pony?" Father chuckled.
"Actually, she asked for a little brother," Mother said, and Father stopped laughing.
"A brother? Where did that come from?" he asked.
Mother explained how Michael "helped" me and how I had requested for a brother.
Father stayed silent for a moment.
"You know, Michael does have a good point," Father said. "Being an only child does get lonely."
"What are you saying, Charlie?" Mother asked.
"I'm saying, that maybe we ought to give it a try," he said. "We can't guarantee that we'll come up with a brother, but a sister wouldn't be a bad thing either. Michelle could have someone to play with and who she can maybe relate to."
"What about you? What do you feel about this?" Mother asked.
"Well, I wouldn't mind expanding our little family," Father said. "After all, one more shouldn't be too bad."
My parents paused.
"You know, Michelle already picked a name out," Mother said.
"Which is?"
"Thomas, so that we can call him Tommy," Mother said. "You know, I actually like the name Thomas. And Tommy is a cute nickname too."
Father laughed. "Shelly and Tommy. That's quite the pair. But Thomas Webster has a nice ring to it. I like it."
"I guess it's unanimous," Mother said. "I'll set up an appointment with the doctor tomorrow to see if we have a chance of having another little one."
I quietly backed up from the door and snuck back to my room, grinning.
It worked!
Now I just have to sneak out of the house to meet Michael so that we can get back to the clock.
I glanced down at my foot and scowled. This wasn't going to be easy.
The clock on my nightstand read 9:30 pm. I waited until it changed to 9:45 pm, to make sure my parents were asleep. I didn't want to rush into things and get caught.
I slowly opened my bedroom door and listened. I could hear my father's snoring.
Perfect.
Carefully, I made my way down the stairs, step by step. Once I reached the downstairs hallway, I got on my hands and knees. Crawling carefully, I went down the hall and into the kitchen. Sneaking out of the house this way was easier because the sliding door in the kitchen was a lot quieter than the front door. I held my breath as I slowly slid the sliding door open, crept through it, and closed it again. Then I slowly stood up and limped around the house and down the driveway as fast as I could.
As I started to head down the street, I something sprang at me from behind a parked car.
I began to let out a shriek when a hand clamped over my mouth.
"Quiet! We'll get caught," Michael muttered.
I rolled my eyes as he let go. "You scared me."
"Did it work?" Michael asked.
"I think so," I said. "My parents were talking about it. But I'm not sure. What if they change their minds?"
"Only one way to find out," Michael said.
Michael ended up carrying me again. I didn't bother to argue this time. We got there faster that way, and my four-year-old body was exhausted from being up so late. Plus, my stupid ankle was starting to throb painfully.
When we arrived at the Antique Store, he set me down. We had about 7 minutes to get into the store and set the clock for our travel before the clock struck 10. If we missed it, we would have to wait until 11:00 and I did not want to spend a whole hour in the dark and creepy store.
"How are we going to get inside?" I asked.
Michael reached down and picked up a rock. Then he slammed it into the small window on the door.
"What are you doing?" I squeaked. "You're going to set off the alarm!"
"It's a silent one," Michael said. He slid his hand through the broken glass and turned the doorknob. "We have about 5 minutes to travel back before the cops arrive."
He opened the door and reached down to grab me again. He carried me on his back through the store until we reached the clock.
He didn't bother to set me down as he once again began to fiddling with the clock to reveal the hidden part within the clock.
"I can barely see," he said. "This might take a little longer than a minute. We'll barely make it."
"It wasn't so dark in here when we first came in," I said.
"It's the clock," he muttered. "It's trying to stop us."
I felt my goosebumps erupt on my skin. The clock was somehow making it darker so that we would fail. It was toying with us again.
It didn't remain dark for too long, because there was a sudden burst of blue and red lights.
"Oh no!" I wailed.
"Hold on," Michael said. "I'm almost done. The lights are actually helping me see better."
He quickly pushed the number eleven, six times. He flipped the switches to face up. As he finished, the clock struck 10 and the cuckoo bird came out.
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo!
"Quick, grab it!" Michael said, and he took a hold on it.
I reached up and grabbed the head of the bird. I twisted it's creepy little head clockwise, all the way around until it faced forward again. During this, it cuckooed four more times.
Cuckoo!
As it rang, we heard the door burst open.
"Police! Come out and show us your hands!" a voice yelled.
There were footsteps as the cops made their way through the store.
Cuckoo!
We just needed one more, and we'd be safe.
"Stop what you're doing!" a policeman yelled. "Back away from the clock!"
Michael froze and my stomach lurched.
They were right behind us.
Cuckoo!
They were too late.
Cuckoo!
I closed my eyes.