The next day, Lloyd opened his green eyes to stare up at an unfamiliar ceiling. He sat up and started to whimper, wondering where he was.
Lloyd quieted when he spotted Cole sleeping soundly across the room. Grabbing the bars of his crib, Lloyd attempted to pull himself up and over but he couldn't properly pull himself up. After falling back down on his butt for the fifth try, Lloyd did the only logical thing to do next.
Cole was stirred from his slumber by sobbing coming from across the room. He turns in his bed to stare at the crib for a second before sitting up in bed. Lloyd quiets a bit with the occasional whimper, hoping the ebony haired boy would help him escape his prison.
Cole is only so tall so it takes the combined efforts of him and Lloyd to help the baby out of the crib.
Lloyd giggled a little and smiled big in thanks once he was finally out.
"Good morning, Lloyd." Cole quietly greeted the baby. He went over to the window and pulled back the curtain. It was fairly dark outside, the sun most likely going to rise soon.
Cole turns around just in time to see his door slowly open.
"Good morning, boys." Janice softly greets, a slightly tired smile on her face.
Lloyd cooes, a big smile on his face as he crawls over to the brown haired lady and hugs her legs.
"Good morning, Janice." Cole greets, "Can we go down and play?"
Janice thinks about it for a while before answering, "Okay, but be quiet." She carries Lloyd downstairs, Cole right behind them.
She turns on the lights and sets the baby down before leaving the boys to play.
On her way to her bedroom, Nya passes by with a cheery greeting which Janice returns.
"Hi, Cole. Hi, Lloyd." Nya pops her head into the pillow fort, a smile on her face.
"Hi, Nya." Cole replies, looking up briefly before going back to what he was doing.
"Can I join?" Nya inquired, crawling in.
"Mhm." Cole nodded.
Nya took the blue police officer and joined Cole and Lloyd's game of castle.
JAY'S POV.
"Can I come? Please, please, please, please, PLEASE!"
I bounced from foot to foot, my eyes big and pleading.
I heard Pa get up really early this morning and got up too in hopes of a sugary before-breakfast treat. Him and Ma were talking about Pa going somewhere for a something. I never get to go places outside of the Junkyard and I want to know what's out there.
My parents exchanged skeptical glances before looking down at me. "I don't know kiddo.." Pa says. 'kiddo' is the nickname he calls me. I have alot of those like sweetie, honey, bluejay to name a few.
This is my chance
I stick out my bottom lip and scrunch my eyebrows together, making myself as cute as possible.
"Pwetty Pweeeeasse?"
"Fine." Ma finally broke, "But you must listen to your father; do exactly what he says."
"YEAAAAAAAH!" I jumped in the air and hugged my parents as tight as I could. "I get Mr. Cuddlywomp!"
I zoomed into my room and grabbed my Bestest Friend before zooming back to the living room, "Ready. C'mon, let's go, let'sgolet'sgolegolego!"
I giggled a little at my joke, tugging on Pa's hand.
"Woah, slow down kiddo." Pa chuckled.
"What 'bout breakfast? You're still in your Pajamas." Ma pointed out.
I frown a little, "But, I wanna go."
"After breakfast, Sweetie, you get whiny when you're hungry."
"No I don't," I stomp my foot, "I wanna go with Pa."
"And you will kiddo; after breakfast." Pa says, "The most important meal of the day."
"What 'bout lunch and dinner?" I ask.
"They're important too but breakfast starts a looong day of work." Ma answers whilst flipping over an omelette.
I place Mr. Cuddlywomp on the table and climb into my seat.
"Pa, why are we going out there? What for? Is it where the mailman comes from? Out there?"
"A friend asking for a favor far as I know. We'll figure it out when we get there."
Ma makes french toast and eggs which I scarf down as fast as I can.
"Don't eat so fast, Jay; you'll get a tummy ache." Ma warned me and I obeyed her though still hurried a little bit.
She took mine and Pa's dishes to the sink and helped me out of my Pajamas and into a blue shirt, pants and an orange scarf I've had as long as I could remember. Here, the days are super hot and then the nights can be super cold; There's no winning.
And after she questions for the bajillionth time if I've used the bathroom, Pa and I are off in the jalopy.
"Where are we going Pa?" I ask excitedly after we're a good distance away from the junkyard. I squint at the horizon but see nothing except miles and miles of sand.
"Ninjago City," He answered without turning in his seat.
"Where's Ninjago City? Is it full of sand? Can I get ice cream? Does Ninjago City have ice cream? What's it like?"
Pa started laughing and after he calmed down he answered, "We'll see."
"What about all my other questions?" I ask.
"Already answered them, kiddo." Pa said.
I thought for a second.
"Are we there yet?"
Felt like forever and even sleeping didn't help much but I finally saw something other than sand.
"Pa, look," I leaned forward in my seat and pointed right in front of us, "What's that? Is it Ninjago City? It's so small. Why is it surrounded by water?"
"It's not surrounded by water, that's a mirage and only looks small because we're far away." Pa answered.
"Is it Ninjago City?" I question as I notice it slowly getting bigger.
"Sure as a gun, that's the city. May not look like much from here but she's a real beaut." Pa tells me.
The city gets closer and closer until we're right outside. I lean forward in my seat and gape at the buildings so tall I bet they're touching the sky.
"Wow," I breathe. There are so many people. All kinds of people walking, running, driving, eating, laughing, talking, doing just about anything.
"Who are all these people, Pa?" I question, my eyes still on what's going on around us.
"Heh, I'd need a pretty big notebook for all the names of everyone." Pa joked.
"That would be a lot of names," I say a smile creeping up on my face, "And a lot of friends."
The city seemed to stretch on forever like the sand. We didn't go too deep before Pa stopped the jalopy and turned off the engine.
"Why did we stop?" I ask as Pa unbuckles his seatbelt and looks at me for the first time since the not so endless sand.
"We're here," Pa said, helping me unbuckle my seatbelt, "Just gonna pop in and fix some stuff probably."
"Can I help? Please please please?" I clasp my hands together.
"Sure thing, kiddo." Pa smiles while unbuckling me. I grab my Mr. Cuddlywomp and practically jump out of my seat and exit the car-
"JAY!"
I hear a car horn blare and I'm pulled backwards, my back hitting the side of the car hard. I stare wide eyed at the red car which almost hit me.
"Jay? Are you okay? Don't ever run out of the car like that again. Did it hit you? Where does it hurt? Are you okay? Answer me kiddo?!"
I look down at Pa's hand protectively over my chest. I look at his blue sleeves and my eyes travel up to meet his concerned grey eyes welling up with tears.
"I'm okay, Pa," I smile broadly at him, "Can we go now?"
He turns in his seat more and lifts me up and into the car, crushing me in a hug.
"Are you okay, Pa?" I ask, hugging him back.
"Y-yeah," He answers after a while, his voice cracking. Pa seemed like he wanted to say more but he didn't.
After a couple of minutes of hugging, Pa and I got out of the car- from the door by the sidewalk this time- and walked up to an apartment. Pa knocked on the door and it almost immediately opened.
"Howdy, Patrick." Pa greeted a blonde man with blue eyes and a mustache.
The man, Patrick, beams and firmly shakes Pa's hand, "Hey, Ed. Great to see you."
Patrick then puts his hands on his knees and looks directly at me, "Hi there kid, what's your name?"
"Hi, I'm Jay, it's nice to meet you," I happily say and raise my right hand, "Oo, and this is Mr.Cuddlywomp. Pa said that we're here for some kind of thing but we didn't bring anything so what are we going to do?"
"Wow Jay, you're pretty articulated for a kid you're age." Patrick chuckled and ruffled up my hair. Pa and I walked in and Patrick closed the door behind us.
Patrick stood with his hand scratching the back of his head, "So, um, please follow me."
"Where are we going?" I ask as he takes us into another room- the kitchen.
"Please, sit down." He gestures towards the table and the chairs around it.
Pa helps me into a chair (though I could've done it myself) and sits besides me. I place Mr. Cuddlywomp next to me on the table such that he's looking at me.
"Can I trust you, not to freak out or anything?" Patrick suddenly speaks.
"What is 'freak out'?" I inquired.
"Sure." Pa answers but I could hear the slightest bit of uncertainty in his voice.
"PIXAL!" Called Patrick.
The sound of footfalls came down the stairs.
The first thing I see are purple pants followed by a skirt. A feminine figure and then-
Wait, her arm is white like paper.
Her face is soon in view-
"FIRST SP-ERTUZU MASTER, YOU'RE A ROBOT!" I exclaim, pointing at her.
"Jay," Pa says scoldingly, "That's not nice."
I jump out of my seat and stand right in front of her, "Wow, you're a robot. What's it like? Do you know Ironman? Who made you? Do you have laser eyes? Can you fly? Can you see through walls? Do you know everything? How big is this city? Who was the first ever person to wear blue? How many people live in the world? Who invented cotton candy? Why-"
"Easy there kid," Patrick interrupted me then turned to Pa, "I was wondering if you could perform a computer survey or something."
"A maintenance check up." Pixal corrected.
"Wow...what's that?" I awed at her. This is the only kind of stuff you get to see on TV, this is so cool!
"Compter maintenance: the practice of keeping computers in a good state of repair. A computer containing accumulated dust and debris may not run properly." She answers almost instantly.
"If that's okay with you, I'll perform a maintenance check up." Pa says, looking at Pixal.
"Permission granted." She answers very roboty.
She pulls up a chair to Pa's left and makes it face him. Patrick sets up a computer and plugs one end of a wire to her and the other to the laptop. He also put down a toolbox on the table.
"What ya doing, Pa?" I inquire, peering over his shoulder at the screen. I didn't understand a thing on it.
He turns to me and smiles ruffling my hair, "I'll teach ya when you're older, kiddo."
I turn to the robot, "Can I touch your hair?" I ask her, raising my hand.
Pa was about to say something but Pixal responds faster than him.
"Permission granted." She says. I think that means yes.
I run my fingers through her ponytail; it felt like hair but it also felt...different. I don't know how to explain it.
"You're hair is really nice, Pixal." I tell her.
"Thank you-," She suddenly paused, "Excuse me, I do not know your name; what is it?"
"I'm Jay." I smile big as I say my name.
"Thank you, Jay." Pixal says.
"Your welcome." I say like Ma taught me.
"Everything seems to be in working condition," Pa says looking away from the computer and at Patrick, "Feel free to call me for anything."
"Thank you Mr. Ed."Pixal said, bowing slightly in her seat.
"Yeah, thanks a whole bunch, Ed," Patrick smiles. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet and hands Pa money and a piece of paper.
"Sorry, don't got much on me but please, keep it." Patrick chuckled.
"Bye, Pat." Pa says then turns to me, "C'mon, Jay, I believe I owe you an ice cream."
"Yay! Can I get blueberry? Is there a cotton candy flavour? I think they should invent that then I can have cotton candy and ice cream at the same time," I grab Mr. Cuddlywomp and grab Pa's hand, pulling out the door and all the way to the car.
He drove us to a store close by where we ate lunch and I got a peanutbutter flavored icecream I happily ate as we now drove home.
"Jay, don't put ice cream on Mr. Cuddlywomp." Pa says and I see his eyes on me from the mirror that he uses to look behind him without turning around.
"I'm sharing, he kept asking," I say taking back my treat and eating it.
Pa just sighs and shakes his head lightly.
"Hey, Pa, what was that paper that man gave you?" I ask between licks, having already forgotten the name of that man.
"You mean money?" He questions.
"No, the paper he gave with it." I correct him.
"Oh, thanks for reminding me, kiddo," Pa says. He can be forgetful at times, "It's a coupon for hibiscus tea from a shop called Steep Wisdom."
"What is a coo-pan?"
"Uuummm..." Pa hummed in thought.
"What's a co-po-oo-pan?"
"A coupon," Pa corrected, laughing a little, "Umm... your mother will explain it when we get back."
"Oh," Pa does this sometimes; not explain something to me and say Ma will explain it, "May I have some tea too?"
I wonder what it tastes like? It sure does smell sweet; maybe like candy...
"When you're older." Pa answered.
"Aww, but I am older." I say, frowning deeply.
"Tea isn't good for young kids. Maybe in ten years you can try tea but let me tell you; it's nothing special and you're not missing out on much."
I whine, crossing my arms over my chest and slouching in my seat. That's when I remember that I was eating an ice cream but it's too late. The melted slop is everywhere; on me, on my car seat, on the floor on the cushions, on Mr. Cuddlywomp...
My bottom lip trembles as I tentatively call out, "P-Pa...I made a mess..." Tears begin to well up in my eyes.
Pa adjusts the behind-you mirror and I see his eyes widen at me.
"S-s-sorry," I whimper before bursting into tears.
Pa parks the jalopy and turns in his seat, "Don't cry kiddo, these kind of things happen. I'll get you cleaned up lickety-split, don't worry 'bout it, 'kay?"
I sniff and whip my face with my arm, smiling a little, "'Kay."
I think I fell asleep cuz all of a sudden Pa's gently shaking my shoulder to wake me up.
I open my eyes and see Pa gently smiling at me.
"Are we home?" I ask, looking past him, I see we aren't home but somewhere else.
"Just making a pit stop to get you cleaned up before it stains your clothes, c'mon kiddo." Pa says, unbuckling my seatbelt and helping me out of my seat.
"Where are we?" I ask Pa. Up ahead is a building with a teapot on top of it. There are two other buildings to the right and left and behind all these buildings is a mountain with a waterfall. Pa and I cross the compound with a giant flower symbol on it and into the building with a giant teapot on it.
Inside, I'm immediately hit with wave upon wave with different planty smells. A man is behind the counter, his hair is a lot lighter than the other man and his unusually yellow eyes are welcoming.
"Good evening," He greets us with a smile, "Welcome to Steep Wisdom, how may I be of service."
"Do you have a restroom we can use?" Pa asked and I felt embarrassed, looking down at my shoes. I must look like I bathed in ice cream.
"Follow me," The man says, leaving the counter and leading us to the building I think to the left...I don't know...I don't know my left from my right, don't judge!
He slid aside the doors and the first thing I see is the coolest pillow fort ever.
A head poked out of the entrance; A girl with the most pretty blue eyes I've ever seen and short black hair. We locked eyes and I felt my heart go ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, really fast against my chest.
"Thank you," I heard Pa say but he sounded far away though I knew he was right next to me. I felt someone tug me away and I was about to fight back but quickly remembered that Pa was holding onto me. As I entered the bathroom with Pa, the girl went back into the fort and once the bathroom door was closed I heard four distinctive giggles.
My face felt hot as I stared at my reflection in the mirror; my cheeks were smudged with dried ice cream. My shirt is stained and so are my pants.
Pa cleans up my face and I use the bathroom before we go back to the building with the tea pot.
Pa and the man start talking but I don't pay attention, my mind elsewhere. Who was the girl? I'd like to meet her. Does she live here? Who else was she with? Why are her eyes so pretty?
I turn to look out the door back at the other building we left, kind of hoping to see the girl.
I then saw a face peek into the building. I was excited at first but this was a new face with brown eyes and spiky light brown hair.
I look back up at Pa and I see he's still talking with the other man, then I look back at the door and the boy with spiky brown hair has disappeared.
I quietly walk outside and look around the corner; four kids around my age staring back at me. Well except the baby with blonde hair and green eyes but the others are around my age.
Would it be weird if I said I've never been this close to other kids?
There was the boy with spiky hair going every direction with a scar going down one of his brown eyes but his eyes weren't the same shade of brown as the boy standing next to him. This was a new face; he had shaggy black hair and hairy eyebrows. He's also wearing a necklace.
I thought only girls wear necklaces.
Then I see her...
Short black hair, dark blue eyes like the ocean.
Wow, she's really pretty.
I put on a big smile and wave my hand quickly, "Hi, I'm Jay! My Pa is in the store talking to the man inside. Is he your Pa? What are you're names?"
"Hi-eee," Squeals the the one with green eyes. The three older kids exchange glances before the one with spiky brown hair says, "I'm Kai, Cole and my little sister Nya." He pointed at the one with shaggy black hair and then at the girl.
Nya...that's a nice name
"Where you from?" The girl, Nya, asks stepping forward.
"I live in a junkyard in a desert. There's so much stuff Ma and Pa use to make new stuff like cars and machines-"
"What's a junkyard?" Asked the shaggy haired boy, Cole.
"A place with a lot of cool stuff. Some of it doesn't work so Ma and Pa destroy it or fix it or make something else using it. I help sometimes but Pa and Ma say that I can't do the fun stuff until I'm older but I think I can do it," I answer, "What do you do here?"
Nya answers, "We play, eat, sleep and do a thing called lessons."
"I do that too. I'm not good at lessons though but I wish I had a brother or sister to help me out, Or play with."
The three exchange a look before Cole tells me, "I'm not Lloyd, Kai and Nya's brother."
I scrunch up my face in confusion, "But he just said-"
"Kai is my brother." Nya says.
That helps a lot.
"Where do you live?" I ask Cole.
"Here now." Cole shrugs.
"Does your Pa know?" I ask.
"I don't know." Cole says, "He disappeared then me, Kai and Nya live here."
"But he's inside talking to my Pa." I insist.
"Wu's not our dad." Kai states.
"Jay! C'mon, let's go!" I hear Pa call me.
"Erm- Bye Kai, Cole, Lloyd. Bye Nya." I wave at them then run back inside to find my Pa and hug his leg.
As we left I saw Nya waving to me and I waved back.
The sun was gone and I fell asleep until we got home. After dinner, a bath, brushing my teeth and stuff, Ma and Pa tucked me in.
"...then I met Nya, Cole and Kai and Lloyd but they are kind of weird they say that the guy Pa was talking to wasn't their Pa. Cole said that his Pa disappeared and only Kai and Nya are brother and sister. That's weird." I finally finished recounting my day out with Pa.
Ma and Pa silently look at each other though it wasn't a lovey-dovey one it was some kind of unhappy one.
"G-glad that you had an... interesting time, Sweetie." Ma says sounding weird.
"Goodnight, kiddo." Pa says, kissing my forehead then leaving. Ma does the same and they turn off the light and leave the door a bit open. I turn to face the wall and cuddle Mr. Cuddlywomp, falling to sleep.
I dreamt of going back to the place with the building with a teapot on it and playing all day long with Nya.
A/N: End of Chapter...Can I get a warm welcome for Bluebell? Jay's probably the most articulated five year old because of how much he talks. Though, he doesn't know too many words so describing stuff can be a challenge. At least for now.
See ya next chappy!